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Exploring China

The Rise of the Zhou When the Zhou overthrew the Shang, the Zhou king divided up the land and gave it to his close family and relatives. He gave them all the title of “lord” and gifts such as chariots, textiles and slaves. Details of these gifts were often written on bronzes which were passed down from generation to generation. The Zhou kings lived in their capital and traveled out to the country to worship the mountains and rivers in different seasons. At the beginning of the Zhou’s reign more than 70 states were given to members of the royal family to rule. These people later fought each other for land and power. In 841 bce , King Li was thrown out of his palace by his own people and they governed the country for the next 14 years. There was constant conflict between the Zhou and many minority peoples (whom the Zhou called Barbarians). The next king, Ping, had to move his capital to Luoyang in 770 bce because nomads from the west invaded the old capital, Gaojing. T he Shang and Zhou people liked hunting rabbits, birds, tigers and rhinoceros.

The Earliest Chinese Writing Early Chinese writing has been found carved into bones at Anyang. Although there are some earlier inscriptions on Neolithic pottery, these bones show the earliest surviving example of the written Chinese language. Some of the words (called characters) carved into ox bones and turtle shells refer to religion (and so are called oracle bones) and some of them are historical records. If the Shang king wanted to know what the weather was going to be like his advisers made cracks on a prepared animal bone, or sometimes several bones, using a heated rod. Then they read the cracks: Tomorrow is a fine day, no rain. Tomorrow is not a fine day, it will rain. The information was written on the bones and put away for future reference.

T hese Shang oracle bones (fourteenth century bce ) record a family history (above and below).

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