Yanshi Shangcheng site

Yanshi Shangcheng site

Yanshi Shangcheng site was called Xibo in ancient times

It was the first capital of Shang Dynasty

Located in Yanshi, Luoyang, it is a site of Erligang culture (early Shang Dynasty) and a landmark of Xia and Shang culture. It was built after Shang Tang destroyed summer, with a total area of about 2 square kilometers. Mangshan in the north and Luoshui in the south.

The site of Yanshi mall in Luoyang covers 1-4 meters below the ground. In the spring of 1983, it was discovered that the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences excavated many times during the infrastructure construction. According to a series of dating data provided by the "Xia Shang Zhou dating project", the date of its first construction was presumed to be about 1600 BC; the date of the early phase of the third phase of Yanshi Shang city was determined to be around 1400 BC, so it took about 200 years for the site to rise and fall, and it has been widely recognized by scholars As a cultural landmark of Xia and Shang Dynasties.

The site of Yanshi commercial city in Luoyang is slightly rectangular in plane, 1700 meters in length from north to South and 1215-740 meters in width from east to west, including three walls of big city, small city and palace city. The city gate, road, palace, residence and other relics were found in the site, and a large number of stone tools, pottery, bronze, jade and other relics were unearthed.

In December 2019, archaeologists excavated two circular building sites in the northwest of the town, initially revealing the secret of the "national granary" of the Shang Dynasty.

Historical evolution

At the Shangcheng site of Yanshi in Luoyang, 1 km west of Yanshi and only 6 km away from Erlitou site, archaeologists found a large-scale early Shang Dynasty city site,

There are large-scale palace buildings and military defense facilities in the site. The drainage facilities in the city are complete, including moats, drainage ditches and canals. The streets are vertical and horizontal, and the Royal City, treasury, barracks and gates are arranged in an orderly manner. It is the earliest, largest and best preserved imperial capital in the early Shang Dynasty. Most experts believe that it is the first Shang Dynasty capital "Xibo" established after Shang Tang destroyed Xia Jie.

In the spring of 1983, in order to cooperate with the site selection of Shouyangshan Power Plant, the city was discovered by drilling and trial excavation was carried out.

In the spring and summer of 1983, the exploration and trial excavation of the city site confirmed the location, strike, length and preservation of the city walls on the west, North and east sides; the city gate in the middle of the north city wall and the road to the South were found; and a Shuibo relic was found on the southeast side outside the city. Three large rammed earth buildings were found in the south of the city.

Autumn of 1983 to spring of 1988: the excavation of the second west gate and the first East Gate, the excavation of the cemetery inside the second west gate, and the discovery of the small city wall on the south side of the second west gate were inferred as the "horse road" of Dengcheng at that time

. It is confirmed that the No. 1 building complex is a palace city, and four buildings have been excavated

, 5, 6

Rammed earth building foundation site (originally compiled as the upper and lower foundation sites of No. 5 Palace). It is confirmed that No. II and No. III buildings have walls about 2 meters wide, which are actually two small cities with their own units. There are rammed earth foundation sites in the small cities. 1988-1995: the moat and the south wall around the city wall were discovered

And the west gate, excavated the west gate and the moat outside the gate. The discovery of nanchengyuan makes the layout of Yanshi mall clearer. In the middle and northern part of the city, a number of small and medium-sized buildings and a large number of living remains were excavated. It is inferred that this area was a general residential area at that time

. The foundation site of building group II, located in the southwest corner of the city, was excavated in a large area, which is presumed to be a relic with the nature of a mansion

.

1996-2001: large scale excavation was carried out to cooperate with the "Xia Shang Zhou dating project". It includes the reexamination and exploration in the west of the palace area, the excavation of the northeast corner of Dacheng wall and the east wall and moat

The excavation of small city walls

Excavation of several rammed earth foundations in the palace area

The excavation of the ruins of dahuigou (sacrificial site) and Chiqu in the north of the palace area

And so on. A series of field work provides rich and systematic information for establishing the archaeological chronological sequence of the city site, exploring the layout, architectural structure and evolution process of the city site and the palace area, and further exploring the nature of the city.

From 2007 to 2008, we discovered and excavated the ruins of the West three gates in the north section of the west wall of Dacheng, and the waterways and bridges crossing the moat outside the west one gate, which confirmed the turning phenomenon in the middle of the west wall

.

In December 2019, a new discovery was made at the site of Yanshi Shangcheng. An orderly circular building base group was preliminarily inferred as the "national granary" of the Shang Dynasty by archaeologists.

