Shangc. 1600–1046 BC

Shang: Timeline of Events (c. 1600–1046 BC)

Bronze civilization at its height; oracle-bone script matures

Events in this period

• Tang of Shang Overthrows Xiac. 1600 BC

  Jie of Xia was cruel and lost the people's support; Tang, leader of the Shang tribe, rallied other tribes, defeated Jie at Mingtiao and founded the Shang dynasty c. 1600 BC.

• Pangeng Moves the Capital to Yinc. 1300 BC

  The early Shang moved its capital many times; King Pangeng relocated it to Yin (present-day Anyang, Henan), where it stayed over 200 years and Shang rule stabilized.

• Oracle Bone ScriptShang (discovered 1899)

  Oracle bone script, carved on turtle shells and bones in Shang and Zhou times and found by Wang Yirong in 1899, is China's earliest known systematic writing.

• Houmuwu Ding and Shang–Zhou BronzesLate Shang

  Shang and Zhou bronzes were varied and highly skilled; the Houmuwu ding, 832.84 kg, is the heaviest known ancient Chinese bronze, and the Four-Ram Zun is exquisitely shaped.

• Sanxingdui SiteShang (excavated 1986)

  In 1986 sacrificial pits at Sanxingdui in Guanghan, Sichuan yielded a gold scepter, a bronze sacred tree and many bronze figures and masks, showing the distinctive ancient Shu civilization.