Yin, now known as Yinxu, was the last capital of the Shang Dynasty. Twelve kings ruled here, spanning 255 years. Yin was established by King Wu Ding (1400-1200 BC) as the seventh Shang capital and was built upon the site of an ancient village beside the Huang river, near Anyang in northern Henan province. When King Wu of the Zhou dynasty overthrew the last Shang ruler, he moved his capital south and Yin fell into ruin. Yinxu is made up of two words "Yin", the name of the city and "xu", meaning ruins.

At the height of its influence, Yin covered about 24 square kilometers (9.6 square miles). There was no central walled city, but at the center of the complex were the royal palaces, temples and altars, all with rammed earth foundations. An area of industry surrounded this administrative center, housing the workshops of bronze workers, potters, stone carvers and other artisans. Outside this district were small houses which were built partially below ground level. At the edges of the settled area were the burial grounds.

The ruins of Yin were discovered in the early 1900s and subsequent excavations have yielded the foundations of houses, the palace, shrines, sacrificial pits and tombs. Other items found were bronzeware, pottery and jade pieces. One of the most important finds were the oracle bones, carved with some of China's earliest examples of writing. These recorded the names of all the Shang kings as well as inscriptions describing religious rites, military campaigns, and details of the everyday life during the Shang dynasty.

The main image on this page shows a ding. You can learn more about this ancient vessel in this article, Shang Ding


Visit a Yinxu Photo Gallery


Sources: