ABSTRACT
The Shang Dynasty and the states that preceded it in China were as powerful as any found in the Middle East or Mesoamerica and South America. Royal power over the daily lives, and deaths, of the Shang people stemmed from a variety of factors, but none was as important as the royal and elite control of religious ritual and ceremony. A critical element in the religious organization was the role kinship played in ancient Chinese society; the more important the individual in ancient Shang culture, the more critical that family’s ancestors were to the health and well-being of, not only the lineage itself, but all Shang peoples. Kin relations and religious mandates continued to be important elements in the Zhou state that followed the Shang. The compelling combination of family and religion were at the base of these Chinese states and can be found even in the Neolithic Period several millennia before.
