3. The age of the Shang dynasty, the first dynasty firmly supported by historical evidence

(1600 BC to 1046 BC)

– Meanwhile:

Middle East: the New Kingdom of Egypt, the reign of Ramesses II

Mediterranean region: the heyday of Mycenae, the Trojan War

Carpathian Basin: the Late Bronze Age

The first Chinese dynasty to exist beyond any doubt was the Shang dynasty. With their emergence, in fact, begins a long period of Chinese antiquity. Although far from being politically unified, the state founded by a tribe of a similar name marked a new era in China’s history, both economically and culturally. Not only did this cycle mark the beginning of the Bronze Age in China (a whole series of magnificent bronzeware date from this period), but it also provides us with the first evidence of Chinese literacy. Most of the latter are so-called oracle bones, one of which bears the name of Wu Ding, the first ruler of the dynasty known from archaeological finds from the same period (1250-1192 BC).

In the last decades of the Shang dynasty, the Zhou dynasty grew more powerful, and by the mid-11^th century BC its army had defeated the forces of the last, weak ruler of the Shang dynasty.