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
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 Xiaotun
palaceRammed-earth palace bases on Huan north bank
36.1260° N · 114.3140° ETomb of Fu Hao (M5 intact)
royal tombIntact queen-consort tomb with 1,600 grave goods, 109 bronzes
36.1250° N · 114.3100° EOracle bone pits (YH127)
pitPits yielding 17,000 inscribed ox scapulae and turtle plastrons
36.1270° N · 114.3150° E
Gallery