A line of hereditary Shang kings rules…

A line of hereditary Shang kings rules over much of northern China, and Shang troops fight frequent wars with neighboring settlements and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Asian steppes.

The capitals, one of which is at the site of the modern city of Anyang, are centers of glittering court life.

Court rituals to propitiate spirits and to honor sacred ancestors are highly developed.

In addition to his secular position, the king is the head of the ancestor- and spirit-worship cult.

Evidence from the royal tombs indicates that royal personages were buried with articles of value, presumably for use in the afterlife.

Perhaps for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been slaves, are buried alive with the royal corpse.