Shang dynasty · About 1600-1046 BC

Shang China: oracle bones and bronze

Shang kings asked their ancestors questions by cracking bones in fire, and carved the answers in the oldest Chinese writing. Students visit the Shang capital at Anyang, meet the general Fu Hao, and compare the Shang with a very different bronze culture at Sanxingdui.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 1300 BC to 1200 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Shang kings asked their ancestors questions by cracking bones in fire, and carved the answers in the oldest Chinese writing. Students visit the Shang capital at Anyang, meet the general Fu Hao, and compare the Shang with a very different bronze culture at Sanxingdui.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Yellow River, Anyang and Zhengzhou and explain why the Shang ruled there.
  • Explain what oracle bones were and why they matter for the history of writing.
  • Describe Shang bronze casting and the role of rulers such as Fu Hao.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

1300 BC

The Yellow River plain

Open the map in 1300 BC and find the Yellow River where it leaves the hills and crosses the North China Plain. The Shang kings ruled here. Why is this river sometimes called "China's sorrow"?

Open this view on the map
b

1250 BC

Anyang, the last capital

Zoom in on Anyang, north of the Yellow River. The last Shang capital stood here, where farmers once dug up "dragon bones" covered in writing. What do you think the writing was for?

Open this view on the map
c

1200 BC

Another bronze world

Travel southwest to the Sichuan basin and find Sanxingdui. People here cast huge bronze masks unlike anything at Anyang. What does that tell us about ancient China?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Shang kings asked the oracle bones about rain, harvests, war and illness. What does that show about their worries?
  2. Only the king and his diviners used the oracle bones. How might writing help a ruler hold power?
  3. Making bronze vessels needed copper, tin, molds and many skilled workers. What does that say about Shang society?
  4. Lady Fu Hao led armies and was buried in her own rich tomb. What does her story tell us about women in Shang China?
  5. The Zhou, who overthrew the Shang, said Heaven had taken away the Shang right to rule. Why would a new dynasty want such an idea?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Qin Shi Huang, who united China about 800 years after the Shang fell and made one standard script for his empire. Discuss: how did the writing first seen on oracle bones help later rulers hold China together?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.