Sign In
Register
Help
Quote
Yin ruins: root of Chinese culture
www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-13 16:39:29
ZHENGZHOU, June 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Since 1898, the Yin ruins have provided the world with over 150,000 oracle items.
Recording harvest, astronomical phenomena, worship and wars of the ancient Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C., also called the Yin Dynasty), the inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones from the Yin ruins are scattered throughout the world.
The oracles were regarded as one of the earliest written languages of the human being, which is respected as the forefather of Chinese characters today, and they had already aroused the interests of many of the world's scholars, said Yang Xizhang, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
They were the most convincing proof and the precious treasure of human civilization, and also the greatest contribution of the Yin ruins to the world, said Yang.
Located in Anyang, central China's Henan Province, the Yin ruins were the earliest remains of an ancient capital city, which had been excavated with written materials, said the archaeologist,and it topped the 100 greatest archaeological discoveries of China in the past century.
Covering an area of 30 square kilometers, there was a grand and well-equipped capital with palaces, a tomb district, a civil residence, a bronze casting workshop and worship sites on the ruins, Yang said.
Apart from the large amount of oracles, over 10,000 bronze wares, together with 54 ruins of palaces were excavated here.
Simuwu Ding, a four-legged bronze cauldron, 133 cm high and weighing 875 kg, was the biggest bronze ware ever discovered in the world.
Besides, the tomb of China's first female general, Fuhao, wife of one emperor of the Yin Dynasty, was also discovered in the ruins.
...
www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-13 16:39:29
ZHENGZHOU, June 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Since 1898, the Yin ruins have provided the world with over 150,000 oracle items.
Recording harvest, astronomical phenomena, worship and wars of the ancient Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C., also called the Yin Dynasty), the inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones from the Yin ruins are scattered throughout the world.
The oracles were regarded as one of the earliest written languages of the human being, which is respected as the forefather of Chinese characters today, and they had already aroused the interests of many of the world's scholars, said Yang Xizhang, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
They were the most convincing proof and the precious treasure of human civilization, and also the greatest contribution of the Yin ruins to the world, said Yang.
Located in Anyang, central China's Henan Province, the Yin ruins were the earliest remains of an ancient capital city, which had been excavated with written materials, said the archaeologist,and it topped the 100 greatest archaeological discoveries of China in the past century.
Covering an area of 30 square kilometers, there was a grand and well-equipped capital with palaces, a tomb district, a civil residence, a bronze casting workshop and worship sites on the ruins, Yang said.
Apart from the large amount of oracles, over 10,000 bronze wares, together with 54 ruins of palaces were excavated here.
Simuwu Ding, a four-legged bronze cauldron, 133 cm high and weighing 875 kg, was the biggest bronze ware ever discovered in the world.
Besides, the tomb of China's first female general, Fuhao, wife of one emperor of the Yin Dynasty, was also discovered in the ruins.
...
MultiQuote
Posted 28 June 2004 - 10:38 PM
