殷墟 Audio Guide

Welcome to Yinxu. It is an open public archaeological park, and anyone can come in through this gate. This tour covers the Shang capital, its palace and royal tombs, and the objects found here. The gate is red, with gold dragon-shaped roundels on either side of the entrance. A gold plaque carrying Chinese characters runs across the top. The gate is modern, so it marks the way in rather than any ancient building.

xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0

The carved stone names the site Yinxu, which means Ruins of Yin. The English letters sit beneath the Chinese, beside the UNESCO emblem. The city was the last capital of the Shang dynasty. The name Yin seems to have come into use only later, under the Zhou. It was the royal seat in the late Shang period, which began around 1250 BCE. Twelve kings reigned during that period. Oracle bone script, the earliest known Chinese writing, emerged in those years. The period ended around 1046 BCE, and the city was forgotten for millennia afterwards. UNESCO added the site to its World Heritage list in 2006.

Photo: Amypaper · CC BY-SA 4.0

King Pan Geng is traditionally said to have moved the Shang capital to Yin. The Bamboo Annals describe the move as coming from Yan, in present-day Shandong, to the place later called Yin. The historian Sima Qian gives a different move, to Bo, which does not match Yin's location. Yin was clearly the capital by the time of King Wu Ding. From here he launched many campaigns against the surrounding tribes. Those campaigns secured Shang rule and raised the dynasty to its height.

guan · CC BY 3.0

A floor of rammed earth, which means soil packed down hard in layers, lies under glass. Its pale surface is cracked with fine lines. A rectangular hollow in the floor holds broken pottery and stones. Excavations have uncovered more than eighty foundations of this kind, including palaces, shrines, tombs and workshops. Archaeologists say these remains confirm that Yinxu was the spiritual and cultural centre of the Shang dynasty. The Institute of Archaeology has been excavating here since 1950.

Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · CC0

Fu Hao was a military leader, and she was the wife of the Shang king Wu Ding. This statue is a modern interpretation, not a likeness made in her lifetime. The pale stone figure wears armour and stands before a pavilion with a tiered roof and red pillars. Her name is written in gold characters on the dark base.

Photo: PhiLiP · CC BY 2.5

Zheng Zhenxiang discovered Fu Hao's tomb in 1976. Other tombs at the site had suffered looting, but this one had escaped it. So far, it is the only fully preserved tomb of a Shang royal family member to be found. It has been dated to around 1250 BCE. Inside were her remains, a great many grave goods, and six dogs. Vessels and tools that look like metal lie on the earthen floor of the pit. Sixteen people buried with her are described as slaves. The tomb was excavated, then extensively restored, and it is open to visitors today.

Chris Gyford · CC BY-SA 3.0

Fu Hao is linked to this bronze zun, a type of ritual vessel. That link is an attribution, meaning it is assigned rather than proven. The inscriptions said to name her are not clear enough to confirm it. The vessel is described as owl-shaped, with two crest-like forms rising from its head. Its body is covered in spirals and patterned relief. This vessel is now in the Henan Museum.

Photo: Windmemories · CC BY-SA 4.0

The chariot pits shown here hold the earliest animal-driven vehicles found by Chinese archaeology. In this display, a box-shaped body and a spoked wheel rest in a block of earth. Animal bones lie near the front of the vehicle. Whether these parts are original or copies is unclear. For much of its early history, the site was a small settlement. Chariot burials appeared late in that time, together with the first large buildings and oracle inscriptions.

xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0

The horses that pulled the early vehicles are shown here through their skulls, which lie in the earth. The horses are the other half of the chariot evidence. Beside the skulls run rows of small rectangular fittings. These surviving pieces are parts of horse gear, described as bone and bronze.

Gary Todd · CC0

For years, much of the digging here had been illegal, driven by a market for oracle bones. The first official excavations began in 1928, with a trial dig led by Dong Zuobin. The archaeologist Li Ji of the Institute of History and Philosophy then led the work. Li Ji's team worked here until 1937, and they uncovered a royal palace and several royal tombs. Excavators worked pit by pit, opening each one in turn. This round pit has sloping sides, and pale, flat fragments lie heaped in its base. Digging here laid the foundation for archaeological work across the country.

Chez Cåsver (Xuan Che) · CC BY 2.0