The world's biggest bronze ware, Simuwu Ding, is expected to attract numerous viewers to the Yin Ruins Museum when it is unveiled on Sunday.
The national treasure arrived Anyang Henan Province on Monday, on a three-month loan from the National Museum of China in Beijing.
For the huge square bronze container with four legs, it is its home-coming sojourn. It was unearthed here in 1939 at the Yin Ruins, which served as the capital of the later Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) for some 254 years.
The bronze cauldron, measuring 133 centimeters high and weighing 875 kilograms, will be displayed together with nearly 600 other extremely precious cultural relics at the newly-complete Yin Ruins Museum. The museum covers an area of 5,000 square meters.
According to archaeologists, the giant bronze container was used in worshipping ceremonies and it was also a symbol of the aristocrats at that time.
Its home-coming is expected to give a boost to the city's final efforts in its application to be listed by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) as a World Cultural Heritage site next year.
"It is a great honor to have the treasure back," said Jin Siding, a top official in Anyang. It adds a very heavy weight to the local's resolve to protect and preserve the Yin Ruins.
Jin said Anyang submitted its application in 2001 and since then many experts have come here to research and evaluate its potential.
Accepting advice from the UNESCO evaluating group, Anyang city government has invested a lot to improve the environment surrounding the Yin Ruins during the past years.
The official said they also established an information and archive database for all the cultural relics unearthed in the area and spent 28 million yuan (US$3.4 million) in building the Yin Ruins Museum in which to display them.
Visitors at the new museum will be able to see oracle bones inscribed with the earliest Chinese written language found within the Yin Ruins. And 36 pits once used for worship have been restored to illustrate the ancient custom.
"We will continue our efforts in preserving the cultural relics here and hopefully the invaluable bronze ware will bring us good luck," said the official.
At the 29th World Cultural Heritage Convention in South Africa this July, the Yin Ruins were finally appointed to be China's sole candidate that may be listed as a World Cultural Heritage site in the 2006 convention.
UNESCO experts will come to Anyang in late September to carry out a three-day evaluation, the last time before they start deliberations on the applications.
They are expected to join the local Yin-Shang Cultural Tourism Festival scheduled to start on Sunday.
As the capital city of the late Shang (also known as Yin) Dynasty, Yin Ruins dates back more than 3,000 years. It began to draw attention from archaeologists at the turn of last century, following the discovery of oracle bones in 1899.
The oracle bones including tortoise shells and animal bones were inscribed with hieroglyphics, the earliest Chinese writings to be discovered to this day.
Since then, archaeologists have made extensive excavations on the site.
The ruins discovered so far stretch over a 30 square kilometer area. Findings revealed a once grand and well-equipped capital with palaces, a cemetery, common citizens residences, a bronze casting workshop and sites of worship.
A total of 150,000 pieces of oracle bones have been unearthed at the ruins.
Recording harvests, astronomical phenomena, worship and wars during the dynasty, many of the inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones have since been scattered around the world.
Numerous researchers have devoted their lives to studying the inscriptions, which demonstrate one of the earliest written languages of human beings to be recorded, according to Yang Xizhang, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
They are one of the most convincing pieces of evidence and precious treasures of human civilization, said Yang.
Apart from the large number of oracle bones, researchers have also brought to light over 10,000 pieces of bronze ware, of which the largest is Simuwu Ding.
Wu Peiwen, who discovered the priceless ding, protected it from the hands of Japanese invaders. He handed Simuwu Ding to the government in 1946.
It was first kept in Nanjing and later shipped to Beijing as one of the most precious items in the National Museum of China.
One of the major finds at the ruins was the tomb of China's first female general, Fuhao, wife of an emperor of the Shang Dynasty. It was listed as a national cultural heritage site for protection in 1961.
In the past few years, archaeologists have continued to work on the site, said Wang Wei, vice-director of CASS' archaeological institution.
In May, archaeologists discovered pits of chariots and horses at the ruins. Five of the seven pits are arranged in a line, with chariots and horses facing eastwards.
"We will try to unveil the life of both aristocrats and the commoners so as to have a panoramic view of society at that time," Wang said.
"A capital for 254 years, everything in the Yin ruins could have a story," said Duan Zhenmei, head of the Anyang cultural bureau, "and we shall go all out to preserve the ruins, for the good of the Chinese people."
(China Daily September 22, 2005)
