Sotto i campi di Anyang giace Yinxu, l’ultima capitale della dinastia Shang, la prima dinastia cinese documentata. Qui sono emersi i grandi bronzi rituali, le tombe reali e, soprattutto, le “ossa oracolari”: iscrizioni divinatorie che sono la più antica forma conosciuta della scrittura cinese, antenata diretta di quella di oggi.
At a glance
Yinxu, near Anyang in Henan, is the site of the last capital of the Shang dynasty (around the 13th–11th centuries BC), the earliest Chinese dynasty confirmed by archaeology. Excavations here have revealed royal palaces and tombs, workshops, and astonishing ritual bronzes — and, above all, the “oracle bones”, inscribed turtle shells and ox bones used for divination that bear the oldest known form of Chinese writing, the direct ancestor of the script still used today. Yinxu was inscribed by UNESCO in 2006.
Key facts
- UNESCO: World Heritage since 2006 (Yin Xu)
- Shang capital: the last capital of the Shang dynasty, c. 1300–1046 BC
- Oracle bones: the oldest known Chinese writing, used for divination
- Ritual bronzes: including the massive Houmuwu (Simuwu) cauldron
- Royal tombs: including the intact tomb of the queen Fu Hao
- Origins of China: the earliest archaeologically attested Chinese state
History
Around 1300 BC the Shang kings established their capital here, ruling a Bronze Age state in the Yellow River valley. Their bronze-casters produced ritual vessels of unmatched scale and artistry, and their diviners inscribed questions to the ancestors and gods on bones and shells, then recorded the answers — the oracle-bone inscriptions that are the foundation of Chinese writing and history.
Forgotten after the Shang fell, the site was rediscovered around 1900 when oracle bones surfaced in the antiques trade; systematic excavation from the 1920s revealed the palaces, tombs — including the rich, undisturbed tomb of the warrior-queen Fu Hao — and bronze foundries. Yinxu thus opened the documented history of China and was inscribed by UNESCO in 2006.
What you see
The site preserves the foundations of palaces and temples, royal tombs and chariot pits, and the famous oracle-bone find-spots, with a modern museum displaying bronzes, jades, the reconstructed tomb of Fu Hao and the inscribed bones. The great Houmuwu cauldron, the largest ancient bronze vessel known, was found here.
Walking the grassy mounds and pits, with the new bronze-clad museum nearby, one stands at the documented beginning of Chinese civilisation.
Practical information
- Site: the palace-tomb area and the Yinxu Museum are open to visitors
- Time needed: half a day
- Note: a major museum displays the bronzes and oracle bones
- Setting: on the edge of Anyang in northern Henan
Getting there
Yinxu is on the north-western edge of Anyang, in northern Henan province, China, on the rail line between Beijing and Zhengzhou. GPS: 36.13° N, 114.31° E.
Nearby
- Anyang — the modern city beside the site
- Red Flag Canal — a famous 20th-century irrigation work in the hills
- Zhengzhou — the Henan capital with an earlier Shang city
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — “Yin Xu” (ref. 1114)
- Yinxu Museum / Anyang authorities — official body
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Yinxu; Shang dynasty; oracle bone
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