Religion of the Shang dynasty
The state religious system practiced in China during the Shang dynasty (商朝, c. 1600 – 1046 BC) involved practitioners communicating with deified beings, including deceased (dynastic and pre-dynastic) ancestors and supernatural gods. The primary methods of spiritual venerations were divinations, carried out on oracle bones (甲骨), and sacrifices of living beings. The Shang dynasty also had large-scale constructions of tombs, which reflects their belief in the afterlife. Numerous Shang vessels as well as oracle bones have been excavated in the kingdom's capital Yin. They reveal a large number of honored deities, most of which came from the Shang's extensive observations of the surrounding world.