Nomadic nature led to the Shang Dynasty moving its capital? The origin of the Shang clan is revealed
If you like this work, please click "Follow" at the top right. Thank you for your encouragement and support, and we hope to bring you an enjoyable reading experience. Whether it is the recent high-profile "Nezha", or the earlier "Romance of the Fengshen", Erlang God, Jiang Ziya, etc., they all interpret and explain the history of the alternation of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
This history is actually quite simple in history, only the rising power of the Zhou tribe defeated the power of the Shang tribe. However, due to the limited historical records, later generations of literati were able to continue to polish and enrich the details of the story.
Since ancient times, the story of the gods has undergone a long evolution, culminating in the formation of today's colorful universe of ancient Chinese mythological characters. The Ji surname group of the Zhou people multiplied like flowers and was distributed all over the world, including Zheng, Chang, Cheng, Wei, Jian, Duan, Shi, Ning, Lu, Shi, Wang, Jiang, Zhan, Liu, Zhou, Feng, Tang, Meng, Wu, Yang and other surnames, all of which were descendants of the surname Ji of the Zhou Dynasty.
In contrast, the Shang Dynasty had much fewer surnames, with only some common surnames such as Kong, Zou, Niu, Song, Fan, Zhong, and Shang, and the proportion of the population was also negligible. Nowadays, the development of genetic technology has made it no longer difficult to find offspring.
So, where exactly did the Shang Dynasty originate? And where did the ancestors of these surnames come from? There are many theories about the origin of the Shang nation, among which the most accepted is the theory that it originated in Shangqiu, Henan.
The Shang nation originated from the gift of the Xuanniao, picked up eggs by the Jiandi River, and the heavens and people sensed the birth of the business contract. Although the legend is illusory, the vestiges of matriarchal society loom there. Although the era has entered the patrilineal line, there are still traces of matrilineal customs and economy in some areas.
For example, ethnic minorities in southwest China still have the tradition of walking marriage. "
When the deed grew up, he became a courtier under Shun, and when Shun was in Dayu's water control, he sent Deed to assist Dayu. After 13 years, the flood was finally controlled, and Qi Yingong was promoted to Situ (in charge of education) and was sealed to Shangyi.
The specific Shangyi is still controversial today. The Qi family took Shang as their clan name and engaged in various production activities near the Shang land, and established the Shang State after growing in strength, which became the central base of the Shang Dynasty in the future.
There is a theory that the Shang people lived here first, so this place is called Shangyi. In any case, at the time of the deed, they were already living in Shangyi.
There has been a long controversy over Shang land, and the mainstream view is that Shang Qiu was the capital and birthplace of the Shang Dynasty. However, scholars such as Zheng Xuan, Huang Pumi, and Li Taixiang believe that the Shang land was in Taihua Zhiyang (south of Huashan) or Shangluo, Shaanxi.
It was not until the modern Wang Guowei that a completely new point of view was put forward - Shang in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was a feudal state during the Zhou Dynasty, and after the fall of the Shang Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou was unable to eliminate the remnants of the Shang Dynasty, so Wu Geng, the son of the King of Shang, was left in Chaoge City to continue to worship his ancestors.
Therefore, there is still a controversy about whether the commercial land is in **.
King Wu of Zhou died, and after King Cheng of Zhou ascended the throne, Wu Geng and the three feudal states surnamed Ji jointly rebelled and were suppressed by Zhou Gongdan. Wu Geng was executed, and the remnants of the Shang Dynasty were divided into two parts, one part was under the jurisdiction of the Wei State, and the other part was under the jurisdiction of the Shang Dynasty's vassals Wei Ziqi and Wei Ziyan, and the fief was the Song State.
The Song State was the last association between the Shang Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty, so it is understandable that later generations regard the Song Kingdom as the ancestral land of the Shang Dynasty. Shang Tang was also in the Song Dynasty when he destroyed the summer, but this still needs more evidence to be determined.
There is a theory that Shang was in the Zhanghe River valley in Hebei, and this theory has been recognized by some scholars, who have found a basis for it based on the pronunciation of ancient Chinese. In ancient pronunciation, "Zhang" and "Shang" were pronounced the same, while in ancient times, it was common to name countries after rivers.
For example, Huaguo, Panguo, Laiguo, Huaiyi, etc., rivers were important water sources in ancient agricultural life, and it is natural to name them.
When exploring the connection between the Zhanghe River and the commercial land, we found that Yin Qi, the earliest Shang leader in the ancient books, had followed Dayu to control the water and was sealed in the commercial land. Considering the transportation conditions in ancient times, it is unlikely that the merchants living near Huashan in Shaanxi Province could have helped Xia Yu control the water.
Therefore, we can speculate that Yin Qi should have lived close to the Yellow River, or even right next to it.
According to the Yugong Chronicle, the Yellow River began to change its path after passing through the Luoshui into the Yellow River. It flows north from Junxian in Henan Province through the valley floor on the eastern side of Taihang Mountain, and finally reaches the precipitation and the mainland, and finally flows into Tianjin and flows through the sea. "
The area through which the Yellow River flows should be located in the northern part of Henan Province to the south-central part of Hebei Province. In the ancient pronunciation, the pronunciation of "Zhang" and "Shang" is similar, which further confirms that the Shangyi of the Dayu period and even earlier was indeed located in the Zhanghe River Basin.
