Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Just when a kingdom first arose in China remains uncertain, but by 1750 B.C. rulers of the Shang dynasty had asserted control over much of the Yellow River Valley. Shang kings had large retinues that included dozens of wives and scribes versed in a complex written language containing thousands of characters. The only surviving Chinese writings from this period were inscribed on bronze vessels or oracle bones such as tortoise shells." [National Geographic Almanac, p. 60-1] "In 1928 archaeologists . . . began scientific excavations of the last Shang capital at Anyang that continued until Japan attacked China in 1937. After 1950 an earlier Shang capital was found near present-day Zhengzhou." [Fairbank: China, p. 33] "The Xia Dynasty is followed by the Shang in 1776, the first dynasty for which significant historical records exist. . . . In China, between 1753 and 1400 BC, the Shang kings move their capital city five different times and finally settle at Yin. . . . The ancient chronicles make it very clear that the Shang kings brought this rebellion on themselves. They abandoned wisdom, and this wisdom (not military might, as in the west) was the foundation of their power." [Bauer: Ancient World, p. 39. 219, 291]