﻿480 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  There 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  even 
  then, 
  just 
  as 
  there 
  were 
  later 
  on, 
  

   contacts 
  with 
  the 
  rich 
  metalliferous 
  regions 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  Valley, 
  

   just 
  mentioned; 
  and 
  cowries 
  (Cypraea 
  moneta) 
  and 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  

   whale 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  Shangs 
  were 
  in 
  touch, 
  directly 
  or 
  indirectly, 
  

   with 
  the 
  sea. 
  The 
  presence 
  of 
  jade, 
  not 
  known 
  ever 
  to 
  have 
  occurred 
  

   in 
  China 
  proper, 
  suggests 
  that 
  the 
  Shangs 
  obtained 
  that 
  substance 
  

   from 
  central 
  Asia. 
  Also, 
  supplies 
  of 
  salt 
  are 
  necessary, 
  for 
  dietetic 
  

   reasons, 
  to 
  a 
  people 
  subsisting 
  mainly, 
  as 
  the 
  Shangs 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  

   done, 
  on 
  a 
  cereal 
  diet. 
  

  

  Attempts 
  to 
  obtain 
  such 
  raw 
  materials 
  from 
  abroad 
  were, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  often 
  not 
  true 
  commercial 
  ventures 
  but 
  great 
  plundering 
  raids, 
  

   undertaken 
  as 
  state 
  enterprises, 
  with 
  regular 
  armies. 
  The 
  penetra- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  Valley 
  by 
  certain 
  Shang 
  kings 
  was 
  probably 
  of 
  

   this 
  character. 
  

  

  Arts 
  and 
  crafts. 
  — 
  Among 
  arts 
  and 
  crafts, 
  bronze 
  working 
  was 
  

   carried 
  to 
  a 
  pitch 
  of 
  technical 
  and 
  esthetic 
  excellence 
  hardly 
  if 
  ever 
  

   equaled 
  in 
  later 
  times, 
  in 
  any 
  land. 
  Bronze 
  is 
  an 
  alloy 
  of 
  copper 
  and 
  

   other 
  metals, 
  usually 
  tin 
  and 
  lead. 
  It 
  is 
  uncertain 
  whether 
  Shang 
  

   metallurgists 
  knew 
  the 
  two 
  latter 
  as 
  separate 
  metals 
  or 
  whether 
  they 
  

   used 
  copper 
  ores 
  containing 
  them 
  as 
  impurities. 
  

  

  The 
  Shangs 
  also 
  cast 
  magnificent 
  bronze 
  ritual 
  vessels 
  for 
  use 
  in 
  

   ancestor 
  worship. 
  These 
  vessels 
  bear 
  two 
  styles 
  of 
  ornamentation 
  

   which 
  regularly 
  appear 
  in 
  combination. 
  Of 
  these, 
  one 
  was 
  a 
  highly 
  

   conventionalized 
  animal 
  style, 
  the 
  other 
  geometric 
  in 
  design 
  and 
  

   apparently 
  akin 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  Neolithic 
  art 
  of 
  southeastern 
  Asia. 
  Some 
  

   and 
  perhaps 
  all 
  designs 
  were 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  magical 
  power, 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  over 
  the 
  weather, 
  most 
  important 
  to 
  a 
  predominantly 
  agricul- 
  

   tural 
  community 
  such 
  as 
  were 
  the 
  Shangs. 
  There 
  seems 
  nothing 
  to 
  

   suggest 
  that 
  oramentation 
  was 
  ever 
  applied 
  for 
  purely 
  decorative 
  

   effects. 
  

  

  The 
  wants 
  of 
  the 
  ruling 
  class 
  were 
  supplied 
  by 
  highly 
  skilled 
  

   craftsmen 
  and 
  artisans 
  of 
  many 
  kinds; 
  for 
  specialization 
  of 
  tasks 
  

   was 
  already 
  being 
  carried 
  to 
  a 
  high 
  pitch. 
  The 
  needs 
  of 
  the 
  

   peasantry 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  poor 
  probably 
  differed 
  little 
  from 
  those 
  

   of 
  their 
  Neolithic 
  ancestors. 
  

  

  Pottery. 
  — 
  The 
  painted 
  pottery 
  of 
  Neolithic 
  times 
  had 
  practically 
  

   disappeared 
  from 
  northern 
  China 
  by 
  Shang 
  times, 
  most 
  likely 
  during 
  

   that 
  as 
  yet 
  little-known 
  "dark 
  age" 
  already 
  mentioned. 
  The 
  coarse 
  

   gray 
  ware, 
  also 
  Neolithic 
  in 
  origin, 
  continued 
  however 
  under 
  the 
  

   Shangs, 
  as 
  it 
  did 
  in 
  fact 
  all 
  over 
  northern 
  China 
  until 
  well 
  after 
  the 
  

   Christian 
  Era. 
  The 
  potter's 
  wheel 
  was 
  regularly 
  employed 
  by 
  the 
  

   Shang 
  potters. 
  

  

  A 
  limited 
  use 
  was 
  also 
  made 
  of 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  glaze, 
  which, 
  however, 
  

   disappeared 
  with 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  the 
  Shangs; 
  and 
  when 
  glaze 
  is 
  again 
  

  

  