Late Shang

Late Shang
Relief map of eastern China marking the area around Anyang and a larger area including this and extending into Shandong
Core area and range of sites[1]
Alternative namesAnyang period
LanguageOld Chinese
Geographical rangeNorth China Plain
PeriodBronze Age
Datesc. 1250 – c. 1046 BC
Type siteYinxu
Preceded byXiaoshuangqiao, Huanbei
Followed byWestern Zhou
Chinese name
Chinese晚商
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWǎn Shāng
Wade–GilesWan3 Shang1
rib with two lines of carved characters
Rib of a rhinoceros killed in a royal hunt, bearing an inscription including the character (Shāng, fifth character from the bottom on the right)[2]

The Late Shang, also known as the Anyang period, is the earliest known literate civilization in China, spanning the reigns of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty, beginning with Wu Ding in the second half of the 13th century BC and ending with the conquest of the Shang by the Zhou in the mid-11th century BC. The state is known from artifacts recovered from its capital at a site near Anyang now known as Yinxu and other sites across the North China Plain. One of the richest finds was the Tomb of Fu Hao at Yinxu, thought to belong to a consort of Wu Ding mentioned in Shang inscriptions.

Most Shang writing takes the form of inscriptions on oracle bones used for divinations on behalf of the king. Shang ritual focussed on offerings to ancestors, enabling modern investigators to deduce a king list that largely matches that of the traditional histories of Sima Qian and the Bamboo Annals. The inscriptions also give insight into royal concerns such as weather, the harvest, warfare with neighbouring polities, and mobilizing workers for warfare or agricultural work.

The Late Shang shared many features of the earlier Erlitou and Erligang cultures, including the rammed earth technique for foundations of rectangular walled compounds. Bronze casting reached new heights of decoration and a volume unmatched elsewhere in the world at that time. Workshops in the capital produced ceramics and carved stone and bone for a variety of ceremonial, decorative or utilitarian purposes. Besides writing, new features of the Late Shang included horse-drawn chariots, massive royal tombs and human sacrifice on an unprecedented scale, both in divination rituals and in royal burials.

  1. ^ Liu & Chen (2012), p. 351.
  2. ^ Shelach-Lavi (2015), p. 197, Fig. 128.