![]() A coalition led by the ruler of the Zhou, King Wu, defeated the Shang at the Battle of Muye. In the late 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou dynasty arose in the Wei River valley of modern western Shaanxi Province, where they were appointed Western Protectors by the Shang. The Zhou dynasty (1046 BC to approximately 256 BC) is the longest-lasting dynasty in Chinese history, though its power declined steadily over the almost eight centuries of its existence. The leading hypothesis is that Anyang, ruled by the same Shang in the official history, coexisted and traded with numerous other culturally diverse settlements in the area that is now referred to as China proper. The evidence is inconclusive in proving how far the Shang realm extended from Anyang. For example, archaeological findings at Sanxingdui suggest a technologically advanced civilization culturally unlike Anyang. The term Yin dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang dynasty in history, although it has lately been used to refer specifically to the latter half of the Shang dynasty.Īlthough written records found at Anyang confirm the existence of the Shang dynasty, Western scholars are often hesitant to associate settlements that are contemporaneous with the Anyang settlement with the Shang dynasty. The final (and most important) move was to Yin in around 1300 BC which led to the dynasty's golden age. During their reign, according to the Records of the Grand Historian, the capital city was moved six times. The findings at Anyang include the earliest written record of the Chinese so far discovered: inscriptions of divination records in ancient Chinese writing on the bones or shells of animals-the "oracle bones", dating from around 1250 BC.Ī series of thirty-one kings reigned over the Shang dynasty. Findings from the later Shang or Yin (殷) period, were found in profusion at Anyang, in modern-day Henan, the last of the Shang's nine capitals (c. Findings from the earlier Shang period comes from excavations at Erligang, in present-day Zhengzhou. Wheat also arrived, but remained a minor crop.Īrchaeological evidence, such as oracle bones and bronzes, and transmitted texts attest to the historical existence of the Shang dynasty (c. During the latter period domesticated cattle and sheep arrived from Western Asia. The cultures of the middle and late Neolithic in the central Yellow River valley are known respectively as the Yangshao culture (5000 BC to 3000 BC) and the Longshan culture (3000 BC to 2000 BC). With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, and the potential to support specialist craftsmen and administrators. Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BC. These pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese. Farming gave rise to the Jiahu culture (7000 to 5800 BC).Īt Damaidi in Ningxia, 3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, "featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing". ![]() Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC. The earliest evidence of cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River, is carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago. Agriculture in China developed gradually, with initial domestication of a few grains and animals gradually being expanded by the addition of many others over subsequent millennia. ![]() One of the defining traits of the Neolithic is agriculture. The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to about 10,000 BC. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is among the world's oldest civilizations and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. These Yellow River and Yangtze civilizations arose millennia before the Shang. However, Neolithic civilizations originated at various cultural centers along both the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The Shang ruled in the Yellow River valley, which is commonly held to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. 2070–1600 BC) before the Shang, but no writing is known from the period, and Shang writings do not indicate the existence of the Xia. 91 BC) mention and describe a Xia dynasty (c. 296 BC) and the Records of the Grand Historian (c. Ancient historical texts such as the Book of Documents (early chapters, 11th century BC), the Bamboo Annals (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the king Wu Ding's reign, who was mentioned as the twenty-first King of Shang by the same. The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c.
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