Below is a strict timeline of All Dynasties, naming the Capital Cities and their (former) Locations in China (where possible). Dates of Reign Periods as well as main events of the Rule are given.
Shang Dynasty Summery of Reign
1766 BC - 1121 BC
Xia (Hsia) Dynasty 2205 to 1766 BC
Founder: Yu the Great. No additional information
Achievements: The first cities of China appeared during the Xia Dynasty. The Xia were not by far a Dynasty in any feudal sense of modernity. Life was primitive, the number of citizens modest. City size was small and agriculture still relatively primitive. Still however, during the Hsia Dynasty Period there was a culture of systematic agriculture, a settled life in which villages existed at least from around the years 3000 BC and where the people constructed a vast system of drainage canals in order to protect their lands and villages from the recurring flooding's that China is still prone to today.
Capital City: First Xi'an in Shaanxi Province , later moved to LuoYang, on the Yellow River in current day Henan Province.
Achievements: In the End the State of Shang was subjected by the neighboring Zhou State, a former client state of the Shang on it's North-Western Border. The Last Shang King, allegedly a cruel and wicked Ruler with a favorite concubine to match his character was beheaded at their Capital in current day Shaanxi Province. The Zhou would go on to expand their state eastwards to include territories in today's Hebei Province and south-ward to reach the Yangtse River Valley (Chang Jiang He). During the Rule of Chou the first round copper coins, with square holes in the middle for the use of putting them on a string to carry around, appeared.
Capital City: At first located near Shanqui, in the South-East part of modern day Henan Province. Later moved (through several other locations) to Anyang in North Henan Province.
Achievements: Bronze Age in China, starting around 1500 BC. Invention of script and beginning of first recorded history.
Bronze vessels from this age sometimes carry primitive signs understood as to name ownership of the item.
Near Anyang, the Capital of the Shang in North Henan Province, inscribed sea-shells and bones have been uncovered, further supporting evidence for the invention and development of script in the Shang Age. The earliest found oracle bones date from around 1300 BC, forming the earliest evidence of written Chinese language (script). After excavations and archeological research could began in earnest in 1928 AD many Oracle Bones were unearthed, yielding an early Chinese Vocabulary of no less than 2500 words. The 2500 words probably represent the oldest surviving language in the world, being modified and simplified, but still in use today.
In the Shang EraChinese civilization is concentrated in the fertile lower reaches of the Yellow River and its Basin in what is now Shaanxi Province, South-Shanxi Province and Henan Province. The Shandong Peninsula (Province) has its own population centres and most of North China is in reach of Shang Rule and Culture.
The valley of the Huai He, south of the Yellow River, is densely populated (for the time and age).
In Shang Times religion was still in the form of ancestor worship, to which many oracle bone finds are proof. The King was not an Emperor, although he had his own semi-sacred advisors and small army. The King of Shang too was a divine semi-god like creature who was in contact with nature and the elements.
The first city walls appear in the Yangshao Culture and are further developed by the Shang.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood. The people working the Land however are not peasants, but in fact slaves tied to the lands by their rulers. The Shang Society is a slave owning society where the slaves are vital to economic production. Irrigation works and damming of the yellow river is undertaken on a small scale.
The Shang were China's first truely cultivated society, to which their many artworks and crafted objects are testament. Artisans of the Shang Dynasty created advanced Bronzes, masterpieces that have become the hallmark of the Shang Dynasty Era. The Shang artisans and metallurgist developed their own unique complicated design, that of the animal head seen from the front, the T'ao-T'ieh. Other finds are shards of exquisitely painted pottery. Arts and Crafts were highly developed during the Shang Era using materials such as Jade, Bronze, Gold, Porcelain, Marble, Limestone, Wood
Map of the Shang Dynasty homelands in the lower reaches of the mighty yellow river. Because of its importance to early Chinese Civilization the Yellow River & Basin are considered the birthplace of ancient China and Chinese Culture.
and Silk. The unrivaled beauty and artistic value of the finds surpass any found in the West, where similar skills developed only some 2000 years later.
The Shang had a Centrally organized state in which the Shang Ruler, in power from the Capital of Anyang, distributed power through no less than 6 other Capital Cities, all of whom were the home of subjugate rulers, aristocrats who had a further following of hierachy of officials who together managed trade as well as warfare. The advanced bronze casting techniques of Shang gave them a military advantage as well, with the first bronze spears and swords created in China.
The Tombs of Shang rulers contain multitudes of human sacrifices, presumed to have been house-hold slaves or prisoners of war, aligned inside the Tombs along with chariots and ritual objects for use in the afterlife. Among these, due to the strict structure of Shang Society in which the ruling class had complete control over the production of the artisans, especially bronzes and jade objects.
Chinese people, the Yin, reach the Americas floating on rafts from islands in the pacific following the Japan current to Alaska and the North-american west coast. Their ancestry can be traced in the features and DNA make up of native American people of today.
