Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about the earliest civilizations, the Indus and the Shang.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to describe some of the things archaeologists have learned about the Shang Dynasty from looking at their jade artefacts.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are: ornamental, taotie, Mingqi.

I'm gonna say those again and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Ornamental, taotie, Mingqi.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Let's take a look at each of their definitions.

Something that is ornamental is used for decoration.

The taotie is a mythical animal-like creature that is often used as decoration on items. Mingqi are jade figures of servants, which were buried in the tombs of the wealthy to serve them in the afterlife.

Pause a video here to make a note of these key words.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

What is jade? What was jade used for in the Shang Dynasty? In the first learning cycle, we'll explore what jade is.

The people of the Shang Dynasty made all of these objects.

What do you think they are made from? So a photo of a small bead, a photo of a dragon pendant, and a photo of a small bead.

You're looking at all of those objects.

They're all made from the same thing, but what are they made from? Hmm.

Well, even though they look very different, they are all made from a very hard stone called jade.

Let's take a moment to pause.

What is jade? Is it a very hard plastic, a very hard metal, a very hard stone? What do you think? Pause the video here.

Have a quick moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said that jade is a very hard stone, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, historians, they know lots about the Shang Dynasty, and this is because lots of the objects that they have found have written symbols on them and they can be read.

Now this includes items made of jade.

Jade is a very hard stone, which is found in the ground.

As it could be found high up on mountains and also down low at the bottom of rivers, the ancient Chinese people saw it as representing heaven and Earth.

They thought of jade as the most precious and most beautiful natural material there was.

It's found in lots of different colours, such as green, blue, black, brown, yellow, and white.

What different colours can you see in this jade item here? So look at this photo of a jade fish pendant.

What different colours can you see there? Pause the video here.

Have a quick discussion with your partner, and then press play when you're ready to continue.

So jade is such a hard stone that it could not be cut with metal knives.

The Shang people saw jade as indestructible and believe it represented everlasting life because of this.

To make it into shapes, it needed to be worn down using sanding methods and then polished to look shiny.

This would've taken hours and hours of very skilled work, and this made jade items even more special, important and expensive.

Take a look at that photo of a jade dragon.

Can you see that it's not only just shaped into a dragon, it has all of that intricate detail that has been marked on it as well, using those sanding methods and then polishing it to look shiny.

Very detailed, very beautiful, you can see how it was special and expensive.

Let's take a moment to pause here.

Sam's state statement about jade is incorrect.

Sam says, "Jade is always green and can be cut with metal knives into shapes." So Sam is incorrect.

Can you correct what she has said? So pause the video here, take some time, have a moment to think about how you can correct what Sam has said, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to correct Sam's statement? Well, you might have changed it so that it says: Jade is sometimes green and cannot be cut with metal knives into shapes because jade can be lots of different colours and it has to be cut in a very particular way.

Well done, if you are able to correct Sam's statement.

Now let's read Sam's corrected statement again.

"Jade is sometimes green and cannot be cut with metal knives into shapes." Can you improve this statement by adding more detail? So this is your first learning task.

I'd like you to improve this statement by adding more detail.

You could mention where jade is found, what other colours it can be, how jade was shaped, and why it was expensive.

So pause the video here.

Give yourself enough time to add some more detail to this statement, and you've got those ideas there of what you could mention.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So jade is sometimes green and cannot be cut with metal knives into shapes.

How could we add some more detail there? Well, your answer could include, jade is a very hard stone found in the ground.

It can be green or other colours like white and brown.

It was shaped by wearing it down and could be polished to make it shiny.

Jade items were expensive because they took a lot of skill and time to make.

So well done if you were able to add more detail to that statement.

And well done for completing that learning task.

This brings us onto the second part of our lesson.

We're gonna explore what jade was used for in the Shang Dynasty.

As jade was so important, the wealthy people of the Shang Dynasty owned lots of it.

Historians know this because hundreds of jade items have been found in the tombs of wealthy people.

So you can see some of the items there.

A photo of a jade bracelet and a photo of chimes used as musical instruments.

So jade was made into lots of different things, lots of special things like bracelets and instruments which people used in their lives.

Jade items were very important in life as well as in the afterlife.

In life, jade was used for a variety of things such as bracelets, objects in religious rituals in temples, and even musical instruments which could be tapped to make sounds.

The people of the Shang Dynasty believed that jade could represent being able to live forever in the afterlife.

Because of this, lots of small jade circles have been found buried in tombs with Shang people.