Documentation

"Emperor pan Geng's disciples were all in Yin, and the Shang Dynasty was called Yin. Bo Yin, now Yanshi is also. However, there were three BOS in Yin, two BOS in Liang and one in Henan. Gu Shu is Nanbo, which is also called Tangdu. Mongolia is the North Bo, namely Jing Bo, and Tang Suo Meng. Yanshi was the Western Bo, the apprentice of Pan Geng. " ——Emperor Century by huangfumi in the Western Jin Dynasty

"Yanshi in Henan Province is the capital of Xibo, DIHE and Tangsuo, and Pangeng is also the capital." ——Kuodizhi by Li Tai in Tang Dynasty

"Kui said: Bo, the ruins of Kui, is between the Yuzhou River and Luoyang in Yugong, and it is also the Shixiang Pavilion 20 Li west of Yanshi City in Henan Province." ——Notes to the water classic

"Yanshi, Shixiang, the capital of Yintang." ——Ban Gu of the Eastern Han Dynasty

"The residences of the past three generations were all between Heluo, so Songgao is the middle mountain, and the four mountains are different." ——Sima Qian's historical records Fengchan book in the Western Han Dynasty

"Huangfumi said," the capital of Bo is now Yanshi, Henan Province. " ——A collection of historical records by Pei fan of the Southern Song Dynasty

Site features

The site of Yanshi shopping mall is divided into three parts: Palace City, small city and big city. The plan is slightly rectangular, with a length of 1700 meters from north to south, a width of 1215 meters from north to south, a width of 1120 meters from middle to south, and a width of 740 meters from south, covering an area of 1.9 million square meters. The city wall is made of rammed earth, and the south wall has been destroyed by the Luohe River. The west wall is 1710 meters long, the north wall 1240 meters long and the east wall 1640 meters long. Seven gates have been found, including one in the north and three in the East and three in the West. In the city, a number of crisscross trunk roads and square drainage channels built with stones were found. Among them, there are 5 East-West roads and 6 north-south roads. The width of the road surface is 6-10m, and some of the roads basically correspond to the orientation of the city gate. In the southern half of the city, there are three small cities, the palace city in the middle is square, with groups of large palace sites; the other two small cities are located in the northeast and southwest of the palace city, both rectangular, with rows of buildings, which may be armory, granary or garrison defense castle. The site also unearthed a wealth of cultural relics, including pottery, bronze, jade, stone, bone, mussel and primitive porcelain, which provided valuable material for the restoration of early Chinese history.

Cultural relic value

Yanshi commercial city is the most clear capital site in Xia and Shang Dynasties. Its discovery provides important physical evidence for the boundary between Xia culture and Shang culture. There are large-scale palace buildings and military defense facilities in the site. The drainage facilities in the city are complete, including moats, drainage ditches and canals. The streets are vertical and horizontal, and the Royal City, the Treasury, the barracks and the city gate are arranged in order. Experts pointed out that this is the earliest, largest and best preserved capital in the early Shang Dynasty. In the archaeological exploration of Yanshi commercial city, it is also found that the layout of the city is axial symmetry and regular. The palace buildings have the system of the former dynasty and the latter, the separation of the palace and the temple, and the independence of the eastern kitchen. There are special sacrificial places and amusement pools in the palace city, which are followed by the later urban construction. A large number of exquisite cultural relics have been unearthed from the Shang city of Yanshi. By electron probe analysis, copper, tin and lead alloys have been used at that time, which has high archaeological value.

Cultural relics protection

In 1988, the State Council of the people's Republic of China announced it as the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

In 2002, the Department of cultural relics adopted the method of simulated display on the ground. After the protective backfill and raising the original surface before archaeological excavation, the layout, location, shape and composition of the site were simulated on the ground according to the original site, size and sample.

In October 2010, the comprehensive protective exhibition project in the palace area of Yanshi mall was officially launched. Above the original site, the palace of No. 4, No. 2 and No. 8 in Miyagi district was reconstructed.

Cultural relics

Nearly ten thousand artifacts unearthed from the Shang city site in Yanshi can reflect the life of the royal family and the common people in the Shang Dynasty. According to their quality, they are gold, bronze, jade, pottery, primitive porcelain, etc., and according to their uses, they are ceremonial, daily, production, funeral, burial, burial, and decoration.

Tourism information

position

Yanshi Shangcheng site is located in Erlitou village, Yanshi City, Henan Province.

traffic

Take bus 806 and get off at Yanshi bus station.

Address: Shangdu West Road, Yanshi, Luoyang

Longitude: 112.76553

Latitude: 34.726468

Chinese PinYin : Yan Shi Shang Cheng Yi Zhi