The Shang Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty.
The decline of the Xia Empire led to the rise of Shang as the leading state in the Empire. The clan totem of Shang was the bird. In the Yen Ben Zhi chapter of The Records of the Grant Historian (Shiji), it is written that the mother of Xie, the founder of Shang was impregnated by a Black Bird:
"Three ladies including Jian Di went to take a bath. They saw that a black bird dropped an egg. Jian Di took and devoured it, became impregnated and gave birth to Xie. Xie grew up, assisted Yu in his work to control the flood with success."
The use of the "black bird", as the father of Xie, relates to the "black bird" as a popular totem of ethnic groups in China. This passage indicates that the founders of Shang were of mixed origin.
The Book of Poems also praised that the sacred bird was sent down from Heaven, and gave birth to the first Shang King. The King thereby justified his authority by proclaiming that he had divine right to rule over his people.
Heaven commissioned the Black Bird,
To descend and give birth to [the father of our] Shang.
[His descendants] dwelt in the land of Yin, and became great.
[Then] long ago God appointed the martial Tang,
To regulate the boundaries throughout the four quarters.
[In those] quarters he appointed the princes,
And grandly possessed the nine regions [of the kingdom].
The first sovereign of Shang,
Received the appointment without any element of instability in it,
And it is [now] held by the descendant of Wu-ding.
The descendant of Wu-ding,
Is a martial king, equal to every emergency.
Ten princes, [who came] with their dragon-emblazoned banners,
Bear the large dishes of millet.
The royal domain of a thousand li,
Is where the people rest;
But there commence the boundaries that reach to the four seas.
From the four seas they come [to out sacrifices];
They come in multitudes; -
Jing has the He for its outer border.
That Yin should have received the appointment [of Heaven] was entirely right;
[Its sovereign] sustains all its dignities.
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据传统资料，商朝是夏朝后的中国的第二个朝代。
夏朝的衰落导致商成为强大的国家。商的族群图腾是鸟。据《史记•殷本纪》记载，商的始祖契的母亲简狄是被玄鸟受孕所生。
“三人行浴，见玄鸟堕其卵，简狄取吞之， 因孕生契。契長而佐禹治水有功。”
以玄鸟为契父，与中国古代族群普遍用玄鸟为图腾有关。上面的记载显示商朝始祖来源混杂。
《诗经•商颂•玄鸟篇》亦赞颂上天把玄鸟送来并生下商王。商王以此来表明上天给他统治的权利。
《诗经•商颂•玄鸟篇》
天命玄鸟，降而生商，宅殷土芒芒。
古帝命武汤，正域彼四方。
方命厥后，奄有九有。
商之先后，受命不殆，在武丁孙子。
武丁孙子，武王靡不胜。
龙旗十乘，大糦是承。
邦畿千里，维民所止，肇域彼四海。
四海来假，来假祁祁。
景员维河，殷受命咸宜，百禄是何。
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