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Shang Dynasty I INTRODUCTION Shang Dynasty (1570?-1045? BC), Chinese dynasty with the earliest-known written records. It is the most ancient of the Chinese dynasties for which documents are known to exist, marking the beginning of China's written history. The cultural, religious, and political practices of the Shang elites strongly influenced the Zhou, who conquered the Shang in about 1045 BC and established the Zhou dynasty. The Shang texts exist primarily in the form of carvings in the Shang script on animal bones and shells. These inscriptions recorded the king's divinations (ritual acts designed to forecast the future). They provide an account of the daily concerns of the last nine Shang kings, from the 21st king, Wu Ding, to the 29th king, Di Xin. Their period of rule, from about the late 1200s to about 1045 BC, is known as the Late Shang. The Shang state was centered in what is now called the Huabei...

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