So take a look there at that image of a jade circle.

So the circle represents that never ending, that continual life.

So that's why lots of those symbols, lots of those circles were found in those tombs to represent that, being able to live forever.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Jade was only used to make items for tombs.

Is that true or false? Hmm? What do you think? Jade was only used to make items for tombs, true or false? If you said that's false, you are absolutely right.

Now taking a look at these two statements here, which would help to justify your answer.

Jade was used to make only items for the afterlife.

Jade was used to make items for life and the afterlife.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about which of these two statements would help to justify your answer, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that jade was used to make items for life and the afterlife, you are absolutely right.

Lots of Shang Dynasty weapons made from jade have also been found in tombs.

These would not have been used in real battles though.

Why might these weapons have been made from jade then? Hmm.

Well, they were used for ornamental reasons.

So they were for decoration and the beauty and the indestructibility associated with jade.

That's why people would want to have them within their tombs for those ornamental reasons.

Have a look there at those images of a jade and bronze dagger and a photo of a jade arrowhead, quite beautiful weapons.

You can understand why they weren't used in battle.

They're definitely pieces that should be used for decoration, shouldn't they? Shang Dynasty tombs, like the tomb of Fu Hao, were filled with hundreds of these ornamental jade weapons.

This shows that Fu Hao was very rich and that war and weapons were very important in the Shang Dynasty as they wanted to take the things that meant the most to them into the afterlife.

Have a look at that photo of a jade axehead.

A fascinating ornamental weapon.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Can you finish this sentence? This Shang dynasty weapon would have been.

for battle, ornamental.

So have a look at that photo of a jade knife there.

What would that be used for? Pause the video here.

Video and press play when you are ready to continue.

So if you finish this sentence, this Shang dynasty weapon would've been ornamental, you're absolutely right.

It wasn't quite used for battle.

Well done.

Jade carvers from the Shang Dynasty made many items in the shape of animals too.

Which animals are these, do you think? Have a look at those two photos.

They look a bit like an elephant and a bird to me.

What do you think? Hmm.

Now sometimes, jade was shaped into imaginary animal-like faces just like those that were carved onto the bronze dings.

These animal faces are known as taoties.

Taoties were also often used to decorate jade items. So which animal facial features can you see on this jade item? Have a look.

What are those arrows pointing to do you think? What can you see in this white jade taotie? What do you think? Well, hopefully you can see some ears or some horns, I'm not sure which.

A nose and some eyes.

So remember, it's the features of an animal.

So not quite a recognisable animal that we would know today, but an animal-like face that would be carved.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which objects have a taotie? This photo of a bronze item, this photo of a round jade item and this photo of a jade item, A, B, or C? So which objects have a taotie? Pause the video here and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that the photo of a bronze item and the photo of a jade item have a taotie, you're absolutely right.

Remember, those taoties are animal-like faces.

As well as jade weapons, animals, and taoties, lots of small human statues made from jade have also been found in Shang Dynasty tombs.

These are called mingqi and they represent servants who would serve the owner of the tomb in the afterlife.

So have a look at these photos here of these two mingqi.

You have a green one and a white one, so green jade and white jade.

Let's take a moment to pause here.

Select all the things that were made of jade during the Shang dynasty: statues, mingqi, taoties, weapons.

Pause the video here, have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

So which of these things were made of jade during the Shang Dynasty? If you said statues, mingqi, taoties and weapons, you are right with all of those.

Well done.

This brings us to our final learning task of this lesson.

I'd like you to complete the following sentences and then find each word in the puzzle.

Jade is a very hard what? Jade could not be what with metal knives? A mythical animal face is called a what? Jade was important in what and in the afterlife.

Jade is not always a what colour.

So we have five different words to find that complete the following sentences, and then you need to find them within the puzzle.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time and when you are ready to continue, press play.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at some answers? So jade is a very hard stone.

Jade could not be cut with metal knives.

A mythical animal face is called a taotie.

Jade was important in life and in the afterlife.

Jade is not always a green colour.

So well done if you are able to find stone, cut, taotie, life and green within the puzzle.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about jade artefacts.

Jade is a very hard stone, which takes time and skill to shape.

Jade can be different colours and was very expensive.

Lots of ornamental jade weapons have been found in tombs suggesting warfare was very important in the Shang Dynasty.

Small statues of real and imaginary animals were often made from jade and decorated with the mythical taotie.

Jade figures of servants called mingqi were found buried in the tombs of the wealthy to serve them in the afterlife.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.