Mallory Hogan February 26th, 2013 History 2 Shang Facts The Shang dynasty ruled for about 600

0 years During the Shang dynasty, people were still peasants or poor farmers Lived in villages Spent their lives working and struggling to control flooding rivers Cowrie shells were used as a form of money to buy small items Shang workers discovered how to mix tin and copper to produce bronze The bronze age Worshiped ancestors Believed in many gods Believed in the afterlife and burials Created the first system of writing on oracle bones- Would write a question and then heat it up-bones would crack and the priest would read the cracks

Zhou

The Zhou Dynasty lasted about 900 years 1100220 B.C. The Zhou were farmers Helped their Shang rulers by patrolling the countrys borders Longest dynasty in Chinas history The Mandate of Heaven They worshipped an impersonal power called tian, or heaven. Did not believe priests could communicate with tian Instead, they believed tian was simply a power that demanded good behavior and good governmentThis was especially required by the king Feudalism (economic system) The Zhou expanded the use of writing on oracle bones by writing on bronze, wood, and bamboo for recording informationWriting helped unify the Chinese people

Qin

Han