Bronze dings
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe what archaeologists have found out about the Shang Dynasty from looking at their bronze dings.
Key learning points
- One reason why we know so much about the Shang Dynasty is because of their use of bronze.
- Bronze dings were highly important to the Shang Dynasty.
- The large size of many dings has led archaeologists to believe they were used to offer sacrifices to gods and ancestors.
- If the ancestors of a family were pleased, life for that family would be prosperous.
- Dings required complicated moulds to produce. Wealthy Shang Dynasty used them to demonstrate their status.
Keywords
Ding - a ding is an object that can hold food, used for ceremonies or for display
Sacrifice - a sacrifice is something given to a god or an ancestor as an act of worship
Ancestor - an ancestor is a person who was in someone's family in past times
Status - a person's rank or importance compared to others is their status
Common misconception
Pupils may think that sacrifices were only offered to gods.
The belief that the ancestors held power over the living family was very strong in the Shang Dynasty. The people wanted to remember them, keep them happy and asked for blessings for their actions in life.
Teacher tip
Students could draw and design their own ding or use clay and moulds to demonstrate how bronze dings were moulded into shape.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Shang Dynasty cities were surrounded by ...
Q2.Which of these were the locations of Shang Dynasty cities?
Q3.The Shang Dynasty started in the Valley in China.
Q4.Which of these were inside the Shang Dynasty cities?
Q5.The Shang Dynasty began later than the other major ancient civilisations.
Q6.Bronze weapons and armour helped the Shang Dynasty kings to defend their ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.An object that can hold food, used for ceremonies or for display is called a...
Q2.The Shang Dynasty people used bronze dings to offer sacrifices to their and ancestors.
Q3.Select all the features of a bronze ding.
Q4.The people of the Shang Dynasty believed that their ancestors could help them in life.
Q5.Owning lots of bronze dings showed that a person had a status.
Q6.Which of these is the definition for the word 'status'?
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: Bronze dings, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: Bronze dings, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the The Shang: What have archaeologists found out about them? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.