Shang dynasty
▶ Explore on the mapThe Shang dynasty ruled the Yellow River valley from about 1600 to 1046 BCE and is the earliest Chinese dynasty confirmed by archaeology as well as by later texts. The kings moved their capital several times, finally settling at Yin near modern Anyang, where the royal tombs and workshops have been excavated since 1928. From the oracle bones found there, turtle shells and ox scapulae on which diviners asked the ancestors about harvests, war and weather, come the earliest known form of Chinese writing, more than 4,000 characters of which have been identified. The kings were both political and religious heads, and they sacrificed animals and sometimes people to their ancestors. Bronze casting reached a high pitch: the foundry at Anyang used piece-moulds to make ritual vessels of great weight and precision, and bronze weapons gave the Shang armies an edge. The chariot, the horse and the calendar of ten stems and twelve branches all appear in this period. The last king was defeated by the Zhou at Muye about 1046 BCE; according to later tradition he burned himself in his palace, and the Mandate of Heaven was invoked to explain the change. Royal tombs at Anyang held chariots, dogs and human victims buried with the king.