Yin Xu

Yin Xu*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	China
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	1114
Region**	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	2006  (30th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Yinxu (Chinese: 殷墟; pinyin: Yīnxū; literally "Ruins of Yin") is the ruins of the last capital of China's Shang Dynasty (1766 B.C.E. - 1050 B.C.E.). The capital served 255 years for 12 kings in 8 generations.

Rediscovered in 1899 it is one of the oldest and largest archeaological sites in China and is one of the Historical capitals of China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located in the central Henan province, near the modern city of Anyang, and is open to the public as the Garden Museum of Yinxu.

It is famous as the original source of oracle bones and oracle bone script, the earliest recorded form of Chinese writing.

History

At the beginning of the 14th century B.C.E. King Pangeng of the Shang Dynasty established his capital on the banks of the Huan River. The city was known as Yin, and from that point on the dynasty that founded it would also be known as the Yin Dynasty.

King Wu Ding continued to use Yin as his capital and from this base launched numerous military campaigns (many led by his own wife Fu Hao) against surrounding tribes securing Shang rule and raising the dynasty to its historical zenith.

Later rulers were pleasure-seekers who took no interest in state affairs as social differences increased within the slave-owning society. King Zhòu (紂), the last of the Shang dynasty kings, is in particular remembered as ruthless and debauched. His increasingly autocratic laws alienated the nobility until King Wu of the Zhōu Dynasty (周) was able to gain the support to rise up and overthrow the Shang.

The Zhōu (周) established their capital in Feng and Hao near modern day Xi'an and Yin was abandoned to fall into ruin. These ruins were mentioned by Sima Qian, in his Records of the Grand Historian, but soon they were lost and their location forgotten with the once-great city of Yin being relegated to legend along with the dynasty that founded it.

Archaeological discoveries

File:Chariots.jpg

Chariots of the Shang dynasty excavated in Yin Xu represent the earliest example of animal-drawn carts discovered in China.

Yinxu is famous for its oracle bones, which were first discovered in 1899 by Wang Yirong, director of the Imperial College. Director Wang was suffering from malaria at the time and was prescribed Longgu (dragon bones) at a traditional Chinese pharmacy. He noticed strange carvings on these bones and concluded that these could be samples of China’s earliest writing. He sent his assistant in search of the source of these bones and they were finally traced to the small village of Xiaotun just outside of Anyang. In 1917, Wang Guowei deciphered the oracle bone inscriptions of the names of the Shang kings and constructed a complete Shang genealogy. This perfectly matched that in the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian confirming the historical authenticity of the legendary Shang dynasty and the archaeological importance of Yinxu.

The first excavations at Yinxu were lead by Li Chi of the Institute of History and Philosophy from 1928-37. They uncovered the remains of a royal palace, several royal tombs, and more than 100,000 oracle bones that show the Shang had a well-structured script with a complete system of written signs. Since 1950 ongoing excavations by the Archeological Institute of the Chinese Social Sciences Academy have uncovered evidence of stratification at the Hougang site, remains of palaces and temples, royal cemeteries, oracle bone inscriptions, bronze and bone workshops and the discovery of the Shang city on the north bank of the Huang River. One of the largest and oldest sites of Chinese archaeology, excavations here have laid the foundation for work across the country.

Excavation sites

At 30km² this is the largest archaeological site in China and excavations have uncovered over 80 rammed-earth foundation sites including palaces, shrines, tombs and workshops. From these remains archaeologists have been able to confirm that this was the spiritual and cultural center of the Yin Dynasty.

Burial pit at Tomb of Lady Fu Hao

The best preserved of the Shang Dynasty royal tombs unearthed at Yinxu is the Tomb of Fu Hao. The extraordinary Lady Hao was a military leader and the wife of Shang King Wu Ding. The tomb was discovered in 1976 and has been dated to BCE 1250. It was completely undisturbed, having escaped the looting that had damaged the other tombs on the site, and in addition to the remains of the Queen the tomb was discovered to contain 6 dog skeletons, 16 human slave skeletons, and numerous grave goods of huge archaeological value. The tomb was thoroughly excavated and extensively restored and is now open to the public.

Also located on site is the Exhibition Hall of Chariot Pits where the earliest samples of animal-driven carts discovered by Chinese archaeology are on display. These artifacts were excavated by the Anyang Working Station of the Archaeological Institute of the Chinese Social Science Academy and the Historical Relics Working Team of Anyang Municipality in the northern and southern lands of Liujiazhuang village and the eastern land of Xiaomintun village and put on display within the hall. The six pits each contain the remains of a carriage and two horses. Five of the pits were also found to contain the remains of a human sacrifice (four adult males and one child). Also on display are the remains of an 8.35 meter wide Shang Dynasty road discovered at Anyang Aero Sports School in 2000.

In 1988 after archaeologists' proposal Yinxu became the listed as the oldest of the seven Historical capitals of China and in 2006 the site was inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Gallery

• Shang Dynasty Pit.jpg

  Shang Dynasty Pit, Anyang, Henan, China

• Oracle Bone Inscriptions.jpg

  Oracle Bone inscriptions corresponding to modern Chinese surnames at Yin Xu site, Anyang, Henan, China

• Yin Xu Ruins Historical Site.jpg

  Yin Xu historical site entrance, Anyang, Henan, China

See also

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

• List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia
• Oracle bone
• China
• History of China

Notes

External links retrieved November 30, 2008.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bai, Shouyi, and Zhao Yang. 2002. An outline history of China. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 9787119023472.
• Chang, Kwang-chih, Pingfang Xu, Liancheng Lu, and Sarah Allan. 2003. The formation of Chinese civilization: an archaeological perspective. The culture & civilization of China. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300093827.
• Dong, Linfu. 2005. Cross culture and faith: the life and work of James Mellon Menzies. Toronto [u.a.]: Univ. of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802038692.
• Hessler, Peter. 2006. Oracle bones: a journey between China's past and present. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060826581.
• Liu, Li. 2004. The Chinese neolithic trajectories to early states. New studies in archaeology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511080562.
• Trigger, Bruce G. 2006. A history of archaeological thought. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521840767.
• Sima, Qian, and Burton Watson. 1993. Records of the grand historian. Qin dynasty. Records of civilization, sources and studies, no. 65. Hong Kong: Renditions-Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231081641.
• Wagner, Donald B. 1993. Iron and steel in ancient China. Handbuch der Orientalistik, 9. Bd. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill. ISBN 9789004096325.
• Watson, William. 1995. The arts of China. Yale University Press Pelican history of art. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300059892.

External Links

Links retrieved November 30, 2008.

• UNESCO Yin Xu World Heritage citation
• Yin Xu Ruins
• Picture Gallery Yin Xu
• Ruins Shine With Pristine Beauty

Preceded by: '

Capital of China 1350 B.C.E.-1046 B.C.E.

Succeeded by: Hao

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Yinxu  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Yin Xu"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.