Yin Xu (Ruins of Yin at Anyang)
Anyang Yin Ruins · Late Shang Capital
Late Shang Dynasty c.1300–1046 BCE (Anyang period)·Shang Chinese·🇨🇳 Henan Province, Anyang City, Huan River, China
Chez Cåsver (Xuan Che) · CC BY 2.0
About
About Yin Xu (Ruins of Yin at Anyang)
Late Shang capital (1300–1046 BCE) on Huan River, premier Bronze Age urban site of East Asia covering 30 km² with palatial foundations, royal tombs (Fu Hao intact 76), 150,000 oracle bones with earliest Chinese script, and bronze foundry with piece-mold ritual vessels surpassing contemporaries worldwide.
Why it mattersLate Shang capital (1300–1046 BCE) on Huan River, premier Bronze Age urban site of East Asia covering 30 km² with palati
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Royal tomb M1001 unexcavated identifications – which king?
- 02Oracle script decipherment 1,400 of 4,500 characters still?
Theories
- 01Piece-mold bronze technology divergent from lost-wax evolution elsewhere
- 02Ancestral divination as state administration technology
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1300 BCE Pan Geng relocation; abandoned 1046 BCE Zhou conquest
- Period
- Late Shang Dynasty c.1300–1046 BCE (Anyang period)
- Culture
- Shang Chinese
- Purpose
- Dynastic capital, divination center (oracle bones) and bronze ritual production
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.1300 BCE Pan Geng relocation; abandoned 1046 BCE Zhou conquest
Initial construction
c. 1088 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
36.1260° N · 114.3140° E · 73 m · 3 mapped features
- Palace-temple foundations XiaotunpalaceRammed-earth palace bases on Huan north bank36.1260° N · 114.3140° E
- Tomb of Fu Hao (M5 intact)royal tombIntact queen-consort tomb with 1,600 grave goods, 109 bronzes36.1250° N · 114.3100° E
- Oracle bone pits (YH127)pitPits yielding 17,000 inscribed ox scapulae and turtle plastrons36.1270° N · 114.3150° E
Gallery