The written history of China can be found as early as the Shang Dynasty ( c. 1700 – 1046 BC ), although ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian ( ca.

100 BC ) and Bamboo Annals assert the existence of a Xia Dynasty before the Shang.

Archaeological findings providing evidence for the existence of the Shang Dynasty, c. 1600 – 1046 BC, are divided into two sets.

The Shang Dynasty featured 31 kings, from Tang of Shang to King Zhou of Shang.

Those who lived during the Shang Dynasty also believed that their ancestors — their parents and grandparents — became like gods when they died, and that their ancestors wanted to be worshipped, too, like gods.

The Records of the Grand Historian states that the Shang Dynasty moved its capital six times.

The term Yin Dynasty has been synonymous with the Shang dynasty in history, although it has lately been used to specifically refer to the latter half of the Shang Dynasty.

By the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Zhou Dynasty began to emerge in the Yellow River valley, overrunning the territory of the Shang.

Early Shang Dynasty thought was based upon cyclicity.

This notion stems from what the people of the Shang Dynasty could observe around them: day and night cycled, the seasons progressed again and again, and even the moon waxed and waned until it waxed again.

The adoption of massed cavalry in China also broke the tradition of the chariot-riding Chinese aristocracy in battle, which had been in use since the ancient Shang Dynasty ( c. 1600 BC-1050 BC ).

The earliest evidence of the Chinese calendar is found on the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty ( late second millennium BC ), which seem to describe a lunisolar year of 12 months, with a possible intercalary 13th, or even 14th, added empirically to prevent calendar drift.

Record of Chinese history dated back to the Shang Dynasty.

Nihonshoki likened him to Di Xin of the Shang Dynasty, but the record in Kojiki has no such indication.

Some Taoist records claim Guanyin was a Chinese female who became an immortal during the Shang Dynasty.

In China, the use of oracle bones dates as far back as the Shang Dynasty, ( 1600 – 1046 BC ).

Although divination with the I Ching is thought to have originated prior to the Shang Dynasty, it was not until King Wu of Zhou ( 1046 – 1043 BC ) that it took its present form.

In Shang Dynasty China, at the site of Ao, large walls were erected in the 15th century BC that had dimensions of in width at the base and enclosed an area of some squared.

Sword production in China is attested from the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty.

The earliest known inscriptions for Chinese star names were written on oracle bones and date to the Shang Dynasty ( c. 1600-c. 1050 BC ).

For example: in Africa, the bronze heads of the Kingdom of Benin ; in Europe, Grecian bronzes typically of figures from Greek mythology ; in east Asia, Chinese bronzes of the Shang and Zhou dynasty — more often ceremonial vessels but including some figurine examples.

Most Chinese numerals of later period were descendants from Shang dynasty oracle numerals of 14th century B. C.

Yin and yang are ancient Chinese concepts which can be traced back to the Shang dynasty ( 1600 – 1100 BC ).

The dagger-axe, or GUH ( Chinese: 戈 ; pinyin: gē ; Wade-Giles: ko ; sometimes confusingly translated " halberd ") is a type of weapon that was in use from Shang dynasty until at least Han dynasty China.

Ji ( Chinese: 戟 ), the Chinese halberd, was used as a military weapon in one form or another from at least as early as the Shang dynasty until the end of the Qing dynasty.

Empress Deng Sui placed her son Shang Di ( barely 3 months old ) on the throne, as the fifth emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.

The first universally accepted true Chinese dynasty was the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty, 1766-1050 BC.

In fact, before it was discovered that Chinese pharmacists were selling oracle bones from Shang times, the Shang Dynasty was considered a myth.

Chinese ritual bronze wine vessel, Shang Dynasty, 13th century BC, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.

The Zhou Dynasty ( 1046 – 256 BC ) ( ) was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty.

In the Chinese historical tradition, the Zhou defeated the Shang and oriented the Shang system of ancestor worship towards a universalized worship, away from the worship of Shangdi and to that of Tian or " heaven ".

Other philosophers, theorists, and schools of thought in this era were Mozi, founder of Mohism ; Mencius, a famous Confucian who expanded upon Confucius ' legacy ; Shang Yang and Han Fei, responsible for the development of ancient Chinese Legalism ( the core philosophy of the Qin Dynasty ); and Xun Zi, who was arguably the center of ancient Chinese intellectual life during his time, even more so than iconic intellectual figures such as Mencius.

Below dates are those published by the Xia – Shang – Zhou Chronology Project ( dates in Chinese history before the first year of the Gonghe Regency in 841 BC are contentious ).

The Shang Dynasty ( Chinese: 商朝 ; pinyin: shāng cháo ) or Yin Dynasty ( 殷代 ; pinyin: yīn dài ), according to traditional historiography, ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia Dynasty and followed by the Zhou Dynasty.

Several events concerning the Shang dynasty are mentioned in various Chinese classics, including the Classic of History and the Commentary of Zuo.

In 1122 BC, King Wu of Zhou launched an attack on the Shang capital, and the Shang Dynasty collapsed.

* 1300 BC: The legendary King Pangeng moved the capital of Shang Dynasty to Yin.

Lord Shang Yang, a Qin statesman, introduced a number of militarily advantageous reforms from 361 BC until his death in 338 BC, and also helped construct the Qin capital, Xianyang.

Though King Wu died just a few years after the Battle of Muye, the Duke of Zhou assisted the young and inexperienced King Cheng in consolidating power for the Ji line: he managed a war against rebellious Zhou princes in the eastern lowlands ( allied with feudal rulers and Shang remnants ); formulated the Mandate of Heaven doctrine to counter Shang claims to a divine right of rule ; founded Chengzhou as an eastern capital ; and set up the fengjian " feudal " system designed to maintain Zhou authority as it expanded its rule over a larger amount of territory.

Archaeological work at the Ruins of Yin ( near modern day Anyang ), which has been identified as the last Shang capital, uncovered eleven major Yin royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices.

Sima Qian calls both the dynasty and its final capital by the name Yīn ( 殷 ), a popular term that has been synonymous with the Shang throughout history, and is often used specifically to describe the later half of the Shang dynasty.

According to the Records, the Shang moved their capital five times, with the final move to Yin in the reign of Pan Geng inaugurating the golden age of the dynasty.

Shang, the eponymous first capital of the former Shang dynasty, would become the capital of Weiziqi's state.

The site of Yin ( city ) | Yin, the capital ( 1350 – 1046 BC ) of the Shang Dynasty, also called Yin Dynasty

* 1300 BC — Pangeng moved the capital of Shang Dynasty to Yin.

* 1350 BC — Yin becomes the new capital of the Shang dynasty.

Large tempered earth ( i. e. rammed earth ) walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty ( c. 1600-1050 BC ), as the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion ( see siege for more info ).

* Anyang was the capital during the Yin period of the Shang Dynasty ( estimated between 1600 BC and 1046 BC ): called Yin ( 殷, pinyin: Yīn ).

Numerous heritages have been left behind including the ruins of Shang Dynasty capital city Yinxu and the Shaolin Temple.

In c 1600 BCE, King Tang of Shang defeated Jie, the final Xia Dynasty king, and built Western Bo (), a new capital on the Luo River.

Large tempered earth ( i. e. rammed earth ) walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty ( c. 1600-1050 BC ), as the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion ( see siege for more info ).

* Yinxu, the ruins of the Shang Dynasty capital Yin near today's Anyang, China