Casting a lasting shadow

A lasting inspiration

To save his waning rule, the last Shang king Di Xin launched a series of radical reforms. They ignited conflicts between central kingship and local nobles, which also contributed to his failure against the Zhou people, who subsequently established the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century — 771 BC).

However, Zhou kings still reserved noble titles and fiefdoms for Shang loyalists to appease their anger. Craftsmanship, cultivation techniques, ritual systems, and various aspects of Shang civilization thus continue to influence China throughout history, as He notes.

Consequently, more than 3,000 years after the fall of the Shang Dynasty, its shadows still linger.

"Its prosperous cities, complete ritual culture, bronze craftsmanship, advanced writing system, and scientific developments contributed to the brilliant eras of early China that followed," Chen says. "In the process of tracing the past, we can better understand the present, and acquire the wisdom to face the future."

And such legacies may not only benefit China.

In the early 20th century when Chinese society was unstable, many scattered Shang relics and fragments of oracle bones were taken overseas before the official archaeological excavations were organized. They are now housed in over 60institutions around the world, mainly in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada and Japan.

Though it remains an area of huge regret for the Chinese people, these relics have also been collected and studied by scholars around the world, giving Yinxu global significance.

"Countless foreign scholars have dedicated themselves to Shang studies and explored the profound meanings of the Shang relics, leaving behind a wealth of insight," Chen explains.

The Yinxu Ruins were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. In 2017, the oracle bone inscriptions were listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register program.

"The material remains discovered at Yinxu provide tangible evidence of the early history of the Chinese writing and language, ancient beliefs, social systems, and major historical events, which are considered of outstanding universal significance," UNESCO states.