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The Oracle Bones: Role Of The Shang Kings In Society

358 Words2 Pages
The Oracle Bones revealed a significant amount about the role the Shang kings played in society. It seemed that the Shang Kings had three major roles in society. They were to be the military commander, the fortune teller and then the connector between the spirits and humans. The idea that the Shang king’s were the high commanders of the military was evident in the bones as the inscriptions discuss how the king could raise “five thousand men to campaign against the Tufang” (Mobilizations). This particular inscription demonstrates how the king was not only the head of all military business, they also had the pull to conscribe. The inscription implies that inside the Shang kings power is the ability to created an army though what appears to be
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