From Oracle Bones to the Discovery of the Yin Ruins

As detailed in the history book Records of the Grand Historian, the Xia dynasty (approx. 2070–1600 BC) was the earliest dynasty in Chinese history, followed by the Shang. The Shang's domain primarily includes today's Henan province and its surrounding areas.

The Shang dynasty's capital was moved several times. Around 1290 BC, King Pan Geng relocated the capital to the area known as Yin, close to present-day Xiaotun village in Anyang city, Henan province. Here, the capital remained for over 270 years and was known during that time as "Dayi Shang" or "Tianyi Shang." After the Zhou dynasty (1046–771 BC) conquerors overthrew the Shang, this site gradually fell into ruins, hence the name Yin Ruins.

The story behind the discovery of the Yin Ruins is an interesting one. In 1899, during the final years of the Qing dynasty (1616–1911), Wang Yirong, the chief of the Imperial Academy, stumbled across fragments of turtle shells with inscriptions on them while collecting herbs. These inscriptions turned out to be oracle bone script.

Unfortunately, the origin of these inscriptions remained a mystery for a decade. It was only in 1908 that scholars identified Anyang in Henan province as the source of the oracle bones, recognizing Xiaotun on the banks of the Huan River as the capital of Shang, which is the Yin Ruins. The oracle bones and their studies not only confirmed the existence of the Shang dynasty, but also clarified the sequence of its royal lineage.

The excavation of the Yin Ruins was delayed for another 20 years. From 1928 to 1937, pioneering Chinese archaeologists, including Dong Zuobin, Li Ji and Liang Siyong, conducted 15 excavations at the site. However, these were temporarily halted due to the Japanese invasion of China. In 1950, the newly established Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences resumed excavations at the ruins in a project that continues today. As such, the Yin Ruins represent the archaeological site with the longest excavation period in Chinese history.

Evidence of urban civilization in the Shang Dynasty

Over 90 years of fieldwork has revealed the prosperity of "Dayi Shang." Initially, when the Shang royal family relocated, they constructed palaces and ancestral temples on the southern bank of the Huan River. Others who moved with the royal family established their own communities on the outskirts, rapidly forming a settlement known as "Dayi Shang." Subsequently, residential areas grew, roads and water networks were progressively built, and various artisan workshops emerged throughout the area. The settlement of "Dayi Shang" evolved into a "star-cluster" style urban area, expanding outward with the royal family at the center. Roads, waterways, residential areas and workshops interwove to form a distinctive city layout, "dense at the center and sparser on the outskirts," yet without formal walls, covering several tens of square kilometers.

The main road network in the Yin Ruins follows a "two vertical and three horizontal" layout, with the main roads approximately 30 meters wide. Two significant north-south roads run parallel to the palace and temple area, while three east-west roads extend from northwest to southeast, intersecting with the north-south roads at the southern end of the palace and temple area.

The water system includes both primary and secondary canals. The main canal draws water from the upper reaches of the Huan River, flowing from northwest to southeast, and branches out into numerous tributaries within the hinterland of "Dayi Shang."

The palace and temple area, located on the southern bank of the Huan River, is surrounded by rivers to the east and north. Adjacent to the river, there is a body of water linked to the Huan River, where the royal pond is situated. East of the pond are the royal palaces and temples, primarily designed as courtyard residences.

Scattered around the periphery of the palace and temple area are residential sites of varying sizes. These buildings also mainly consist of courtyard residences, complemented by facilities such as wells, ponds and internal roads. Due to the communal living tradition, houses are grouped in clusters, resulting in relatively high-density residential zones.

