Year 6 Autumn 2 History Enquiry

Key Question: How did a pile of dragon bones help to solve an Ancient Chinese mystery?

The 500 years of the Shang Dynasty is of great significance in a number of ways. In particular, they mark the beginning of recorded history in China. Nothing survives that was written on parchment or papyrus, but hundreds of thousands of inscribed animal bones and tortoise and turtle shells (known today as oracle bones) remain. These provide an insight into the life and times of royalty and nobility and especially their spiritual belief in the capacity of ancestors to intercede with the gods to bestow good fortune. Shang society was very clearly defined along social lines. The great mass of ordinary people were mainly illiterate commoners engaged in farming, crafts and labouring, ruled over by a tiny minority of royalty and noblemen acting as advisers and ministers to the king. At the very base of the pyramid of society were significant numbers of slaves and prisoners who undertook the most strenuous tasks and sometimes served as human sacrifices.