On February 26, the new building of the Yinxu Museum at the Yin Ruins, the site of the last capital of the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC), officially openedto the public, showcasing nearly 4,000 items or sets of cultural relics, including bronzeware, pottery, jade objects, and oracle bones.
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The new building possesses the largest number and most complete types of artifacts from the Shang Dynasty, with more than three-quarters of artifacts exhibited and a series of new archaeological achievements unveiled for the first time, such as the bronze wares of the mid-Shang Dynasty, the burial objects from the tombs of Ya Zhi and Ma Wei, etc. Besides, over 110 pieces of oracle bones from H3 Oracle Bone Pit as well as all the burial objects from the tomb of Ya Zhang are exhibited. The 23 chariots unearthed from Yinxu will be the highlights in the new galleries.
Buffalo-shaped Wine Vessel with Inscriptions of Ya Zhang. [Photo/dahe.cn]
Confirmed by historic documents, archaeological excavations and oracle bone inscriptions as the capital site of the late Shang Dynasty, Yinxu is usually regarded as the cornerstone of the project on tracing the origins of Chinese civilization launched by China in 2001. As a key component of world civilization, Yinxu has provided solid evidence for the continuity and pluralistic and integrated pattern of Chinese civilization, and was inscribed in the UNESCO world cultural heritage list in 2006. Together with oracle bone inscriptions, Yinxu has extended recorded Chinese history to nearly 1,000 years earlier than previously believed.
The new building of the Yinxu Museum. [Photo/dahe.cn]
The new buildingis located across the Huanhe River from the palace and temple area of the Yinxu, covering 17.5 hectares with an exhibition space of 22 thousand square meters. (Zhao Hanqing & Yang Jiaxin)
