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An Yang in central China's Henan Province is busy preparing to put
its 3,300-year-old capital ruins, which contain preserved bones and
shells with ancient inscriptions, on the World Heritage list.
The birthplace of the ancient Yinxu Culture, Anyang is aiming to
establish a heritage park featuring the Yinxu Culture, and is
applying to join the World Cultural Heritage of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Jin
Suidong, deputy mayor of Anyang, central China's Henan Province,
said at a symposium in Beijing Sunday.
The cultural relics authorities in Anyang have constructed Yinxu
Ruins Museum at the base of an ancient palace, renovated Fuhao
Tomb, which was an important building for the Yinxu Culture,and
built Yinling Museum near the tombs of Shang kings, Jin said.
In October the Ministry of Science and Technology published the
academic achievements by more than 200 Chinese experts on specific
dating of the nation's three remote dynasties Xia, Shang and Zhou,
which are regarded as the start of China's history of 5,000 years.
According to their results, the king of Shang moved his capital to
ancient Anyang 3,300 years ago.
The widely accepted earliest date of Chinese history is BC 841, in
Sima Qian's Record of History. The first half of the Chinese
civilization remains a mysterious and hot topic among world
historians.
Li Xueqin, a leading historian for the dating project, said that
they have decoded the sequential dates of the three remote
dynasties.
After archaeologists unearthed the bones and tortoise shells with
ancient inscriptions 102 years ago in Anyang, the city became a
center for studying the ancient Chinese civilization, Li said.
According to current statistics, Anyang has preserved more than
150,000 pieces of bones and shells with ancient inscriptions,
nearly 10,000 articles of bronze, 54 palace ruins and other
heritage sites.
(People's Daily 01/08/2001)
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