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The Zhou Dynasty: Similar To The Shang

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The Zhou Dynasty was similar to the Shang, but contained its own unique traits. By defeating the Shang in battle, the Zhou inherited the Shang’s material culture. This led to changes in multiple categories. To give you an idea of what the Zhou Dynasty was like compared to the Shang, I’m going to inform you of three topics consisting of the Zhou politics, lifestyle, and religion.
To begin with, I want to give you a look inside the Zhou Dynasty politics. The Zhou is divided into the Western Zhou (c.1050-771 BCE) and the Eastern Zhou (770-221 BCE). The creation of many states during the Western Zhou was a process by which a unified elite culture spread all over North China. Similar to the Shang, the Zhou kings offered themselves to their ancestors along with Heaven. The Mandate of Heaven is said to be created by the early Zhou leaders due to the cruelty of the past Shang king. Because of the Mandate of Heaven, the kings were referred to as the Sons of God. This placed fear into the people ruled by the kings. Because there was a wide …show more content…

The social hierarchies ranked citizens from the title of the king to separate rulers of the states. Following the rulers would be the hereditary officials, lower ranked aristocracy, men involved in the military, and lastly, ordinary people. As I mentioned before, sacrifices to the ancestors were very important in society. To give views from different rankings, the Book of Songs was created. This book contains the Chinese early poems. These songs were created with multiple themes. These themes consist of hymns used in court religious ceremonies, seasonal changes, farmers clearing fields, and spinning and weaving. Some songs gave information about the courtships that consisted in later China. Another aspect of the Zhou Dynasty lifestyle consists of farming. Not only did farmers prepare crops, they also hunted animals and collected grasses and rushes to create rope and

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