Shang Dynasty Research Paper

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The Shang Dynasty ruled from 1750 to 1046 BCE mostly in the northern China plains and some parts of southern China but north of the Yangtze River. The Shang was an aristocratic dynasty. Aristocratic means to be brilliant, luxurious and savage. But to truly understand this definition you have to know what each of these words mean. Luxurious means to be extremely elegant, comfortable or enjoyable. Savage is defined by fierce, violent, or uncontrolled. Brilliant means to be extremely intelligent or talented. The Shang was aristocratic. It was brilliant, luxurious and savage. The Shang was brilliant because they could sky watch to make calendars and The Shang was savage because they sacrificed slaves and prisoners of war to the ShangDi. They were …show more content…
Brilliant means to be extremely intelligent or talented. One example of brilliance is when the Shang rulers appointed groups of men to study the sky and heavens. Every night these sky watchers went out and observed and recorded what they saw. These astronomers used their observations of the moon to make calendars. This is brilliant because the sky watchers were able to find patterns in the moon and create a calendar out of it. The sky watchers must have been very smart and talented which makes them brilliant. Another example of brilliance in the Shang was using lacquer to protect clothes. The Shang most likely discovered glazing pottery after noticing when soot in the air lands on a clay pot and is fired, the pot ends up having shiny spots. The Shang potters observed this and started painting ash onto pots to glaze them. The lacquer was water, acid and heat resistant. Soon after the Shang craftsmen started applying lacquer to bronze, leather, bamboo, paper and cloth. This shows brilliance because the Shang noticed the lacquer and found ways to use it on most of their crafts to protect them. The Shang craftsmen were intelligent to spot the shiny pots and were clever by figuring out how to use the lacquer. This proves the Shang was a brilliant
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