Legend has it that the ancestors of the Shang lived in the area of (today's) Henan and Shandong. Some contend that the culture of the people of the late Lungshan culture in Shandong - recorded in ancient documents as the Dong Yi (Eastern Barbarian) people - can be linked to early Shang culture. So it is very possible that the foundation for Shang culture was laid here.
傳說中，商人的先祖住在河南、山東一帶，有人認為，山東龍山文化晚期的人﹘ ﹘即古文獻中記載的東夷族，其文化跟商人先祖的文化可連接起來，很可能殷商文化從此開始奠基。