Henan province has 14 items listed among the recent-concluded selection of "China's 100 Major Archaeological Discoveries in Last 100 Years", ranking 1st nationwide.
During the 11th Party Congress of Henan Province, we are launching the Archaeological Discovery in Henan: A Marvel in the World series featuring 7 bilingual stories about Henan's 14 items in "China's 100 Major Archaeological Discoveries in Last 100 Years" to demonstrate Henan's long history and rich culture.
Here is the 4th episode: The Capital Sites of the Shang Dynasty in Yanshi and Zhengzhou.
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As a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level in China, the Site of the First Capital of the Shang Dynasty in Yanshi District of Luoyang City, Henan Province, is of the Erligang Culture period (or the early Shang Dynasty), marking a separation between the Xia and Shang dynasties. Covering an area of some 2 square meters, it was built by King Tang, the founder of the Shang Dynasty, with Mangshan Mountain to its north and Luohe River to its south.
The layout of the Site of the First Capital of the Shang Dynasty. [Photo/Luoyang Cultural Heritage Bureau]
The Site of the First Capital of the Shang Dynasty was discovered in 1983, with remains 1 to 4 meters under the seemingly ordinary field. Many rounds of excavations had been conducted by the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. According to the data of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology Project, it was first built some 3,600 years ago.
The Site of the First Capital of the Shang Dynasty looks rectangular in shape, more than 1,700 meters long from north to south while 1,215 meters to 740 meters wide from east to west, and is composed of a large city, a small city and an imperial city, with the remains of the city gates, roads, palaces, residential compounds discovered in addition to a large number of stone tools, pottery wares, bronze wares, jade, etc.
In January 2021, the latest findings confirmed that it was equipped with the earliest and most complete urban water system of the Shang Dynasty.
The Site of the Capital of the Shang Dynasty in Guancheng District of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, was the location of the capital of the Shang Dynasty during its early and mid period.
The layout of the Site of the Capital of the Shang Dynasty in Zhengzhou. [Photo provided to Dahe Daily]
Dating back to 1465 BC to 1509 BC, it was a grand capital in the pre-Zhou Dynasty period with an area of 25 square kilometers, second only to the Yin Ruins in Henan's Anyang City.
Apart from the remains of city walls, rammed-earth foundations for palaces, handicraft workshops, tombs, pits for storing bronze wares and sacrifice, a large number of cultural relics were also discovered, such as bronze wares, pottery wares, proto-porcelains, jade, stone tools, bone implements, ivory products, etc., among which Duling Rectangular Ding is the best known.
The Site of the Capital of the Shang Dynasty in Zhengzhou is of great value to study the history of the Shang Dynasty and the development of ancient cities. (Source: dahe.cn Translator: Zhao Hanqing Video & Poster: Wang Junyi Proofreader: Zhang Junping and Zhang Yuhong)
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Special Coverage on Party Congress | Episode I: The Jiahu Site & The Peiligang Site
Special Coverage on Party Congress | Episode II: The Yangshao Site & The Miaodigou Site
