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The Shang Dynasty

The Shang Dynasty was one of the first recorded dynasty's to reign in China, and lasted from about 1766 - 1027 BC. There was a dynasty before the Shang called the Xia, but little is known about them.

The capitol of the Shang Dynasty was Anyang. The buildings were all square and made of mud with wooden beams for support.

The peasants mostly lived outside of the city. The peasants outside the city mostly harvested argriculture products like millet, barley, and maybe rice. They had tools to help them harvest that were made of wood. They each had 9 "squares" to farm on. The peasants would keep the product of 8 squares, and the government would take the 9th square's product as their own. When compared to the people in the city, these were very primitive people.

Around the capitol city walls, were miniature city's callde palace-city's. They were exact copys of the capitol city, down to the very last building. Inside of these palace-city's were the military and religous centers, as well as the nobility's houses. The nobility loved to participate in hunts or warfare. Any creature they caught, whether it was an animal or a prisoner, was sacrificed to the gods. Much of the warfare they participated in was against barbarians (anyone but the chinese) or rebel cities. Instead of destroying an enemy city though, they just looted what they needed, like food, gold, and water. The nobility was the bulk of the army, with some captives to fill the spots.

The downfall of the Shang Dynasty as the dominant dynasty in China occured when a new dynast appeared to the west called the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou beliefs were a mix between the Shang Dynasty, and the beliefs of the outsiders to the north and the west. The Zhou eventually attacked and toppled the Shang Dynasty, and took over from there on. That was the end of the Shang Dynasty.