Photo on the left: Stone statues Photo on the right: The king of the Shang
of the Shang Dynasty army Dynasty
Religion of the Shang people
People of the Shang Dynasty had two types of religions involving their ancestors; Animism and Veneration. Animism is the belief that spirits are in all objects of the natural world. Veneration is the belief that the spirits of family members who died continue to surround the living relatives and affect their lives. They also had many gods that they worshipped. They worshipped the gods of wind, clouds, sun, and moon. One of the main gods they worshipped was Shang Di. He was a great god who controlled human destiny and the forces of nature. Sacrifices were often made to Shangdi and the people would also call upon their ancestors to have them plead to Shangdi on their behalf. Public festivals would be held to honor the gods. A festival in spring was held to ask for healthy crops, and another was held in fall to thank the gods for a plentiful harvest. Priests were very important in Shang religions. They tried to predict the future by interpreting messages from the spirits of ancestors. They did this by heating oracle bones and them bringing them to the king, so he could interpret what the cracks in the bones meant. (Oracle bones were either the shoulder of a cow or a turtle shell.)
For more information go to http://ww2.wyomingcityschools.org/~zollerjw/Q1Files/ReligionShang.pdf
For more information go to http://ww2.wyomingcityschools.org/~zollerjw/Q1Files/ReligionShang.pdf