Shang dynasty

The Shang dynasty, also called the Yin dynasty, was a royal line that governed the Yellow River valley during the 2nd millennium BC. In traditional Chinese history, it is the earliest dynasty confirmed by archaeological evidence. The key site is Yinxu, near modern Anyang, which corresponds to the final Shang capital, Yin. Excavations there uncovered eleven major royal tombs, palace foundations, and remains of humans and animals sacrificed in state rituals. Tens of thousands of artifacts—bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic—have been found, along with the earliest known Chinese writing. This writing appears on oracle bones (turtle shells or ox scapulae) used for divination. Over 20,000 such bones were found in the 1920s–30s scientific digs, with more than four times that number discovered since. The inscriptions shed light on Shang politics, economy, religion, art, and medicine.

Classic Chinese texts like the Book of Documents, Mencius, and Zuo Zhuan discuss the Shang. The Han historian Sima Qian compiled a chronological account in the Shiji (c. 91 BC), detailing some reigns and merely naming others. The Bamboo Annals offers a slightly different version, though its surviving manuscripts are controversial. The Shang are also called “Yin”—a name used in the Shiji and Bamboo Annals for both the dynasty and its final capital. From the 3rd century AD, “Yin” often referred to the dynasty’s latter half. In Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, the dynasty is known as In, Eun, and Ân, respectively. The name “Yin” likely originated in the Zhou dynasty; it does not appear in oracle bone inscriptions, which call the state “Shang” and its capital the “Great Settlement of Shang,” nor in any securely dated Western Zhou bronze inscriptions.

According to Sima Qian’s Annals of the Yin, the founding myth tells of Jiandi, second wife of Emperor Ku, who swallowed an egg dropped by a black bird and miraculously gave birth to Xie. Xie helped Yu the Great control the Great Flood and was granted Shang as a fief. The period before the dynasty is called “Predynastic Shang” or “Proto-Shang.”

Sima Qian writes that the dynasty began 13 generations after Xie, when his descendant Tang overthrew the cruel Xia ruler Jie at the Battle of Mingtiao. The Shiji recounts events under Tang, Tai Jia, Tai Wu, Pan Geng, Wu Ding, Wu Yi, and the depraved final king Di Xin, while other rulers are only named. Wang Guowei showed that the Shang king list in Sima Qian’s account matches the actual succession. The Shiji says the Shang moved their capital five times, with the final move to Yin under Pan Geng starting a golden age. Di Xin committed suicide after his army was defeated by Wu of Zhou; legends say his troops and slaves betrayed him at the Battle of Muye. The Yi Zhou Shu and Mencius describe the battle as very bloody. The Ming novel Investiture of the Gods retells the war as a conflict between rival gods.

After the Shang defeat, King Wu allowed Di Xin’s son Wu Geng to rule as a vassal, but sent three brothers and an army to prevent rebellion. After Zhou Wu’s death, the Shang joined the Rebellion of the Three Guards against the Duke of Zhou, which collapsed after three years, leaving Zhou in control. Zhou rulers then forcibly relocated “Yin diehards” across Zhou territory. Some Shang royal family members changed their surname from Zi to Yin. They kept aristocratic status and often served the Zhou administration. King Wu ennobled Lin Jian, son of Prince Bigan, as Duke of Bo’ling. The Shiji says King Cheng, with his regent the Duke of Zhou, enfeoffed Weiziqi, a brother of Di Xin, as a duke.