The Shang dynasty of China is the first dynasty for which there are any historical records. Another source gives the dates as from 1600 BC to 1046 BC (Wikipedia, 2006). The Shang dynasty came after the Xia dynasty, about which little is known, and before the Zhou dynasty (Wikipedia, 2006). Even with some historical records, other information is based on legends. According to these legends, its founder was T'ang, who supposedly defeated the Hsia Ruler Chieh (Shang, 2005). .

             T'ang and those who followed him governed the first real city-state in what is now Henan province, and may have ruled other, smaller areas as well (Shang, 2005). The Shang frequently fought against the Huns and the Chou, who eventually defeated the last Shang ruler (Shang, 2005). .

             The Shang dynasty was at first believed to be a myth because no real evidence of their existence could be found. That changed when a farmer found ritual bones used by the Shang and began marketing them as dragon bones with medicinal powers. The bones had early writing on them and had been burned, and were cracked (MSU, 2003). Eventually, archaeologists found 11 royal tombs as well as the remains of palaces and ritual sites. Along with weaponry for warfare they found many thousands of pieces of bronze, jade, carved stone, pottery and bones. The bronze pieces in particular were very well made (Wikipedia, 2006).

             In fact, much of what is known about the Shang Dynasty came from studying the pieces of bronze and the oracle bones found. The bones were used in fortune-telling and typically were turtle shells or the shoulder bones of cattle. They had on them the first Chinese writing ever found. The writing contained three sections: a question to be asked, the answer the oracle found in the burned bone's cracks, and whether the prediction turned out to be correct later on. The oracles often used bones from oxen or monkeys, but no oracle bones were found coming from cats or dogs (Wikipedia, 2006).