I had heard about the Anyang Yin Ruins for a long time and saw many artifacts unearthed from the Yin Ruins at the National Museum. This time, I took advantage of the off-season with fewer people to enjoy the many exquisite artifacts at the Yin Ruins over the weekend.
I bought a combined ticket for 120 yuan, which included two sites and a museum. I first went to the royal tomb site and the palace ancestral temple site, and I was a bit disappointed. I had low expectations for such sites; generally, there isn't much left outside, but I at least hoped to see some burial structures like at the Western Xia Tombs to feel the atmosphere of the dynasty. I didn't expect that the royal tomb site had been mostly leveled, overgrown with weeds, and scattered with replicas of artifacts, completely ruining the atmosphere. The royal tomb site has three indoor exhibition halls: one for the chariot and horse pit, one for human sacrifice, and one for unearthed artifacts. Among the artifacts displayed here is a bronze human mask, the only human bronze artifact I saw at the Yin Ruins. This mask has a very realistic face shape, with an elongated oval face, pointed chin, slanted eyes, and high nose bridge, looking less like a typical Chinese person and more like a typical Mongolian. Since there is only one, I speculate it was not made locally but was a trophy captured from another state; the people who made this mask might have been early Mongoloids. The most famous artifact unearthed here is the Houtu Muwu Ding, which is still referred to by its original name, the Simuwu Ding, in Anyang. Based on the oracle bone script I saw on the artifacts, I believe the interpretation of Houtu Muwu is correct. The oracle bone script is written vertically, and many characters can be mirrored left and right; the character for "Houtu" on the round and square vessels from the Fu Hao tomb is one reversed and one normal. This ding is speculated to have been used for sacrifices to one of the wives of the Shang King Wu Ding, Fu Jiang, who is also the mother of later Shang kings Zu Geng or Zu Jia, with the temple name Wu. The Fu Hao tomb unearthed a similar ding, with the inscription "Houtu Xin," indicating that Fu Hao was one of the queens and the mother of Zu Ji, with the temple name Xin. It is estimated that Fu Hao's status was somewhat lower than Fu Jiang's, as she was not buried in the royal tomb area; her tomb is located in the southwest corner of the palace ancestral temple site. The Fu Hao tomb is the most worthwhile part of this site; it is not as large as imagined but relatively deep. You can walk down the repaired stairs to the second or third level, with the lowest level being a square burial pit, about 3 to 4 meters long and wide, containing a few bronze artifacts and other items, unclear whether they are originals or replicas. In the middle level, there are glass cabinets displaying some artifacts; besides a large number of bronze vessels, a noteworthy item is an ivory cup, about 30 to 40 centimeters tall, with various carvings on the cup body and handle, looking both beautiful and practical, suitable for cultural creation. The other parts of this site, apart from some foundation ruins, chariot and horse pits, and traces of roads, are newly built, with some videos and live performances that can deepen the understanding of Shang culture.
The distance from the palace ancestral temple site to the royal tomb site is about 6 kilometers, with a shuttle bus running back and forth every hour, and the ticket price includes the bus fare. It is not far from the palace ancestral temple site to the museum, but it takes about ten minutes to walk around the river. The museum, rebuilt in 2024, has three floors. If you haven't seen the chariot and horse pit, you can check it out on the first floor; the highlights are on the second floor with the Shang civilization exhibition and the third floor with the oracle bone script exhibition.
Although the Houtu Muwu Ding, owl zun, and others have been taken by the National Museum, there are still many good artifacts in the museum worth appreciating carefully. The most common type of artifacts in the museum is, of course, bronze vessels, with various utensils, some in the shape of animals, and the most striking is the bronze colored cow in the Yachang exhibition. This bronze cow is only 20-40 centimeters in size but is very exquisite, with various dragon, tiger, and bird patterns on its body. Due to chemical reactions, the cow's horns and parts of its body have changed from blue to dark red, with the two colors intertwined, adding a mysterious quality to the bronze cow. The most distinctive feature is a bronze hand, a very realistic right hand with five fingers spread open, slightly smaller than an adult's hand, with an unknown purpose. I think it is unlikely to be a prosthetic, as the technology at the time was not advanced enough, nor is it likely to be a tool, as its practicality is low; it is most likely a symbol of power, mounted on a wooden handle, representing Yachang's status. There are many other exquisite bronze artifacts, but I can't introduce them all; it's better to see them in person for a more profound experience.
The most distinctive feature in the museum is the oracle bone script, with the majority found on turtle shells and some on animal bones, and a small amount on bronze vessels. A total of over a hundred thousand oracle bones have been unearthed, with about 4,000 unique characters, and it is estimated that over 1,000 can be recognized. The deciphered content of these characters resembles palace diaries or microblogs, recording the Shang state's observations of celestial phenomena, ancestor worship, hunting, warfare, and daily life management. Due to their scattered nature, they cannot serve as historical books, but they can verify some history and correct some errors in later historical records. These characters prove the existence of the Yin/Shang states and the basic situations of the Shang kings and court throughout the ages, showing that women like Fu Hao could serve as priests and generals, engage in wars with surrounding states, use chariots for transportation, frequently go hunting, collect turtle shells, manage agriculture, and cast bronze vessels for commemoration after receiving rewards, etc. Due to the long time that has passed and the lack of corresponding texts, deciphering oracle bone script is very challenging.
The museum also has many pottery and jade artifacts; there aren't many exquisite pottery pieces, but I particularly like a human face cover. This is a round pottery lid with four human faces arranged at the corners, each with different expressions, likely representing joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, with a bird in the center. In China, artifacts depicting human figures are relatively rare, with more representations of animals, patterns, or landscapes. Although this artifact is not particularly exquisite, the expressions of the figures are vivid, showing that the craftsmen had a certain level of research on this. Besides the human face cover, there are also some pottery imitating bronze vessels, carved with patterns like the Kui dragon or made in colors similar to bronze vessels. The jade artifacts are mainly in the shape of animals, generally not very large, including dragons, tigers, birds, and various monsters, which I won't describe further.
At least 3 to 4 hours are needed to roughly see the museum, and a careful visit should take about a day. Spending 1 to 2 hours at each of the two sites is sufficient. Overall, it is definitely worth a visit; it only became a World Heritage Site in 2006, much later than I expected, likely due to previous gaps in artifact excavation, protection, and exhibition standards compared to World Heritage protection. Archaeological work at the Yin Ruins is still ongoing, and I hope it can reduce damage to archaeological sites and artifacts.
You can find the travel notes for the Western Xia Tombs at the link below:
https://msh.xlog.app/ning-xia-xi-xia-ling-you-ji