Brief Description
The archaeological site of Yin Xu, close to Anyang City, some 500 km south of Beijing, is an ancient capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1300 - 1046 BC). It testifies to the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences, a time of great prosperity of the Chinese Bronze Age. A number of royal tombs and palaces, prototypes of later Chinese architecture, have been unearthed on the site, including the Palace and Royal Ancestral Shrines Area, with more than 80 house foundations, and the only tomb of a member of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty to have remained intact, the Tomb of Fu Hao. The large number and superb craftsmanship of the burial accessories found there bear testimony to the advanced level of Shang crafts industry. Inscriptions on oracle bones found in Yin Xu bear invaluable testimony to the development of one of the world’s oldest writing systems, ancient beliefs and social systems.
The archaeological site of Yin Xu, close to Anyang City, some 500 km south of Beijing, is an ancient capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1300 - 1046 BC). It testifies to the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences, a time of great prosperity of the Chinese Bronze Age. A number of royal tombs and palaces, prototypes of later Chinese architecture, have been unearthed on the site, including the Palace and Royal Ancestral Shrines Area, with more than 80 house foundations, and the only tomb of a member of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty to have remained intact, the Tomb of Fu Hao. The large number and superb craftsmanship of the burial accessories found there bear testimony to the advanced level of Shang crafts industry. Inscriptions on oracle bones found in Yin Xu bear invaluable testimony to the development of one of the world’s oldest writing systems, ancient beliefs and social systems.
Yin Xu
Le site archéologique de Yin Xu, proche de la ville d'Anyang, à quelque 500 km au sud de Beijing, fut la dernière capitale de l'ancienne dynastie Shang (1300-1046 av. J.-C.). Il témoigne de l'âge d'or de la culture, de l'artisanat et des sciences de la Chine antique, une période de grande prospérité de l'âge du bronze chinois. Beaucoup de tombes et palais royaux, prototypes de l'architecture chinoise postérieure, ont été mis à jour sur le site dont l'aire du Palais et les sanctuaires ancestraux royaux, où sont rassemblées plus de 80 fondations de maisons et la seule tombe d'un membre de la famille royale de la dynastie Shang encore intacte, le tombeau de Fu Hao. Un grand nombre de superbes objets funéraires y porte le témoignage du niveau avancé de l'artisanat Shang. Les inscriptions sur les ossements trouvés à Yin Xu et utilisés pour les oracles ont une valeur testimoniale immense sur le développement du plus ancien langage systématique écrit, sur les croyances et le système social anciens.
يين كزو
يقع موقع يين كزو الأثري على مسافةٍ قريبةٍ من مدينة أنيانغ على بعد 500 كيلومتر جنوب بيجينغ وهو العاصمة الأخيرة لسلالة شانغ القديمة (1300-1046 ق.م). والموقع شهادة عن العصر الذهبي لثقافة الصين القديمة وصناعتها الحرفيّة وعلومها، وهي حقبة عرف فيها الزمن الصيني البرونزي ازدهاراً كبيراً. وكثيرة هي المقابر والقصور الملكيّة وهي مثال الهندسة الصينيّة للعصر اللاحق التي جرى تحديثها في موقع تواجدها ومنها حرم القصر والمعابد الملكيّة القديمة حيث أساسات أكثر من80 منزلا ومقبرة فو هاو وهي المقبرة الوحيدة لفرد من الأسرة الملكيّة من سلالة شانغ التي ظلّت سليمة المعالم. وفي العديد من الأغراض الجنائزيّة الرائعة شهادة على المستوى المتقدّم من فنّ شانغ الحرفي. وتتمتع الكتابات المحفورة على العظام والموجودة في يين كزو والتي يستخدمها الوسطاء الروحيّون بقيمة عظيمة لجهة تطوّر اللغة المكتوبة الأقدم والمعتقدات والنظام الاجتماعي القديم.
