Yinxu

ruins, China

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June 29, 2026

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Yinxu, meaning "Ruins of Yin," is the site of the ancient Shang dynasty capital, located near modern-day Anyang. This UNESCO World Heritage site is crucial for understanding early Chinese history. Discoveries there include building foundations, bronzes, chariots, pottery, jade artifacts, and thousands of oracle bones inscribed with the earliest known Chinese writing. Cemeteries, craft workshops, and pits containing sacrificed humans and animals have also been unearthed, providing insights into Shang burial customs and social structure. Yinxu was a center of royal power for the last nine Shang kings.123

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Anyang
Yinxu
Yinxu (“The Ruins of Yin”), the site of the Shang capital at Anyang, had been known to scholars since the turn of the 20th century through the accidental discovery in 1899 of inscribed oracle bones, the earliest Chinese written records. It was not until 1928,…
Read More
Yinxu (“The Ruins of Yin”), the site of the Shang capital at Anyang, had been known to scholars since the turn of the 20th century through the accidental discovery in 1899 of inscribed oracle bones, the earliest Chinese written records. It was not until 1928,…
Read More

China
The Shang dynasty
Known to history as Yinxu, “the Ruins of Yin” (Yin was the name used by the succeeding Zhou dynasty for the Shang), it was a seat of royal power for the last nine Shang kings, from Wuding to Dixin. According to the “short chronology” used in this article, which…
Read More
Known to history as Yinxu, “the Ruins of Yin” (Yin was the name used by the succeeding Zhou dynasty for the Shang), it was a seat of royal power for the last nine Shang kings, from Wuding to Dixin. According to the “short chronology” used in this article, which…
Read More