Frank Cavitolo
Thousands of oracle bones remain from Shang dynasty divinations, revealing the kings fear of, and diligence to please the spirits and ancestors. The tombs of the kings reveal that more than turtle plastrons and cattle scapulas were cracked and poked in order to accommodate the wishes of Shang kings. Found within the tombs excavated at Anyang are found hundreds of sacrificial human remains, in addition to animals, mainly dogs. Human sacrifice in the Shang was not confined to only burial ceremonies, and evidence suggests that the sacrifices were not willing participants. Shang divinations were performed by posing the question to the gods whether they wished a sacrificial offering of humans, animals, or even both. Further evidence that many of the sacrificial offerings were not volunteers is seen by the fact that many of the skeletal remains show the hands bound behind the back. Granted, it is possible this was the way the ceremony was performed. But it is more likely that the hands were bound as a means to prevent resistance. Within the tombs, there are varying numbers of skeletal remains, and in varying levels of adornment and damage. Robert Bagley suggests that perhaps the purpose of the victims was not to appease the ancestors, or even to accompany the dead king, but rather to scare away any demons or grave robbers that might disturb the body of the king.
The purpose of human sacrifice can be closely compared to that of the oracle bone divinations themselves- there were political as well as religious significance. Sacrifices were absolutely essential as they were a means of appeasing the gods and ancestors and thereby deterring any hostile actions on their part against the kingdom. At the same time, the sacrifices served as a reinforcement of the social hierarchy. One oracle inquiry, asking, “Should the king make a you- yu- shui sacrifice to those from Ta- Yi downward at the Hsiao-tung” maintains that the purpose of sacrifice was that only the king could perform it and only to his ancestors. And as only the kings were permitted to perform oracle charges, only the Shang kings were worthy enough to not only command sacrifices but to have sacrifices performed to and for them as part of their funerary rites. KC Chang states that the Shang human sacrifices “best symbolize the relationship, or rather the social distance, between the king and the pit- housedwellers.” Since the gods required much attention and sacrifice, Shang kings made offerings on the belief that, according to Vassili Kryukov, that the greater the number of victims, the more extensive the libation, the greater Shang Di’s satisfaction would be and the more protection Shang kings would have against calamity. “If he offers Qiang, ten men, the king will receive assistance.” It is important to note, though, that while the divinations really were inscribed and set, albeit in bone rather than stone, sometimes circumstances were simply beyond control. “On the coming yihai, we will you cut to Xia Yi fifteen dismembered victims and will split open ten penned sheep. Verification: On the twenty- first day, yihai, we did not you- cut the victims because it rained.” This is an example of how not all divinations were eventually followed.
The Jiang people were the most common victims used for human sacrifice. Shang divinations frequently refer to the Jiang in questions as to how many Jiang are needed for the sacrifice, or should Jiang captives be used. “On the chia- wu day, divined. Inquired: The following day, yi- wei, perform the yu ritual to Tsu Yi and sacrifice Ch’iang, fifteen persons?” “Should we sacrifice three sheep, five Ch’iang… to Mu Kwei?” and “Should the king make a you- yin sacrifice to those from Pao- Chia downward at the ta- tsung and kill Ch’iang as well as ten sheep?” are examples of how Jiang were considered lowly and the way the Shang freely disposed of them. That the Shang used captives from the Jiang, an outside people, indicates that the sacrifices were not regarded as a necessarily glorious ceremony. The Jiang were seen by the Shang as a barbarian people, decidedly inferior. Yet they served this important function in Shang society. When Jiang first arrived at the capital, it was asked, “Should the king receive the Ch’iang at the temple gate?” It is also pointed out from divination records and by Herrlee Creel that a number of Shang wars were conducted for the sole purpose of procuring captives to be used in human sacrifices. Other oracle bone divinations express the concerns of the king as to the potential number of Jiang that could be taken in as sacrificial candidates. “In Pei- shih have we captured the Ch’iang people?” while another states that a mission “…required 30 cavalry. Will they seize the Ch’iang people?”
When Jiang were sacrificed, it was often in number. Several examples include “Inquired: Perform ritual and sacrifice Ch’iang, four hundred, to Tsu X?” “Perform the yu ritual to Tsu Yi and sacrifice ten Ch’iang? Twenty Ch’iang? Thirty Ch’iang?” and “Should the king make a yu sacrifice to Tang, Ta Chia, Ta- Ting, and Tsu- Yi with one hundred Ch’iang and one hundred sheep?” Not all Jiang captured were reserved for sacrifice. In some cases, the Jiang captives were used as slaves. “The king to order the many Ch’iang to clear new field?” shows that some Jiang were kept for their labor. A select few were even retained for court service.
It is possible that the victims were chosen from all levels of society, and even perhaps from other ethnicities besides the Jiang. Reasons for this can be seen in what items, if any, the sacrificial victims carry. Bagley and Chang both offer extensive descriptions of the various skeletal remains found in the unearthed Shang tombs. According to practice, the victim was usually beheaded, and the skulls were stored in a different part of the tomb than the rest of the body. However, some skeletons were whole. Many of the headless skeletons had weaponry, while the complete skeletons often hold other grave goods such as vessels, musical instruments, and pottery, and are more likely to be adorned by decorative dress and jewels. On that note, it is likely that the complete skeletons were people of higher social status, while the headless victims were likely Jiang or lower members of society. Some propose that the skeletons may have been damaged by grave looters. But it can be proven that victims were intentionally decapitated in two ways. One, Shang axes bare inscriptions depicting decapitations, while on the skulls themselves, some of the vertebrae are still attached to the base.
