Not all inscriptions follow this pattern. In other occasions, there is only one statement suggesting a course of action. After the divination was completed, the king or the diviner would announce whether it was “auspicious” (ji 吉) or not to follow that course of action.

Almost all the writing that we have from the Shang Dynasty pertains to divination. This does not mean that the Shang dynasty only wrote in this context; most likely, other content was also recorded in writing (such as lineages, important events, and transactions), but it was done on perishable material that is since lost.

Together with the archeological evidence, these inscriptions confirm that by the Shang dynasty the level of social and political complexity was advanced. The group at the top of the society was the royal family; these are known to have rich individual tombs (as opposed to bare communal burials for the commoners), with artifacts that indicate a higher status: jades, metals, musical instruments, and weapons.

The Zhou dynasty

The Zhou dynasty 周朝 is one of the most crucial moments in ancient Chinese History. Many aspects from this time became later quintessential in Chinese culture. It was during the Zhou dynasty that Confucius lived, for example. It saw many changes, and there are in fact subdivisions to identify more precisely different historical moments.

But let’s start at the beginning. The Zhou were vassals to the Shang ruling family, until they rebelled against it. In 1045 BCE, they defeated the Shang in the Battle of Muye 牧野, which the tradition tells us was so violent that by then end of it the ground looked as a pool of blood. The ode number 236 in the Book of the Odes 詩經 is interpreted as a description of this battle, and the glorious viceroy by Zhou.

These later narratives aside, after the conquest of the Shang dynasty took place, the Zhou proclaimed themselves as the new ruling power. A major political innovation was the invention of the Mandate of Heaven 天命. The Zhou justified their actions by claiming that they were following Heaven’s will. Because the Shang royal family had become corrupted and unable to govern, Heaven had mandated a new ruler among the Zhou family. Overtime, this pattern will become a recurring theme: each time a new dynasty is established, the rulers justify taking over the previous one by claiming that they failed to uphold Heaven’s Mandate properly, and thus Heaven chose someone else to rule China.

During the first half of the Zhou dynasty (1045 – 771 BCE), the royal family was capable and powerful. The primary sources to study this period are bronze inscriptions 金文, i.e. inscriptions cast on bronze vessels that served various purposes. In 771 BCE, the Rong people and some of the Zhou nobles gathered to kill the Zhou king You 周幽王 (r. 781- 771 BCE). The Zhou family fled east, and re-established the capital in Luoyang. This determines the beginning of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771 – 221 BCE), and by consequence the previous centuries are referred to as Western Zhou dynasty (1045 – 771 BCE).

The Eastern Zhou dynasty is often referred to as the “philosophical foundations”, since many thinkers and intellectuals who will later become very important figures lived. This historical phase is furthered divided into two parts: the Springs and Autumns (771 – 457 BCE), and the Warring States (457 – 221 BCE). While the Zhou royal family maintains considerable power during the Springs and Autumns, by the mid 5th century BCE the entire territory is divided into smaller states all competing for supremacy – hence, the name Warring States. One of these states, the Qin 秦, will eventually prevail over all others and found the first empire in 221 BCE.