Religious Beliefs
Type of faith practiced heavily in the Shang dynasty
What is Ancestor Worship
As with the other early civilizations, the shape of the society (Shang Dynasty) from the top down
What is a pyramid or triangle
The River the Shang Dynasty was located at
What is the Yellow River
Term used for power being dranted by a divine force
What is the Mandate of Heaven
It was upon these artifacts that the earliest Chinese writing has been found, stemming from the Shang Dynasty.
What are Oracle Bones
Evidence telling us the Shang Dynasty believed in a life after death
What are tombs (discovered by archaeologists)
Top of the social stucture in the Shang Dynasty
What is a king
Reason civilizations are located along flooding rivers
Flood waters leave fertile silt deposits for agriculture and a supply of fresh water.
Within ancient China: floods, famine, disease, and natural disasters...
What are signs the Mandate of Heaven has been lost by the Emperor?
Prayers and statements to the ancestors in writing on bone.
What is the purpose of Oracle Bones
What was sacrificed at the tombs of high-ranking officials in the Shang Dynasty
What are servants and slaves
What is agriculture
This controlled the flood of the Yellow River during the Shang Dynasty
What is irrigation systems
The Emperor and his heirs being just and righteous in their rule
How the Mandate of Heaven is retained by a dynasty.
Because silk and papyrus and paper all disintegrated in the ground over time.
What is the reason the earliest Chinese writing has all been found on Oracle Bones.
Objects discovered in Shang tombs
What are small bronze objects and bronze hairpins
Class of people who formed the third tier of society in the Shang Dynasty
Who were sodiers
How do we "know" the Shang Dynasty existed
What is Archaeological evidence
Ultimately, this is what the Mandate of Heaven is for.
What is justifiable rebellion against an unjust ruler.
How Priests would read the Oracle Bones and interpret tham.
What is setting fire to them and "reading" the cracks that occur as a response to the question or prayer written on them?
The deity believed by the Shang Dynasty that guided the spirits of the ancestors to the afterlife.
Who is Shang Ti
Most numerous members of society in the Shang Dynasty
Who are peasants.
The one thing shared by all classed of the Shang Dynasty
What is religion
The first dynasty to use the Mandate of Heaven to legitimize their rule.
What is the Zhou dynasty?
Ancestor of all Chinese script and many asian scripts used today.
What is Oracle Bone script