What are oracle bones?

Turtle plastrons and ox shoulder blades that Shang diviners heated until they cracked, reading the cracks as answers to questions about harvests, war, weather and royal health. The questions and results were often carved on the bones, making them the earliest large body of Chinese writing. Most found so far come from Yin Xu.

Historic city · Cultural centre · Henan

Anyang

安阳 (Ānyáng)

Yin, the last Shang capital, where Chinese writing was found

Anyang is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan, near the borders with Hebei and Shanxi. Its north-western suburb is Yin Xu, the capital of the late Shang dynasty, where the oracle bones bearing the earliest substantial Chinese writing were found; the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2006.

ProvinceHenan

Key facts

Province: Henan
Administrative level: Prefecture-level city
Area: about 7,410 km²[1]
Resident population: 5.48 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
UNESCO World Heritage: Yin Xu (2006)[3]

Overview

Anyang lies on the Huan River at the foot of the Taihang Mountains. About 1300 BCE the Shang king Pan Geng moved his capital here, and for some two centuries it was the political and ritual centre of the Shang world. Excavations since 1928 have uncovered palace and temple foundations, royal tombs and tens of thousands of inscribed oracle bones — turtle shells and ox bones used in divination — which established the historicity of the Shang and the antiquity of Chinese writing.

The modern city is an industrial and agricultural centre. Beyond Yin Xu, the municipality includes the Red Flag Canal in Linzhou, the birthplace of the general Yue Fei in Tangyin, and the tomb identified as Cao Cao's.

Names and nicknames

殷 (Yīn)
The name of the late Shang capital, and by extension of the Shang dynasty itself (殷商).
相州 (Xiàngzhōu)
Name of the prefecture from the Northern Wei to the Song.

History

The Shang ruled from Yin from about 1300 BCE until the Zhou conquest around 1046 BCE. Oracle bones sold as “dragon bones” for medicine were recognised as inscribed in 1899, and the Academia Sinica excavated the site from 1928 to 1937. The tomb of Fu Hao, a Shang queen and general, was found intact in 1976. In the twentieth century Anyang was the home of Yuan Shikai, whose tomb stands in the city.

c. 1300 BCE
Pan Geng moves the Shang capital to Yin
The last Shang capital, occupied until the fall of the dynasty.
1899
Oracle bones recognised
The scholar Wang Yirong identified inscriptions on bones sold as medicine, tracing them to villages near Anyang.
1928–1937
Scientific excavation of Yin Xu
Among the first large-scale excavations by Chinese archaeologists, revealing royal tombs and archives of oracle bones.
1939
Houmuwu ding found
The heaviest ancient Chinese bronze vessel, at over 800 kg, now in the National Museum in Beijing.
1976
Tomb of Fu Hao
The only intact Shang royal tomb yet found, with hundreds of bronzes and jades.
2006
UNESCO World Heritage
Yin Xu was inscribed.
2009
Cao Cao's tomb identified
Archaeologists announced that a tomb at Xigaoxue was that of Cao Cao, the Three Kingdoms warlord.

Landmarks

Historic site
Yin Xu
殷墟 (Yīnxū)
The Shang palace and temple area, the tomb of Fu Hao, royal tombs with chariot pits, and a site museum.
Museum
National Museum of Chinese Writing
中国文字博物馆 (Zhōngguó Wénzì Bówùguǎn)
Museum of the history of Chinese characters and other scripts of China, opened in 2009.
Temple or shrine
Wenfeng Pagoda
文峰塔 (Wénfēng Tǎ)
Pagoda of the Tianning Temple, wider at the top than at the base.
Historic site
Yuan Lin
袁林 (Yuán Lín)
Tomb of Yuan Shikai, the first president of the Republic of China, built in 1916–1918 in a mixture of Chinese and Western styles.

Neighbourhoods

Linzhou
林州 (Línzhōu)
County-level city in the Taihang Mountains with the Red Flag Canal and the Taihang Grand Canyon.

Food

Bianfen cai
扁粉菜 (biǎnfěn cài)
Breakfast stew of flat sweet-potato noodles, pig's blood and cabbage in pork broth.
Daokou roast chicken
道口烧鸡 (Dàokǒu shāojī)
Spiced chicken from Hua county within the municipality.
Pizha
皮渣 (pízhā)
Steamed cake of sweet-potato starch and vermicelli, sliced and stewed or fried.

Culture

Anyang's identity rests on the origins of Chinese writing; the National Museum of Chinese Writing makes it a centre for the study of characters. Yue Fei, born in Tangyin, is honoured in a temple there, and the Red Flag Canal is a national symbol of collective labour.

Getting around

Anyang East is on the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed line; Anyang station serves conventional trains.
Yin Xu lies in the north-western suburbs, reached by city bus or taxi.

Day trips

Red Flag Canal
红旗渠 (Hóngqí Qú)
Irrigation canal cut along the Taihang cliffs in the 1960s, with a museum at Linzhou.
Yue Fei Temple, Tangyin
岳飞庙 (Yuè Fēi Miào)
Temple in the general's home county south of the city.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Anyang Municipal People's Government — Anyang Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Yin Xu — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)

More cities in Henan

Dynasty

Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE) →

Created foundation of Chinese writing system, established complex state organization, developed sophisticated bronze culture, and systematized…