shang families & zhou dynasty
Respect for ones parents was crucial in Shang. Chinese believed that the spirits of their ancestors exuded good fortune. They sacrificed animals just like the Hebrews and men ruled within the family. Shang Kings claimed they can influence the gods. They recieved gods messages through oracle bones. these were the animal bones, which Shang royal priests wrote questions to the gods. they then cracked the bone with heated rods and interpreted the cracks.
The Zhou Kings established a new dynasty, but Chinese dynasties rose and fell in a pattern. This cycle was called The Dynastic Cycle. Zhou Kings believed that trouble would come if rulers lost favors from the gods. Zhou leaders made an excuse that explained the gods has stripped the rights from the Shangs and blessed the Zhou. These ideas sustained in Chinese culture, when a ruler was bad, the people believed the gods would not bless the ruler. This idea was the Mandate of Heaven. The Chinese people believed earthquakes, invasions and peasant uprising meant the Mandate of Heaven was stripped away.