Shang dynasty

Shang 商
c. 1600 BC–c. 1046 BC
Approximate territory of the Shang dynasty within present-day China
Capital	Bo (亳) (either modern Yanshi or Zhengzhou) Ao (隞) (near modern Zhengzhou) Yan (奄) (near modern Qufu) Xiang (near modern Anyang) Yinxu (near modern Anyang) Zhaoge (near modern Qi County, Hebi)
Common languages	Old Chinese
Religion	Shang state religion
Government	Monarchy
King
• c. 1600 BC	Tai Yi
• c. 1250 – 1191 BC	Wu Ding
• c. 1075 – 1046 BC	Zhou
Historical era	Bronze Age
• Established	c. 1600 BC
• Battle of Muye	c. 1046 BC
Area
c. 1122 BC[1]	1,250,000 km2 (480,000 sq mi)
Currency	Shell money Shell mussels Tong Bei
Preceded by Succeeded by Xia dynasty Predynastic Shang Zhou dynasty
Today part of	China

Shang
"Shang" in oracle bone script (top left), bronze script (top right), seal script (bottom left), and regular script (bottom right) forms
Chinese	商
Hanyu Pinyin	Shāng
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shāng Bopomofo ㄕㄤ Wade–Giles Shang1 Tongyong Pinyin Shang IPA [ʂáŋ] Wu Romanization Saon Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sēung Jyutping Soeng1 IPA [sœŋ˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Siong Tâi-lô Siong Old Chinese Baxter (1992) *hljang Baxter–Sagart (2014) *s-taŋ
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese	殷
Hanyu Pinyin	Yīn
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yīn Bopomofo ㄧㄣ Wade–Giles Yin1 Tongyong Pinyin Yin IPA [ín] Wu Romanization In Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yān Jyutping Jan1 IPA [jɐn˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Ûn Tâi-lô Ûn Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *ʔər

Part of a series on the
History of China
Timeline Dynasties Historiography
Prehistoric Paleolithic Neolithic (c. 8500 – c. 2000 BC) Yellow, Yangtze, and Liao civilization
Ancient Xia (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC) Shang (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC) Late Shang (c. 1250 – c. 1046 BC) Zhou (c. 1046 – c. 256 BC) Western Zhou (1046–771 BC) Eastern Zhou (771–256 BC) Spring and Autumn (c. 770 – c. 476 BC) Warring States (475–221 BC)
Imperial
Modern Republic of China (mainland, 1912–1949)
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The Shang dynasty (Chinese: 商朝; pinyin: Shāng cháo), also known as the Yin dynasty (殷代; Yīn dài), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals and Shiji. Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, with more agreement surrounding the end date than beginning date.

The Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history firmly supported by archaeological evidence. Excavation at the last Shang capital Yinxu, near modern-day Anyang, uncovered eleven major royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic artefacts have been found.

The Anyang site has yielded the earliest known body of Chinese writing, mostly divinations inscribed on oracle bones—usually turtle shells or ox scapulae. More than 20,000 were discovered in the initial scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s, and over four times as many have been found since. The inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, and religious practices to the art and medicine of the early stages of Chinese history.^[2]