Cultural artifacts excavated from the Yin Ruins include many bronzes, jades, bones, pottery and items made from animal teeth, shells, bamboo, wood, lacquer, leather and textiles. Among the bronzes are the Houmuwu Ding, Simuxin Ding, Fuhao Triple Yan, Owl-shaped Zun, and carriage accessories for a two-horse chariot, which are particularly impressive. The jade artifacts include a wide variety of ceremonial vessels, ornaments, tools and decorative items, in a wide range of vibrant colors. Beyond common clay pottery, the site has also yielded white pottery, hard pottery and glazed pottery (proto porcelain). Numerous bronze inscriptions and pottery markings have also been discovered, including the 30-character inscription on the "Shusizi Ding" found in the Hougang sacrificial pit.

Elements used by archaeologists to evaluate the remnants of civilizations, including city sites, metallurgy, developed ritual systems and written language, are all reflected in the Yin Ruins. The site's layout demonstrates the existence of a city, while the multitude of unearthed bronze artifacts attests to advanced metallurgical techniques. Various finely crafted jade pieces, each with a clear function, reveal a comprehensive ritual system during the Shang dynasty. Additionally, oracle bones confirm the presence of written language. Thus, the Yin Ruins are confirmed as a true representation of the Shang dynasty's urban civilization.

Tracing the foundations of Chinese civilization

The development of Chinese history dates back to prehistoric times. Over 10,000 years ago, people walked out of caves and settled on river terraces, setting up agricultural communities and forming the earliest villages.

Between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago, society began advancing rapidly. The Yangtze River Basin witnessed the emergence of the Liangzhu culture, marking the period archaeologists refer to as the "ancient state" or "ancient country."

Following this era, the "kingdom" period began. The Yin Ruins have garnered global attention among archaeologists and historians because they reflect all the elements of Chinese society during its "kingdom" period. The royal tomb area in the northwest section of the Yin Ruins is the oldest royal tomb area found in China. The royal tombs, palaces, temples and the kings' divinations inscribed on oracle bones together confirm that China was at its zenith of its "kingdom" period 3,000 years ago.

This period is also recognized as the Chinese Bronze Age, with the Yin Ruins representing the pinnacle of this era. The tomb of Fuhao, spanning over 100 square meters, contains 1.6 tonnes of bronze artifacts. The significance of these items lies not only in their size but also in their application. The variety and usage of bronzes from the Yin Ruins reveal a rich legacy built upon traditional practices.

In the early Shang dynasty, a significant number of bronze vessels were made, including ding (cooking vessels, "鼎"in Chinese), zun (wine vessels, "尊"in Chinese), jia ("斝"in Chinese, wine warmers), li ("鬲"in Chinese, rice cooking vessels) and jue ("爵" in Chinese, wine vessels). Through the middle period of the Shang dynasty's development, by the time of the Yin Ruins, a complete ritual system centered around bronze vessels had been established. This system was highlighted by the use of gu ("觚" in Chinese, measuring vessels) and jue (wine vessels) in pairs. The tombs at the Yin Ruins reveal that the higher the social rank of the deceased, the greater the number of sets of gu and jue were found. This arrangement, centered around gu and jue, was complemented by food containers, musical instruments and ceremonial vessels. This setup continued to evolve until the Western Zhou dynasty when the focus shifted to a configuration centered mainly around ding and gui ( "簋" in Chinese, vessels for holding food).

Additionally, the archaeological significance of the Yin Ruins is particularly highlighted by the extensive discovery of oracle bones. To date, around 160,000 inscribed animal bones and tortoise shells have been unearthed from the site, including hundreds of complete divination pieces. The text on these oracle bones includes the posthumous titles of emperors for worship in imperial ancestral temples, ritual activities, hunting expeditions, astronomical and calendrical information, weather and lunar phases, and agricultural tasks, and relate to various aspects of life such as birth, aging, sickness and death.

Although most of the oracle bones from the Yin Ruins are fragments, from an archaeological perspective, these inscribed bones were deliberately buried in pits by the people of the Shang dynasty. This indicates that they served as archives at the time, and their inscriptions are authentic "documented texts."

