Comparing and Contrasting the Shang and the Zhou Dynasty

The Shang made pottery and silk cloth. The pottery was made intricately and delicately with either porcelain or bronze. They also made silk cloth, which was made out of silk worms. Another invention that they made was the pictographs. It is pictures that looked like words that we use now. The Shang dynasty lasted 600 years which is quite long compared to the Qin dynasty which only lasted 19 years. They also used oracle bones. The oracle bones are made of animal shells or bones, then you inscribe words on it. After that you burn it, depending what shape it ends up, it decides your fate. The Shang dynasty was a united nation, unlike the Zhou they did not have any states. Their capital was Anyang which is in the Hennan province. They believed that if they sacrificed humans it would make the gods happy, and good things will happen. The Shang majorly improved the Art and Literature of China. The Zhou dynasty is a lot different. They were not a united nation, they had states and gave them lots of power. Like the Shang dynasty, they invented lots of things, but they were completely different. The Zhou invented the crossbow which was a weapon. Instead of trading food, clothes, fur, etc, they actually used coins. Their coins were made out of metal, and most of them had a hole in the middle. This was designed to string it together so you won’t lose them. They also invented iron. Which is much stronger than