# Chinese Ancestral & Shangdi Religion · The Canon · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

Source: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/atlas/library/canon/chinese-ancestral-shangdi-religion/ · The Congregation of Tomorrow · the Atlas · language: en
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← The Canon: all 125
The Canon · No. 012
Chinese Ancestral & Shangdi Religion
Shang and Zhou state religion
c.1600 – c.256 BCE · East Asian · Extinct · North China plain
II. THE FIRST CIVILISATIONS — c.3000 – 1000 BCE
### How many
### Who began it
### What it is for
### What it worships
### What it holds
### What it does
### After death
### Its texts
### Its branches
### Of note
### Its timeline
- c.1600 BCE Shang dynasty; oracle bone divination fully developed.
- c.1250–1192 BCE Reign of Wu Ding; the largest oracle bone archives, including the tomb of his consort and general Fu Hao, found intact in 1976.
- 1046 BCE Zhou conquest; the Duke of Zhou articulates the Mandate of Heaven.
- c.771 BCE Zhou capital sacked; central authority collapses into the Spring and Autumn period.
- 1899 CE Wang Yirong recognises oracle bones being sold as dragon bones in Beijing apothecaries, opening the field.
### Sources
Verified 2026-09-13, against these.
- Wang Yirong
- Tomb of Fu Hao
- Wu Ding (reign c.1250–1192 BCE; oracle bones radiocarbon-dated 1254–1197 BCE)
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