information:classification
Traditional accounts

Throughout history, the Shang have also been referred to as "Yin" (殷). The Shiji and the Bamboo Annals each use this name for both the dynasty, as well as its final capital. Since Huangfu Mi 's Records of Emperors and Kings in the 3rd century AD, "Yin" has been frequently used to refer specifically to the latter half of the Shang. It is also the name predominantly used for the dynasty in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, being rendered as In, Eun and Ân in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese respectively. The name seems to have originated during the subsequent Zhou dynasty; it does not appear in oracle bone inscriptions—which refer to the state as "Shang" (商), and to its capital as " Great Settlement of Shang " (大邑商; Dàyì Shāng) —nor does it appear in any bronze inscriptions securely dated to the Western Zhou (c. 1046 – 771 BC).