People+and+Events+China+ht


 * Intro || Summary || Maps ||= People and Events || Opinions || Sources ||

People and Events -
The family was central to China's society. Most important was the respect for ones parents, the elder men controlled everything in the house and all of the decision making was theirs. Women were expected to obey their father, husband and later on their own sons. Between the ages thirteen and sixteen the girls were to have an arranged marriage and would earn their status by bearing son's for their husbands family. Family was closely linked to religion, they believed their ancestors spirit had the ability to bring good fortune or disaster to the living members. They did not regard these spirits as mighty gods. Shang kings consulted the gods through oracle bones, animal bones and tortoise shells that priests would use to write messages and questions to the gods. China's hieroglyphs stood for sounds in their spoken language but had no contrast with the spoken or written language, one was able to understand without beingable to speak of word of it.


 * = [[image:shang_oracle_bone_r6ju.jpg width="545" height="334"]] ||
 * = **Earliest evidence of writing is seen on these oracle bones** ||