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The Shang Dynasty had a mixture of two main beliefs, animism and veneration. Animism is the belief that spirits inhabit all of the objects in the natural world. Veneration is the belief that the spirits of family members who had died continued to surround the family and that these relatives were still able to affect the world of the living.
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The Chinese did not believe in just one god, but many gods. Some of the gods worshiped were the gods of wind, sun, clouds, and moon. They also believed in a powerful dragon that lived in the Yellow River. This dragon later symbolized Chinese rulers. Shangdi was also a great god who controlled both human destiny and the forces of nature.
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Priests were also a large part of the Shang religion. Priests tried to predict the future by interpreting divine messages from ancestors to do To do this, they used oracle bones. Oracle bones were the shoulder of a cow or a turtle shell. The priests heated the bones and then brought them to the king from him to interpret the cracks that had formed. Often, the king's interpretation was recorded on the oracle bone along with the question. Some also think that the name of the ruler was included as well. This later helped historians learn more facts about the Shang Dynasty.