Through the millennium, revealing the terrifying truth of the Shang Dynasty's human sacrifice, what is the mystery?
The Shang Dynasty is the second dynasty in Chinese history, with a history of thousands of years, but some of its contents may be unclear to us. But when we mentioned"Human martyrdom"The Shang Dynasty was undoubtedly closely associated with it.
The horror of feudal superstition can be seen in the history of the Shang Dynasty.
Human sacrifice"In short,"Human sacrifice"It is a ritual in which a living person sacrifices himself to a chosen unfortunate person.
The traditional custom of sacrificing has a long history in our Chinese nation. Sacrificial activities were practiced in all dynasties, but the Shang Dynasty was different, and the Shang Dynasty believed that sacrifices should be made in good faith, so living people were used as sacrifices. In fact,"Human sacrifice"The tradition can be traced back to the Xia Dynasty, but the Xia Dynasty's"Human sacrifice"It was not as widespread and widespread as it was in the late Shang Dynasty. However, in the Shang Dynasty,"Human martyrdom"It became an extremely popular custom.
There are many ways in which humans can sacrifice.
The sacrificial scenes of the Shang Dynasty can be described as disturbing, and the variety and quantity of human sacrifices are staggering.
If the Mayan sacrifice is compared to a horror movie, then the Shang Dynasty sacrifice is more like a shocking disaster movie. Compared to the Maya's method of digging out their heads, the Shang Dynasty's ** was much more cruel and extreme in the selection of targets, the names of instigators, and the total number of deaths.
The Shang Dynasty's human sacrifice system can be said to be a cruel one"Deprivation", which involves brutal means such as killing, beheading, burning, throwing water, dismembering, vertical dismemberment, and evisceration. Since these rituals are so frightening, it is difficult to describe each one in detail.
The Shang Dynasty did not have any restrictions on the choice of sacrifice objects, men, women and children could be sacrificed, and no one was spared. This callous, life-threatening act shows the cruelty of the Shang rulers and the absurdity of feudal superstition.
Human sacrifice"There are many reasons for this.
The main purpose of human sacrifice in the Shang Dynasty was based on deep-rooted religious and superstitious beliefs. At that time, the Shang Dynasty people believed in the existence of ghosts and gods, and believed that ghosts and gods could be satisfied through human sacrifice, so as to obtain the blessings and gifts of ghosts and gods. This belief is deeply ingrained in their daily lives, and human sacrifice is an important ritual of communication with the gods.
The Shang Dynasty hoped to evoke the favor of the gods by sacrificing living people, which would bring prosperity to the clan, victory in war, and personal peace and happiness. This was an important way for them to connect with the gods and ensure the future prosperity of the clan.
The original intention of the Shang Dynasty human sacrifice was still relatively orthodox and rational, mainly to pray for a good harvest of grains, abundant rain, and other agricultural and living needs in the coming year. In the social context of the time, such a reason was still accepted by the majority of people.
However, over time, human sacrifice has lost its original religious significance and has become more common. The Shang Dynasty people seem to have regarded human sacrifice as a universal ritual that was used to invoke the blessings of the gods, whether it was building a house, farming, warfare, or traveling. This over-reliance and abuse of human sacrifice not only showed the Shang rulers' disrespect for life, but also exposed the superstition and ignorance of the society at that time.
In this case, human sacrifice gradually became a daily activity and even a habit. The Shang Dynasty people would perform divination before making important decisions or carrying out important activities, and if the divination results were not satisfactory, they would not hesitate to choose to use human sacrifices, hoping to change direction and obtain the blessings and auspiciousness of the gods.
However, human sacrifice also inadvertently reveals the hierarchy and power structure of Shang society. People of low social status or who were considered criminals, such as prisoners of war, slaves, or criminals, were often chosen as sacrifices. This choice not only reflected the disregard for life of the Shang rulers, but also further consolidated their dominance.
The number of victims is huge.
The Chinese oracle bone inscriptions are amazing in their accounts of human sacrifice. Of the more than 1,350 prophecies inscribed on oracle bone inscriptions, about 1,990 involve human sacrifice. In the Shang Dynasty, there were 673 oracle bone inscriptions involving human sacrifice during the reign of King Wuding alone, of which 1,006 prophecies involved as many as 9,021 human sacrifices. Even more shocking is the fact that 531 oracle bones do not record the number of human sacrifices used, while the largest oracle bone inscription used 500 slaves.
The Shang Dynasty worshipped a variety of objects, from river gods, mountain gods, land gods to their own ancestors, all of which were regarded as gods to be worshipped. As a result of this superstition and worship, a large number of human animals were used for sacrifice. According to statistics, 2,500 sacrificial caves have been found in the Yinxu area of Anyang alone, in which the remains of more than 14,000 people are buried, all of whom are innocent victims.
But where did these sacrifices come from? Human sacrifice in the Shang Dynasty was divided into three main categories: prisoners of war, slaves, and people from remote areas. Sometimes, even members of the royal family were not spared human sacrifice, and they often offered human sacrifice to those who were considered great gods.
Generally speaking, human sacrifice became a daily ritual in the Shang Dynasty, so we can consider that the glorious civilization of 554, the Shang Dynasty was built on the bones of the victims and martyrs.
The fall of the Shang Dynasty was inextricably linked to human sacrifice, which further highlighted the horror of feudal superstition. In this cruel context, life is seen as an insignificant sacrifice, and people's beliefs and superstitions reach the point of no return. This contempt and trampling on life is not only cruel to the individual, but also to the destruction of the whole society.