Further evidence of the importance of selecting a proper sacrificial victim to protect or appease the ancestors can be found in Hsi- pei- kang, the royal cemetery, where many of the sacrificial victims were members of the aristocracy, not slaves. Another oracle divination suggests that not even the highest of the Jiang were considered beyond sacrifice, asking, “The chiefs of the two Ch’iang states, would they be used as offerings to Tsu- ting?”
In addition to including victims from all social strata of society, the victims also span the variety of age and gender of the population. Chang notes that the typical age for a female sacrificial victim was between 20 and 35, while male victims were between the ages of 15 and 25, while Bagley also mentions that in the tombs there were some females and even some infants sacrificed, but that the most common victim found is a teenage male. It is also important to note that decapitation was not the only means of killing the victim. Bagley points out that some other methods employed included dismemberment, dividing the body in two at the waist, and also to inter the victims alive. Excavations of bone working factories at Zhengzhou reveal that human bones were used, although not as commonly as animal bones, to form tools and implements, most notably hairpins and arrowheads, while one human skull was used to perform an oracle divination.
Positioning was important in the tombs, with respect given to the five directions. Examining tomb HPKM 1001, Li Chi notes that underneath the tomb complex were 9 pits containing victims, one pit at the center, and two at each corner, while in addition stating that the purpose of these victims almost surely was to ward off evil subterranean spirits, given that the pits were located underneath the floor of the tomb. Shang diviners were so concerned with proper positioning that they even performed charges to determine what position the decapitated should face. Such emphasis was placed on direction in Shang planning and beliefs that the directions themselves were sacrificed to, in great numbers. “We should perform a beheading sacrifice to the south,” and “Diviner Lu asked: Should the king make a sacrifice at the tseung of Pi- Keng?” cite only two of many oracle bones calling for such sacrifices to be made.
Some sacrifices were performed not as a means of consummating the burial, or to the dead king. Victims were used not only as burial sacrifices, but as offerings to the Yellow River or to the God of the Four Quarters. Other sacrifices were performed to appease the sun. Two oracle bone inscriptions describe offerings to the sun, divined as “We call upon Qiao to perform a beheading sacrifice to the rising sun, and to the setting sun offer a penned animal.” and “We will split open victims to the setting sun and chop up four bovines. To Shang Jia, two bovines.” In some cases, the king would offer himself to the sun.
Some other sacrifices were made to the tomb itself. Cheng Tekun describes how the construction of the tomb was divided into stages, and sacrifices would be made at the conclusion of each stage, as a means of sanctifying the tomb. Cheng identifies two types of tombs, those with a single sacrificial pit and those with multiple pits. Where only one pit is present, all victims were beheaded and buried around the building at the same time. Multiple pit tombs had a more complex system. Initially, following the laying of the foundation of the tomb, a pit was dug in the center and received either an animal or an infant sacrifice. Then holes were dug to receive three additional animals and sometimes one kneeling human, skeleton complete. Following these sacrifices, the next stage of construction was set to begin. Pits were dug both inside and outside the door to the main burial chamber. Human victims placed in these pits were in tact and prostrate, and held weaponry and shields. Thus the second stage of construction was complete. Lastly, following the burial itself and the completion of the tomb, many human victims were buried at the front of the building where, according to Cheng, “those victims were indeed the spiritual guardians of these important buildings.â
Burial was not, however, the only form of sacrifice that took place, nor were the people sacrificed captives or aristocrats. Sarah Allen and Edward Schafer both explore another type of sacrifice that had nothing to do with the death of a king. Sacrifices were also needed in times of natural disaster. Shang oracle divinations frequently search to identify certain ancestors, ancestors who could perhaps be causing the disturbance, most notably drought. In an agricultural economy, drought represents the greatest potential catastrophe, and so in times of drought, sacrifices were used to placate the spirits. Sacrifice in drought times did not require death, however. The importance of this type of sacrifice was not the death of the victim, but rather the willingness of the victim to die if necessary. This is a stark contrast to the burial sacrifices, that did require a violent death from an unwilling victim. The greater the selflessness, the greater the relief from the drought.
The deity sacrificed to in the case of drought was Hanpo, the drought deity. For the sacrifice, either a deformed man or a shamaness was chosen to be exposed for a period of time. Hanpo was depicted as being deformed, hence the selection of a deformed man for the exposure sacrifice, while the shamaness was viewed as a symbol of rain and fertility. Allen notes that the shamaness, since more often a shamaness was chosen rather than a deformed individual, first went through a ritual before the exposure that involved bathing and cutting of hair. It is important to keep in mind that the shamaness played an important role in society, in the religious structure of a government that very much utilized religious practice for policy making. The selection of a shamaness for the sacrifice, then, is representative of the importance placed on the sacrifice. The exposed person would remain exposed outdoors until the rains came, but in severe circumstances, death would be required, as when exposure failed, burning was turned to. The fire based exposure would involve the sacrificial victim being placed in the center of a ring of fire in an attempt to mimic the sun.
Shang calligraphy offers yet another avenue to explore sacrifice. Creel offers a depiction of a character showing a man, as written on the oracle inscriptions, hanging, with something through the neck, the character fa, to sacrifice. Cheng Tekun offers a wide display of Shang characters pertaining to sacrifice. The character His suggests a person with a rope around the neck, the word for a war captive. In addition, there is the character hsiao, a decapitated person with an ax above. Another character depicts a large person with an ax in the left hand, and a small person upside down in the right hand.
Shang society was not built on the practice of sacrifice, but sacrifice most certainly played a role in maintaining that society. The sacrificial victims were the ransom paid to the ancestors for protection, and also a means of genocide of the barbarian neighboring peoples. The Jiang eventually had revenge by helping the Zhou overthrow the Shang. Perhaps the excess of sacrifice helped facilitate the public turning on the government.
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