Source: UNESCO/BPI
殷墟
殷墟考古遗址靠近安阳市，位于北京以南约500公里处，是商代晚期（公元前1300至1046年）的古代都城，代表了中国早期文化、工艺和科学的黄金时代，是中国青铜器时代最繁荣的时期。在殷墟遗址出土了大量王室陵墓、宫殿以及中国后期建筑的原型。遗址中的宫殿宗庙区（1000米×650米）拥有80处房屋地基，还有唯一一座保存完好的商代王室成员大墓“妇好墓”。殷墟出土的大量工艺精美的陪葬品证明了商代手工业的先进水平，现在它们是中国的国宝之一。在殷墟发现了大量甲骨窖穴。甲骨上的文字对于证明中国古代信仰、社会体系以及汉字这一世界上最古老的书写体系之一的发展有着不可估量的价值。
Source: UNESCO/ERI
Древний город Иньсюй
Археологический памятник Иньсюй вблизи города Аньян, в 500 км южнее Пекина – это древняя столица последнего периода правления династии Шан (1300-1046 гг. до н.э.). Он свидетельствует о высоком расцвете ранней китайской культуры, ремесел и наук на протяжении Китайского Бронзового века. Множество гробниц и дворцов властителей, послуживших образцами для дальнейшего развития китайской архитектуры, было обнаружено на этом месте. Объект включает территорию дворца и святилищ предков правителей (1000х650 м), с остатками оснований более чем 80 построек, и единственную гробницу члена правящей семьи династии Шан, оставшуюся неразграбленной – гробницу Фу Хао. Большое количество и великолепное мастерство изготовления найденных здесь погребальных предметов свидетельствуют о высоком уровне ремесленного производства в государстве Шан. Эти находки признаны ныне одним из национальных сокровищ Китая. При раскопках в Иньсюе было обнаружено множество лопаток домашнего скота и черепаховых панцирей, покрытых надписями. Эти «гадальные кости» представляют собой неоценимое свидетельство развития одной из древнейших в мире систем письменности, древних верований и социального устройства тех времен.
Source: UNESCO/ERI
Yin Xu
El sitio arqueológico de Yin Xu, situado cerca de la ciudad de Anyang, a unos 500 km al sur de Beijing, contiene los vestigios de una antigua capital de las postrimerías de la dinastía de los Shang (1300-1046 a.C.). Yin Xu es un testimonio de apogeo alcanzado por la cultura, la artesanía y las ciencias de la China antigua en un periodo de gran prosperidad de la Edad del Bronce. Durante las excavaciones se han desenterrado algunas tumbas y palacios prototípicos de la arquitectura china de épocas posteriores. El sitio comprende el Palacio y el í¡rea de los templos ancestrales reales, en los que se han encontrado mí¡s de 80 cimientos de edificios y la Tumba de Fu Hao, que es la única sepultura hallada intacta, hasta ahora, de un miembro de la familia de uno de los monarcas de la dinastía Shang. La abundancia y la magnífica factura de los objetos funerarios encontrados atestiguan el grado de adelanto alcanzado por la industria artesanal en la época de los Shang. Las inscripciones que figuran en los restos óseos encontrados en Yin Xu, utilizados para los orí¡culos, aportan un inestimable testimonio sobre uno de los sistemas de escritura mí¡s antiguos del mundo, así como sobre las creencias y sistemas sociales de la época.
Source: UNESCO/ERI
© UNESCO
Historical Description
Yin Xu is an ancient capital city that rose in the late Shang Dynasty, a time of prosperity of Chinese Bronze Age. Around the 17th century BC, the Shang tribe, an important branch of the Chinese nation, beat the Xia Dynasty and established a slave dynasty in central China, the second of its kind in Chinese history. The territory of this new dynasty extended to the great ocean in the east, the present-day Sichuan in the west, the Liaohe River Basin in the north, and the Dongtinghu Lake in the south. It was one of the most powerful states in the East Asia during the Bronze Age.
In about 1300 BC, Pan Geng, the king of the Shang Dynasty, removed his capital from Yan to Yin Xu and built the latter into a magnificent capital city. Since then, this capital city continued being built by 12 kings in eight generations of the Shang Dynasty during 255 years. It remained the political, economic, military and cultural centre of China during the prime of its bronze age. Around the year 1046 BC, King Wu sent a punitive expedition against King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty. Yin was deserted and the city was turned into ruins, hence the name Yin Xu (the ruins of Yin) in historical sources.
During the Qin and Han dynasties (221 B.C. to AD 23), references to Yin Xu were made frequently in history books. Epigraphy became popular during the Song and the Yuan Dynasties (AD 10th to 14th century). The frequent unearthing of bronzes around Xiaotun village aroused the attention of educated people. This city was then thought to be Xiang, the residence of the 12th king of the Shang Dynasty. In 1899, Wang Yirong, an epigrapher of the last years of the Qing Dynasty, discovered and proved that oracle bone inscription was the language used in the Shang Dynasty. After verification and exploration by many other scholars, Xiaotun of Anyang where oracle bone inscriptions were unearthed came to be established as the site of Yin Xu as recorded in Chinese classics.
Between 1928 and 1937, the Institute of History and Philology of the then Academia Sinica carried out 15 large-scale excavations at Yin Xu, and discovered the Palace and Ancestral Shrines Area, the Royal Tombs Area and large numbers of other cultural remains. As a result, this capital city of the Shang Dynasty has gradually come to be known, and its position as China's first ancient capital, proven by written documents, has been firmly established. The excavations were completed after the Second World War. In 1995, Anyang City established the Yin Xu Management Department to take charge of conservation and daily management of Yin Xu.
Source: Advisory Body Evaluation