According to records, after Dayu ruled the water, the whereabouts of the merchants were still verified in this area. During the Shaokang period of the Xia Dynasty, the seventh-generation leader of the Shang State often carried out ** activities near Hebei.
There are also relevant records in the Bamboo Book Chronicle: "In the twelfth year, the Marquis of Yin Haibin Yu Youyi, and the easy to kill and release, and in the sixteenth year, the Marquis of Yin Wei used the division of Hebo to cut down Youyi and kill his monarch Mianchen." ”
These historical documents and archaeological discoveries have confirmed that the merchants' activities were mainly in the northern part of Henan Province to the central and southern part of Hebei Province.
In the Yishui Basin of Hebei, Wang Hai, the leader of the Shang Kingdom, was unfortunately killed when he was a guest, and the monarch Mianchen secretly attacked. The news reached the king of Xia, who appointed Shangjiawei as the new leader of the Shang kingdom and inherited his father's business.
However, Shangjiawei has always been haunted by his father's death, and the flame of revenge burns in his heart, waiting for the opportunity for revenge. Four years have passed, and his strength has become stronger, and he believes that the time for revenge has finally come.
So, he began to plan to unite Hebo and other allies to fight against Youyi. Hebo had been friends with the Shang State for generations, and when he heard Shangjiawei's request, he immediately sent troops to support him.
In his impassioned speech, Shangjiawei expressed his determination and courage. With the support of Hebo, Shangjiawei led the army into a fierce battle with the Youyi Kingdom.
After a hard struggle, Shangjiawei succeeded in killing the monarch Mianchen of Youyi, annexing Youyi, and dividing the spoils with Hebo. The people of the Yi Kingdom were taken into slavery, and the power of the Shang State was further enhanced.
Judging from this information, it is likely that the three countries of Hebo, Youyi, and Shangguo are adjacent or very close to each other, otherwise their relationship would not have been so close. The annexation of an enclave in Hebei by the Shang state may have added to the difficulty of administration.
Youyi was located near today's Yishui, and Hebo was located along the Yellow River in the south of Shanxi, so the location of the Shang Kingdom must have been in the northern part of Henan, the southwest of Shandong and the area of Hebei.
This further proves that "Shang" is "Zhang", the Shang State at that time was in the Zhanghe River Valley of Hebei, and the Shang people were active in the southwest of Mount Tai to the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain during the period from Dayu to Xiachu.
Shangjiawei won the victory in this battle and won the momentum and national prestige. The Shang State was famous among the princes and princes at that time, and other tribes did not dare to easily invade their territory.
This successful alliance with Heber led to a stable military alliance between the two countries.
Shangjiawei, the eighth generation monarch of the Shang Kingdom, led the Shang Kingdom on a path of reform and expansion with his courage and resourcefulness, and gradually rose in the land of China. His descendants, such as Shang Tang, inherited and carried forward the legacy of their ancestors, overthrew the rule of Xia Wei, established the glorious Shang Dynasty, and opened a new chapter in the bronze civilization.
Although evidence of Shang activity suggests that the Shang civilization originated in Hebei, as a people who were frequent migrants, the Shang experienced eight migrations in its fourteen generations of history and did not settle in Yindi, which is today's Anyang, Henan, until the Pangeng period.
This shows the resilience and adaptability of the Shang people, and also witnesses the prosperity and stability of the Shang Dynasty.
1.There are two main views on the frequent migration of the Shang people. One is that the Shang people were nomadic and needed to constantly chase water and grassland for life.
In addition, evidence such as Xiangtu horse taming also shows that the Shang people had nomadic characteristics. There is also evidence that the Shang people may have traveled south from Chifeng in Inner Mongolia and even Liaoning before Yinqi.
Therefore, it is more likely that the Shang people originated as nomadic peoples. 2.Another view is that the migration of the Shang people was mainly due to the decline in soil fertility, and they could only engage in nomadic farming.
Precipitation was abundant in the Central Plains during the Xia and Shang periods, but excessive precipitation led to the loss of soil fertility. The Shang people, on the other hand, preferred to use slash-and-burn farming, that is, setting fire to a field in a wilderness, and the grass ash provided a lot of natural fertility to the soil.
Merchants farmed the area, and when the fertility was almost exhausted, they moved elsewhere and set fire to the mountain again.
Conclusion: Although there are many theories about the origin of the Shang people, such as the theory of royal disputes, rebellions, and the pursuit of copper mines, one thing is for sure, they were the Central Plains civilization that rose in the North China Plain.
Although modern genetic testing has shown that the Shang people have some Northeast genes, which may be related to the Hongshan culture, as the old saying goes, "Yi Di enters China, then China, China enters Yi Di, then Yi Di is Yidi", Shang culture is also an indispensable part of Chinese Chinese civilization.