Joel on the Road

2.50 Australia - 05-Oct-24 -

I’m generally wary of sites in the “something important happened here, but is no longer actually here” category, but Yin Xu was a pleasant surprise. As Els noted in her review, there are two components to this site: the old city, and the royal tombs. But the highlight of this site isn’t actually on the list: the gleaming new museum which had only just opened when we visited in August 2024.

The site is largely focused on the Shang Dynasty, which lasted from approximately 1700-1000 BCE. Most of what we know about the Shang comes from their writing system, inscribed in tiny characters on tortoise shells and other animal bones. It’s considered the birthplace of Chinese writing, and many modern Chinese characters have directly evolved from their Shang equivalents.

We started with the old city, which is still the main dig site and home of the former museum (which is now mostly closed). There were some interesting signs with a surprising amount of English, but the buildings themselves weren’t particularly impressive. Houses and other buildings are laid out with small posts, concrete and bricks, though the use of modern materials made me a little sceptical. One of the buildings had a large pit with multiple chariots, but it wasn’t entirely clear whether they were originals or replicas.

The highlight here was a long series of signs, each showing a Shang dynasty character, what the character meant, what it can tell us about Shang culture, and the modern Chinese equivalent. Overall, the Old City area was fairly peaceful and quiet, with only a few other groups around. Plaque collectors: the official UNESCO certificate is located inside the old city’s ticket office!

From here we headed to the museum on the free electric shuttle bus, which runs every 15 minutes. The museum itself was great, packed full of objects found in the old city and the nearby royal tombs. Lots of beautiful bronze artefacts like vases, arrow heads, weaponry, jewellery, coins, and exquisite little figurines. And of course, the famous Houmuwu Ding takes pride of place in a large display. 

The museum also contains a lot of high-tech displays, with projections, interactive screens, immersive videos and the like. There was less English information than we expected, but more political rhetoric around the “5000 years of Chinese civilisation” claim, of which the Shang forms a significant part. There was also a room devoted to President Xi, complete with photos and a poem he had “written” about Yin Xu! All told, the museum is very large, and we spent about 3 hours here, including a tasty and cheap lunch in the bustling canteen.

The royal tombs are the other official location of the site, located roughly 5km away from the old city and the museum. The electric shuttle bus no longer runs out to the tombs, but there are tuktuk drivers nearby that will happily take you - we paid 20 RMB for a return trip.

Unfortunately I didn’t find the royal tombs site particularly interesting. Most of the info and objects here were similar to the old city and the museum, so I wasn’t especially keen on going through a third iteration. Only things of note were an active archaeological dig (many of the tombs are unopened), and a complete reproduction of a notable tomb which was pretty interesting.

Getting there

We arrived in Anyang late evening, staying in a hotel near the Anyang East HSR station. The number 11 bus runs almost directly from the station to the Yin Xu site. It takes about an hour, but only costs 2 RMB and shows you a fascinating slice of life in a mid-tier Chinese city. We returned to the station mid-afternoon for our onward train to Zhengzhou.

Read more from Joel on the Road here.

Boj

Egypt - 12-Jul-10 -

From Beijing, it takes 6 hours by train to Anyang - the northernmost city of Henan Province. The trip can be cut short into 3 hours if one takes the fast train or dongche.

To get to Yin Xu from the railway station, one can take bus 28 to Jian Hang (Construction Bank of China) and switch to bus 18 to Yin Xu Park (Yin Xu Bowuyuan).

This is an amazing site for those studying Chinese language - particularly Chinese characters. I have always been fascinated by how they have evolved and seeing the oracle bones museum in the Ancestral Shrines area was such an unforgettable experience for me.

Els Slots

3.50 The Netherlands - 17-Oct-07 -

The Yin Ruins are spread out over two separate locations: the Royal Palace area and the Royal Cemetery. Arriving at the gate of the Royal Palace area, I hadn't the faintest idea what to expect about this site. But when I saw the gate I immediately felt that this would be a visit to remember. That gate itself is already striking and prepares you for the shapes that you'll see over and over. Behind the gate lies a park with several exhibitions and a museum.

Starting at the museum is a good idea because it tells the story of the people of Yin. That they did practice animal and human sacrifice on a large scale becomes clear immediately. There are many fine bronze objects on display and of course the bones with writing (oracle bones). At first sight, they look just like normal bones, you have to look up really close to see the inscriptions. Amazing! The general feel of the site is brand new and bright, with a lot of attention put into its layout and detailing. There are explanation boards everywhere in English.

One of the highlights in the Royal Palace area is the 'Oracle bones inscriptions stele gallery'. Here, translations from writings on oracle bones into Modern Chinese and English are displayed. What did they write about? Sacrificing, tribute-paying, military actions and astronomy were popular themes. Remarks on good weather and therefore good harvests are also common.

Around the corner, the characters of the oracle bones script are compared to those in Modern Chinese. Also very well done. You can see the evolution of the script and the striking similarities. The words in the oracle bones script (pictorial) are fun to decipher: 'elephant', 'fish' and 'silk worm' are easy to guess.

The visit to the main site ends at Fu Hao's Tomb. Fu Hao was a member of the Royal Family of the Shang Dynasty and China's first woman general. Many bronze, jade and bone objects were found in her grave, which has been restored.

A golf cart-like wagon covers a distance of 5.5 kilometers to the second location, that of the Royal Cemetery. The trip is included in the 61 Y entrance fee. It's a nice ride through Anyang's suburbs and into Henan's farmlands. It is here that the large Simuwu vessel was found, the largest bronze vessel unearthed at Yin Xu. The Royal Cemetery has a number of restored tombs with displays. The items that are shown are mostly replicas, the originals can be found in the central museum or in various museums around the world.

Yin Xu turned out to be the quietest site that I've visited so far in China. I even was the only visitor at the Royal Cemetery!