Shang Dynasty

Dear everyone

I would like to tell you more about my expedition to China. It is not easily noticed by the tourists but only historians and arcchaeologists. Despite the fact that I had only one day to complete this assignment , I tried my very best to crack down the past history of the Shang Civilisation. On that day itself, I went back to the hotel to get my laptop back. I must have a laptop to do the research. I surfed in the Internet to get more info. I discovered that the Shang Civilisation is very old. It is c. 1523-1027 BCE. I was also curious about their religion that the people of the Shang Civilisation.

As soon as I scrolled down the page, I discovered that the Shang worshipped a figure they called "Shang Ti," or "Lord on High" who ruled over lesser gods of the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, and other natural forces and places. Shang-Ti also regulated human affairs as well as ruling over the material universe. This dual function would, in the Chou dynasty, be attributed to a more abstract figure, "t'ien," or "Heaven." The Shang also believed that their ancestors dwelled in heaven after their death and continued to show an interest in their family and descendants. Failing in one's duties to the ancestors could bring all sorts of disaster on a family. All of these divine and semi-divine figures, from Shang-Ti to a family's ancestors, were sacrificed to. However, we know little of the nature or the frequency of these sacrifices. We do know, however, that in that dynasty, only the king could sacrifice to Shang-Ti; it is highly likely that Shang-Ti was the "local god" of the Shang kings. The one troubling fact of Shang sacrifice is that it certainly involved humans; slaves and prisoners of war were often oblated by the hundreds when a king died.

Sorry, I am afraid I got to go. I will tell you what happened during the expedition.

Regards
Firdaus