In the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization, the importance of the Chinese writing system, represented by oracle bone script, cannot be overstated. This script has played a crucial role in preserving the continuity of Chinese cultural heritage. Despite changes in its form, it has maintained an unbroken tradition and remains a "living script" still in use by the Chinese today.

Bilateral interaction shaped Chinese civilization

Reflecting on China's prehistory, the Central Plains has undergone three major transformations over the past 10,000 years: from hunting and gathering to agricultural settlement; from the coexistence of ancient states to the rise of kingdoms; and from the invention of writing to the emergence of documented text. The Yin Ruins exemplify these three historical transformations, with tangible evidence confirming that Chinese society decisively concluded its "prehistoric era" and ascended to an unparalleled pinnacle.

However, the significance of the Yin Ruins lies not only in its representation of numerous historical achievements, but also in the influence of Central Plains culture on the surrounding areas and its extensive impact on cultures of the same period.

Important discoveries in contemporary Chinese archaeology include a tomb dating back to the Shang dynasty in Dayangzhou Town, Xingan county, Jiangxi province, and eight sacrificial pits at the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan province. These sites represent advanced regional civilizations based on the local cultures of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, contemporary with the Yin Ruins. An analysis of the bronze cultures at these sites reveals a profound influence from the Shang culture of the Central Plains.

The ding, yan ("甗" in Chinese, cooking vessel), gui, dou ("豆"in Chinese, a vessel for holding food) and lei ("罍" in Chinese, wine vessels) unearthed from the Shang tomb in Xingan are representatives of the Central Plains ritual system. The shape, decoration and casting techniques of a bronze lei from this tomb can all be traced back to the Shang culture of the Central Plains.

Among the Sanxingdui sacrificial pits, the No. 1, 2, 3 and 8 pits best reflect the influence of Shang culture, with bronze zun vessels found there. The three-corded patterns on the necks of vessels found in these pits are distinct markers of cultural influence from the Central Plains.

Additionally, the casting techniques used in the bronzes from the Xingan Shang tomb and the Sanxingdui sacrificial pits, including block moulding and casting-welding techniques, were inherited from the Shang dynasty. The thunder and flowing cloud motifs on the clothing of the large and small bronze figures from Sanxingdui are also influenced by Central Plains culture. This phenomenon is further reflected in other ritual objects, such as jade ceremonial items.

Cultural influence is always a two-way process. Over 70 mentions of divinations related to the Shu kingdom have been found on oracle bones. Artifacts excavated at the Yin Ruins include hard pottery from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, proto porcelain from its lower reaches, and items closely linked to grassland cultures, such as sheep-headed knives and bronze axe heads with shaft holes from the Warring States period (475–221 BC), as well as bow-shaped implements. These findings highlight the Shang's extensive absorption of surrounding cultures.

Behind the outward spread of Shang culture was the export of its social systems, ritual ideologies and production technologies. Meanwhile, the Shang culture enhanced itself by absorbing surrounding cultures. The Central Plains and adjacent regions merged through mutual learning, initiating a new phase of cultural development. This serves as a vivid example of the formation of the diverse and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization.

It is worth noting that while "Dayi Shang" was thriving in East Asia, the New Kingdom period in Egypt was underway in North Africa, and the Mesopotamian region had entered the post-Babylonian era. These major civilizations simultaneously illuminated the Earth 3,000 years ago. From the Yin Ruins, we see that the Shang dynasty successfully consolidated the accomplishments of a kingdom-based society, perfected the administration system, developed a ritual system centered around bronze vessels, and constructed an Eastern writing system characterized by oracle bone text. All these elements infused the East Asian civilization represented by the Shang with tremendous vitality. While the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia eventually waned, the Chinese civilization, represented by the Shang, has sustained its legacy up to the present day.

The author is Tang Jigen, the former head of the Yin Ruins excavation team and chief researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Liu Xian /Editor

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Liu Xian /Coordination Editor

Liu Li /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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