Yinxu Museum

Yinxu is the site of the capital of the late Shang Dynasty in China. It is the first capital confirmed in Chinese history and is located in Yindu District, Anyang City. A large number of bronze artifacts, oracle bones and other cultural relics with precious historical value have been unearthed in Yinxu. Among them, the "Simuwu Large Square Ding" weighing 875 kilograms is a precious bronze artifact; and oracle bones are the predecessors of ancient Chinese writing and Chinese characters. Its discovery has changed China's archaeological chronicles and brought China's credible history with written records back to the Shang Dynasty.

The total area of ​​Yinxu is very large, reaching 24 square kilometers. Tourists mainly visit the Yinxu Museum (currently moved to the new Yinxu Museum), the Yinxu Royal Tombs and the Yinxu Palace Temple Site. The signboards in the scenic area are very clear, and it is very easy to walk around according to these signs. The Yinxu Museum (new building), which opened in March 2024, displays a large number of unearthed cultural relics such as bronze, stone, and jade, but precious cultural relics such as the "Simuwu Large Square Ding" and the "Fuhao Owl Zun" have been transferred to the National Museum of China or the Henan Museum. What you see here are replicas of cultural relics.

The Yinxu Royal Tombs in the scenic area are recognized by the academic community as the royal mausoleum and sacrificial site of the Shang Dynasty. A large number of oracle bones and bronze artifacts were unearthed in the palace area, including the "Simuwu Large Square Ding". 13 royal tombs, more than 2,000 burial tombs, sacrificial pits and chariot pits have been discovered here. In the eastern area of ​​the Royal Tombs, there are many sacrificial pits with many people (those buried alive) and animal skeletons in them. It was a public sacrificial site for the Yin royal family to worship their ancestors.

The palace and ancestral temple ruins of Yinxu were the places where the Shang kings handled government affairs and lived. They are the most important ruins and components of Yinxu, including more than 80 palace and ancestral temple foundations. To the west and south of the palace and ancestral temple ruins, there is an artificially dug defense moat that surrounds the palace and ancestral temple, playing a role similar to that of a palace city. The ancestral temple ruins are also one of the famous "classical city-states" among the ancient civilizations of the world.

The palace and ancestral temple ruins also include the tomb of Fu Hao, the wife of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty. This is the best-preserved tomb of a member of the Shang royal family discovered so far, and it is also the tomb of a member of the Shang royal family that can be linked to oracle bones and determine the age, tomb owner and identity. 16 "sacrificial victims" were also found in the tomb, and thousands of artifacts were unearthed, including bone, jade and bronze artifacts.

In the eastern part of the scenic area, there is an "Oracle Bone Stele Beilin", which displays a large number of oracle bone inscriptions in the form of steles. Interested tourists can go and have a look.