Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC)

The Appearance of Earliest Letters & Bronze Wares

8 Emperor Zhou

A Notorious Tyrant in Early Era

Shang Dynasty followed Xia Dynasty. The last emperors both of Xia and Shang dynasties were evil tyrants, especially the evil-doings of Emperor Zhou of Shang Dynasty which was more notorious described in a popular traditional novel.

But Shang Dynasty was of great importance in Chinese cultural development:

Firstly, there appeared Chinese earliest written words known as “inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells”. The words featured recording sacrificial ceremonies paying tribute to the Heaven and Ancestors, and they seemed already to be a kind of well-developed language.

Researchers believed Chinese written words would appear much earlier, because there must be a long time process for the words’ evolution. So legend has it that an official named Cang Ji in Yao time had created written words.

Secondly, there appeared a variety of bronze wares with written words inscribed on them. There had been many unearthed precious Shang bronze wares, among them, the largest one named “Si Mu Vessel” measured 133cm in high, 112cm in length and weighted 832.84kg, which was believed to be used when a young aristocrat held ceremony paying a tribute to his mother. It was highly valued with the fine artistic style and exquisite manufacturing technique

Now let’s return to Emperor Zhou. The tyrant doted on a woman Da Ji who, according to a popular fiction, was an incarnation of a fox. She bewitched Emperor Zhou to kill royal family members and high officials. Emperor Zhou had used every cruel way he found. For example, he invented a special “bronze pillar punishment”, burning it red, then binding the victim on it. The victim’s body would be all scorched in minutes. He also dug a “snake pool”, pushing victims down to feed the vipers at random.

There was a popular traditional novel Granting Heaven Officials, telling stories about how Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty toppled Shang Dynasty and killed tyrant Emperor Zhou. The two antagonistic sides were members of two different Taoist factions, and the battles between the supermen and superwomen were full of romance and mystification. Many of those warriors were at last granted to be a variety of Heaven Officials, household name of Lucky Gods or Guardian Angles.