Shang Dynasty |
What was the Shang Dynasty’s religion like?
Today the Chinese religion is a mix of Chinese folk religion, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Communist anti religious sentiment. Taoism religion tradition that has made the Chinese life for more than 2,000 years. Taoism influenced the culture deeply, especially on traditional medicine and literature.
Buddhism is a chinese religion today. Buddhism religion has four noble truths that they believe in they are truth of suffering, truth of the cause of suffering, truth of the end of suffering, and truth of the path leading to the end of suffering. The first noble truth is that the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death. Whether it is a cold, an injury, or a sad event must be borne alone. If you have a cold it is your cold and only you experience how it feels for you. Buddha found out the causes of suffering are craving and desire, and ignorance.
The people of the Shang dynasty worshipped the “Shang Di,” he was supreme god who ruled over lesser gods of the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, and other natural forces and places. People in the Shang Dynasty worshipped their ancestors because, they believed that although their ancestors lived in heaven after their death, they were still actively involved in the affairs of family and descendants. Kings of the Shang Dynasty communicated with their ancestors using oracle bones and made frequent sacrifices to them. In many other societies they sacrificed animals to royal ancestors.
Since the Shang Dynasty believed in the afterlife and ancestor worship, they thought very seriously about burial and what was to accompany the deceased of his or her grave. The vast and elaborate tomb of the shang royal family are signs of their strong beliefs. The many treasures buried in important people’s tombs were the remains of many other people.
Others were nameless individual who have been captured during the battle and they were used as human sacrifices and burials. If they weren’t individual they are relatives or lower ranking dependents of the deceased. The practice of the lower ranking people showed the Shang’s belief that those who were related to a king or lord by blood or service in life were expected to continue that relationship in death.