Shang Dynasty - China

The Shang dynasty is considered to be the first state-dynasty in the history of Chinese civilization. Archaeologists have discovered the first socially stratified and politically complex Chinese state. The Shang ‘empire’ was socially differentiated into commoners, a class of merchants, nobility and elites, and an emperor. This social structure influenced the political structure of the Shang state. We will merchants and elites emerging to sustain a complex political structure that the Shang dynasty gradually developed. Regardless of the structure of their state, the Shang state had a central authority which is symbolized by the king. Although the king traveled around the domain of his empire to publicize his authority and confirm his power, the capital was his home, and hence, became the center of the empire.

            Further, the emperor was a symbolic representation of both a political empire (the World and the earth) and the spirtual realm (the heavens). In other words, he held two powers: a secular position as the political and cultural center of the Shang state (the world), and a spirtual position as the head of the spirit-worship religion. The king was the intermediary between the earth and the heavens; he connected the people with the heavenly gods. Through this ideology, which was composed of two parts, the capital became the center of the Shang world and the outerlands symbolized the remaining parts.

            In order to firmly fulfil such an ideology, and due to the difficulty of controlling vast outer lands, the king developed a tributary systerm (semi-fuedal). In other words, because the emperor had difficulty organizing a military and political power to control the outer domains directly, he utilized a tributary system that eases the expansion of his empire.  Using this system, the empire lay further and beyond the city-state nature. Instead, it reaches out to the neighboring lands and imposes strong but indirect rule over them. Moreover, this practice of indirect contorl produced allied states or possibly territories that pay tributes through resources, goods and perhaps military support to the central Shang capital. The rulers of those outer provinces belonged to the elite class of the state. On the other hand, the merchant-class was used to endorse the communication among the provinces and between the provinces and the central capital. In other words, the Shang emperor utilized the merchant class and possessed absolute control over the circulation and the distribution of goods and resources. Evidentally, the king became successful in shifting their political power from being a city state to a more complex political organization.

            As we can see, there’s evidence that supports both the centrality of the capital and the possible existence of outer provinces. Furthermore, the Shang-military presence in the capital, which is supported by archaeological evidence, reflects a rather firm central authority and a strong identification with the capital and the emperor. At the same time, the absence of the military in the outerlands can further serve as evidence for the possible tributary territorial system that the Shang developed to expand their state. On the other hand, the Shang oracle bones, which also were mostly found in the capital, actually mention some warfare in the later phase of the Shang. This could also be a consequence that is attributed to the tributary system. Further, the warefare involved the outer territories who were fighting among themselves but still paid tribute and loyalty to the Shang emperor. Thus the outer territories while belonging to the Shang world system, still practiced partial autonomy over their land.

            In fact, this could also account and explain the demise of the Shang dynasty: because of their increasing power, the loyal territories stopped paying tributes to the Shang emperor and gradually revolted against him. To the point, this actually connects with the chronicles that describe the Zhou dynasty’s arrival to the rule of China. Chrnoicles tell that the Shang emperor committed suicide after his own supporters and military betrayed him and allied with the Zhou dynasty.             

Ancient Urbanization Clusters (China & West Africa)

            Traditional theories of urbanization and definitions of a city focus on the notion of centrality.  Those theories necessitates that every city requires the existence of an absolute, centralized, and possibly despotic power that ensure a centralized economy. Such notions imply the unification of the different people within the city is imposed on them rather than spontaneously emerging. Also, in such a scheme, self-identity couldn’t be questioned since members of the city were born into a rigid, and well-defined relationship to the rest of the community, especially to the king. Such definitions fail to account for cities in ancient Shang- China and West Niger civilizations. Both of these civilizations contained diverse populations of discrete specialized families which lived in great proximity and functioned together through exchange of goods. Within such a scheme, both of those civilization experienced a diversified subsistence level.

            To begin with, the city of Jenne-Jeno is the earliest identified settlement in West Africa. Because of the absence of a centralized political, social and economic power or even a unifying ideology or religion, scholars have declined to accept the sight as a city-sight. In Jenne-jeno we encounter the development of increasingly populated groups with a variety of collective skills that slowly developed into a “network of specialized parts.” To develop their city, those groups must have developed concepts of collective differentiation and probably created symbols that would facilitate communication among those different groups. This concept of collective differentiation means that members of one group, to preserve their unique ancestor-worship-cults, tried to establish a self-identity. Thus, despite their extensive communication and exchange of goods with other groups, each group maintained its unique character, “cities without citadels”.

            Because of their different and unique ancestor cults, members of those smaller groups or communities avoided assimilating themselves with other groups, and thus, integration into a single community was avoided. In an effort to preserve their individuality local communities maintained spatial boundaries that separated them from other. These small collective groups, however, still maintained strong relationship with other suppliers or clients, with whom the exchanged goods, by remaining relatively close to other groups. As a result, they were separate but close small collective groups of different specialties and of different spiritual practices. Gradually, one or two cities would develop or  merge into a larger settlement. This larger settlement is still surrounded by groups which, too, slowly developed into surrounding villages. This egalitarian system, which indicates flexibility and fairness, facilitated the intersection and overlap or resources, as well as communication of knowledge and kills. Hence, a clustering system of urbanization emerged peacefully and spontaneously, forming something similar to our modern day concept of a city ( downtown and suburbs!).

            Similarly, the settlements during the Shang dynasty in China, are marked by their dispersed scheme. Each of these small settlements had its own set of artisans, ancestor-worship-cult, and elite lineage. This suggest the presence of independent communities that were almost self-sufficient, “eco-social independence”. Moreover, as described earlier in the first essay, the Shang empire was rather a territorial state that allowed a great amount of flexibility. Thus one can propose that these independent communities, because of their proximity, decided to join a ‘federation’ initiated and led by the founders of the Shang state. Indeed this confirms the need of a tributary system as well as “publicity-tours” that the king often used to take to the different areas of his state. Further, because of the relative independence of the those communities, the Shang emperor had to develop a “distribution of goods” system that would facilitate communication and would confirm unity among the various communities. Also, because of the variety of ancestor cults that existed in the Shang state, the founders couldn’t claim absolute superiority over the different local cults. In fact, the founders tried to merely unify them, by claiming the divine relationship between the emperor and the heavenly Gods.