大象传媒

Watch: Life in the Shang dynasty

Back to top

What was life like for ordinary people?

Man building a house.
  • Life centred around farming, hunting and animals. Houses were built from mud.

  • The oldest written texts tell us that by the end, writing was fully developed.

  • There was music and astronomers looked at the planet Mars and comets.

  • People did not eat rice or drink tea. They ate bread, wheat, cheese and beer.

Man building a house.
Back to top

What happened at the royal palace?

King sitting on a platform with a cup and spear. There are two soldiers either side of him.
  • Around the palace of Yinxu, near Anyang, there were as many as 53 buildings.
  • The king was in charge of the army and led religious ceremonies.
  • Decorated tombs were built for the kings. They were buried with carriages and weapons for the afterlife. Servants and horses, were also buried alive with them.
King sitting on a platform with a cup and spear. There are two soldiers either side of him.
Back to top

How important was bronze?

Shang era bronze maker
  • Craftspeople made a lot of bronze. This was used to make cups, bowls and weapons.

  • Bronze items were used more for religious ceremonies than in everyday life.

  • Ordinary people used stone or wood to make their cups and bowls.

Back to top

Activities

Activity 1: Sort the Shang Dynasty foods

Back to top

Activity 2: Shang dynasty quiz

Back to top

Bitesize Primary games. game

Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.

Bitesize Primary games
Back to top

More on Shang Dynasty

Find out more by working through a topic