The fall of the Shang Dynasty

Question: Discuss and write down why, how and what had happened to have caused an end to the Shang Dynasty. Present your findings on your blog. Support your conclusion with evidence (primary or/and secondary).

The last Shang king was killed in c. 1150 BCE. The dynasty that ruled next was the Western Zhou dynasty 1027- 771 BCE. The Zhou kings had almost the same culture to the Shang kings. Therefore, the change in dynasty did not result in the end of the Shang Civilisation. Around 771 BCE, some people killed the Zhou king. This forced the king's son to move his capital eastwards. His dynasty was known as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty 771-221 BCE. Fighting between the people continued and the last 232 years of the Eastern Zhou dynasty was known as the Period of the Warring States. During this period, the northern part of China was broken up into many competing kingdoms. In 221 BCE, a prince managed to get these kingdoms together to form the first Chinese empire under the the Qin dynasty 221-206 BCE.

Wells in Mohenjo-daro

Wells for water.

Indus Valley copper artifacts found at Gola Dhoro.

A group of terracotta figurines from Harappa

A group of terracotta figurines from Harappa

Probably sculptures of the people.

Recap Questions

1. What are primary and secondary sources?- Primary sources are information provided by people who were involved in historical events or who witnessed the events and secondary sources are the records of people who did not directly participate in or witness the events they describe.
2. How do historians make sure their sources are reliable?- They evaluate the evidence by checking if it is credible,consistent and corroboratable. if it passes the three Cs, the source is reliable but if it does not pass a single one, it is not reliable.
3. Why and when is it necessary for historians to revise their interpretations of past events?- It is necessary for the historians to revise their interpretations of the past events as new pieces of evidence are always being discovered which may change their view on the past.

... History... 30/06/09

...??What is history??...

• It is a record of important events that had an important effect on our society or the world we live in ...
• The study of past human EVENTS.

??Why do we study history??

• It is important for us to study history and UNDERSTAND that history is still relevant to us even in the current context.
• We are able to understand people in different eras and its' circumstancesto be able to LEARN from the past and anticipate the future, to make SENSE of a time radically different from our own. History gives us perspective to help us to UNDERSTAND HOW we got to where we are now...