Yinxu Oracle Bone Inscriptions

Since the location of Oracle bones was found out, from the autumn of 1928 to the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the summer of 1937, the archaeological team of the Institute of History and Language of Academia Sinica, under the auspices of famous archaeologists Dong Zuobin, Li Ji and Liang Siyong, carried out archaeological excavations in Xiaotun Village for 15 years, which not only found more than 24,900 pieces in total, but also found the late Shang Dynasty. Yin Ruins became a world-famous site of ancient culture, which once again shocked Chinese and foreign academic circles.

After the founding of New China, archaeologists conducted many investigations and excavations, and generally found out the scope and layout of Yin Ruins. Yin Ruins is located in the northwest suburb of Anyang City, with Xiaotun Village as the center. It is about 6 kilometers long from east to west and 5 kilometers long from north to south, with a total area of about 30 square kilometers. Xiaotun Village on the south bank of Huan River is the palace area where Wang Yin lives. Dozens of palaces have been excavated, the largest of which covers an area of 5000 square meters. North of Huan River is the mausoleum area of Yin King. More than a dozen large tombs, more than a thousand small tombs and a large number of sacrificial pits have been excavated. Near the palace, two Oracle Bone Inscriptions archives and handicraft workshop sites such as copper casting, jade making, bone making and pottery burning were discovered. The excavation of Yin Ruins has a long duration, large scale and abundant harvest, which is really rare in the archaeological history of China.

In order to commemorate the great archaeological discovery of Yin Ruins, in the autumn of 1987, Anyang City built the Yin Ruins Museum on the northeast side of the palace ruins area, which restored and reproduced the features of the Yin Ruins Palace and some buildings 3,000 years ago. 1in the spring of 976, the first female General Cemetery in the history of China was excavated near the palace area, which is 0/00 meters northwest of Xiaotun Village. Oracle Bone Inscriptions records that Fuxi was the queen of Wu Ding, king of Shang Dynasty. One summer, there was a war on the northern border, and the two sides were at daggers drawn. Fu Hao volunteered to send troops. Wu Ding hesitated, decided to send Fu Hao to arise after divination, and the result was a great victory. From then on, Wu Ding made her commander in chief. Since then, she has conquered more than 20 neighboring countries (independent small countries) by expeditions to the East and the West. Oracle Bone Inscriptions once said that when Fuxi was fighting in Qiang, he commanded a huge team of 6,543,800+3,000 people, which was the largest number of foreign soldiers known so far in Shang Dynasty. Regal Tomb is the only well-preserved royal tomb of Yin Dynasty unearthed from Yin Ruins, and many unearthed objects are engraved with inscriptions. It is the only royal tomb of Shang Dynasty that can be confirmed by Oracle Bone Inscriptions and historical documents, so as to determine the identity and age of the tomb owner. In the 70-year archaeology of Yin Ruins, it is particularly worth mentioning three important textual research and discoveries of Oracle Bone Inscriptions:

The first time was1June, 936 12. A Oracle Bone Inscriptions pit was excavated in Bei Gong area of Xiaotun Village, and 17096 Oracle Bone Inscriptions with words was preserved, which recorded many activities in Wuding period of Shang Dynasty. It seems that this is the Oracle Bone Inscriptions file of Wuding royal family. The excavation of these Oracle bones is of great value to the study of social politics, culture and life in Wuding period. During the excavation, a body was found curled up on its side in the pit, and most of the body was pressed on the Oracle bone. Experts think it may be the custodian of the file.

The second time, in the south of Xiaotun Village 1973, 7 150 pieces of Oracle bones were excavated, of which 504 1 piece was carved. At the same time, the unearthed pottery products also have these Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which provides valuable information for the staging of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Yin Ruins.

The third time, in the autumn of 199 1, a Oracle Bone Inscriptions pit with an area of only 2 square meters was excavated in the east of Huayuanzhuang, but its overlapping thickness reached 0.8 meters, and 583 pieces of Oracle bones/kloc-0 were unearthed, including 579 pieces of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, with rich records. The fortune tellers were all members of the royal family and senior nobles in Wuding period. It shows that the divination activities in this period were not limited to the king, the supreme ruler, but all the royal nobles could use divination to predict good or bad luck.