The Shang Economy

Synthesis of the Shang economy based on archaeology and textual sources.

This Element constitutes a systematic attempt to preliminarily reconstruct the Shang economy based on contemporary archaeological and textual evidence. It was written from the perspective that the study of ancient economy proceeds from the systematic exploration of principal economic components over time.This Element constitutes a systematic attempt to preliminarily reconstruct the Shang economy based on contemporary archaeological and textual evidence. At the same time, the rapid pace of Chinese archaeological discovery and the increasing deployment of archaeological science means that there is a wealth of new information making a new synthesis both challenging and necessary. This synthesis was written from the perspective that the study of ancient economy necessarily proceeds from the construction of models and the systematic exploration of principal economic components, including their articulation and change over time. Setting the Shang in comparative context with other ancient economies in this series, those principal components are the domestic and institutional economy, specialization, forms of exchange, and diachronic developments. It is hoped that with this organization, comparison with other ancient economies can be more easily made and the significance of the Shang case more clearly seen.