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During the Shang Dynasty, human sacrifice and human martyrdom ceremonies were an important part of the sacrificial ceremonies held by the aristocracy at that time, and the cruelty of human sacrifice and human martyrdom customs was enough to shock later generations.
During the Shang Dynasty, the nobles regarded human sacrifice as a bridge to communicate with the gods, and the nobles killed slaves, prisoners of war, wives and concubines, etc., and sacrificed their blood and flesh to the gods in exchange for the blessing and guidance of the gods, so as to enhance their status and wealth.
During the Shang Dynasty, the human sacrifice system continued until the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and even among the people, there was a custom of human martyrdom, so how cruel was the human sacrifice during the Shang Dynasty?
What kind of social phenomena does the cruelty of human sacrifice and human martyrdom during the Shang Dynasty reflect, and what kind of warning do these bloody customs leave us?
1. The human sacrifice system during the Shang Dynasty.
During the Shang Dynasty, human sacrifice was ostensibly to communicate with the gods, but in reality it was for the rulers to legitimize their power in order to maintain their dominance.
During the Shang Dynasty, the objects of human sacrifice were mainly slaves and prisoners of war, and over time, the objects of human sacrifice gradually expanded to include wives and concubines, children, etc.
During the Shang Dynasty, the status of slaves was similar to that of livestock, and they had to provide labor for the nobles and engage in agricultural work, and their life and death were not important to the nobles, so the nobles did not care about the life and death of the slaves.
For the prisoners of war, their life and death were even more insignificant, and the nobles had to slaughter the prisoners of war as a sign of contempt for the prisoners of war, so that they could better show their strength and brutality, and at the same time improve their status.
During the Shang Dynasty, most of the gods worshipped by the nobles were "gods of heaven and earth", and they believed that the gods of heaven and earth could only receive blood and flesh, so the nobles would take slaves and prisoners of war as objects of human sacrifice and sacrifice their blood and flesh to the gods.
During the Shang Dynasty, there were many ways of human sacrifice, some nobles would tie the human sacrifice object to the altar and cut off the head of the human sacrifice object with a stone knife, while others would take the heart of the human sacrifice object out of the chest, and some would disassemble the limbs of the human sacrifice object.
In order to make the gods better feel the pain of the human sacrifice object, the nobles will burn the human sacrifice object to death, bury the human sacrifice object alive, drown the human sacrifice object, etc., and the cruelty of the human sacrifice of the nobles is also getting higher and higher.
During the Shang Dynasty, the custom of human martyrdom also existed, and the custom of human martyrdom continued until the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and even among the people, there was a custom of human martyrdom.
During the Shang Dynasty, the object of martyrdom was mainly the king, and when the king died, his courtiers, wives and concubines would be martyred to accompany the king.
2. What do the cruel customs of the Shang Dynasty reflect?
The brutality of human sacrifice and martyrdom during the Shang Dynasty was appalling, with aristocrats killing innocent slaves, prisoners of war, wives and concubines, etc., offering their blood and flesh to the gods in exchange for their blessings and guidance, as a way to enhance their status and wealth.
The aristocrats of the time did not feel that there was anything wrong with their actions, on the contrary, they believed that their actions were extremely correct, and they believed that by doing so, they could better communicate with the gods, obtain the blessings of the gods, and at the same time improve their status and wealth.
The aristocrats of the Shang Dynasty regarded human sacrifice as a bridge to communicate with the gods, and at the same time, they also believed that the object of human sacrifice was their slaves and prisoners of war, and they were just passers-by, and their life and death did not matter.
The custom of human sacrifice during the Shang Dynasty was abolished in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, but the custom of human martyrdom continued until the Ming Dynasty, and the folk still had the custom of human martyrdom.
Reflecting on the cruel rituals of history can help us better cherish and uphold human rights and dignity in today's societies and avoid similar tragedies from happening again.
During the Shang Dynasty, the reason why the nobles wanted to perform human sacrifice was to maintain their status and wealth, and on the other hand, out of reverence for the gods, believing that human sacrifice was a noble act that could obtain the blessing of the gods and enhance their status and wealth.
During the Shang Dynasty, the human sacrifice system continued until the early years of the Ming Dynasty, so when was the human sacrifice system abolished during the Shang Dynasty?
During the Shang Dynasty, the human sacrifice system had existed for a long time, and the rulers of the time also believed that human sacrifice was an effective way to obtain the blessings of the gods, so they were reluctant to abolish the human sacrifice system.
However, as time passed, the cruelty of the human sacrifice system also increased, and doubts about the cruelty of human sacrifice also appeared within the Shang Dynasty, which also led to the success of the Wu Zhou and Shang Dynasty.
The success of the Wu Zhou Dynasty was also related to the reduction of human sacrifice within the Shang Dynasty, and the success of the Wu Zhou Dynasty showed that there was a split within the Shang Dynasty, and the legitimacy of the human sacrifice system was also questioned.
Although Wu Zhou had begun to reduce human sacrifice before they had conquered Shang, they were also full of blood and cruelty, killing Shang, cutting out his internal organs, cutting off his flesh, breaking his bones, and then burning his body to ashes.
epilogue
The cruelty of human sacrifice and martyrdom during the Shang Dynasty is shocking, but these bloody customs have left a warning for future generations, and an in-depth study of the cruel customs of the Shang Dynasty will help us better understand the morality, legal system, and power structure of ancient society.
At the same time, it will also help us to better cherish and uphold the human rights and dignity of today's society and avoid similar tragedies from happening again.