5 replies to this topic

[Mok]

A very good read. Clear and concise. Well done, lass!

Kudos!

[fireball]

1. Through Chinese Writing

The man who invented Chinese Writing (words) was from the Shang Dynasty. He invented pictorial symbols that symbolised water, earth and many more. And over time, they developed into Chinese words.

This one is a bit misleading. You probably want to say the recorded first group of Chinese writings showed up in Shang dynasty. We did not know who really invented the Chinese writings as yet. The legend had 蒼颉 (cang jie2) as the person who invented the Chinese characters, and he was supposed to be at the same time of Huang Di (黃帝), another mythical emperor but showed up in Sima Qian's Shiji. Xunzi 荀子 said that there were many people invented Chinese characters and Cang Jie was only the person who represented all those inventors.

Note: To be a true historian, you want to make very neutral statements and try to get your statements as close to the known facts as possible. You need to qualify any unproven theories (like "as I understand" or "this or that scholar claimed" or "it's a controversy theory", etc.) and quote a bit of your resources for the theories or information you stated. Every sentence should be supported by actual evidences in the most ideal situation. I really can not stand historians who come up with a theory with no evidences to support it -- I read a few of those books and thought them interesting but they were definitely wasting my money -- Many of those were written by Chinese professors (? why?) and some by Western professors! I think some of the Chinese professors might not have the rigorous training of writing professional research papers like the modern western scholars. In a way, Chinese do not question famous people as closely as the westerners do (IMO).

5. Through rearing silkworm to get silk

The people who lived before the Shang Dynasty already knew that silkworms were needed to rear silk to make clothes for the royalty. The Shang farmers reared silkworms on farms and used them to produce silk. They knew the value of the silk industry (it costs a lot!) and so they kept the methods of producing silk a secret. But I presume the secret must have been let out as now, we can see many silk factories over the world, thanks to the wonderful people of Shang Dynasty.

This one is better described than 1.

6. Through the Shang practice of ancestral worship

The people of the Shang Dynasty offered prayers to the souls of the rulers to seek their protection and blessings upon themselves. When the king died, he was buried with many objects (mostly precious) and even real people for his use in the next life, for them to serve the king. This practice was continued by the people in the later dynasties but of course, clay figurines replaced the real people. Shang Dynasty marked the beginning of ancestral worship.

You did not make a good connection about the worshipping the dead kings and worshipping the ancestors. I remember the Shang people did start to worship their own ancestors and not just the kings and the royal families.

Excellent work for organization and very cleanly written.

[Mok]

Dear Administrator Mok,

Thanks a million for your commendation!

Liu Bang

You're most welcome. Keep up the good work!