The Tomb of Fu Hao
The Tomb of Fu Hao is a burial chamber of a Shang queen that was unearthed in Yin Ruins by Chinese archaeologists in 1976. It is by far the only tomb of a Shang royal family member for which the year and identity of the buried can be determined by corroborating them with the inscriptions on oracle bones. Fu Hao was the wife of Wu Ding (the Shang King) and the first woman general for whom there are literal records as proof, and an outstanding stateswoman in the Shang Dynasty. A total of 1928 pieces of funeral objects were dug out of her grand mausoleum, including bronze wares, jade wares, gems, ivory wares, bone wares, and clam shell wares etc, among which the 400-odd bronze wares and 700-odd jade wares are the best demonstration of the development level of late Shang cultures.
Ritual articles and weapons constitute the bulk of bronze wares. Ritual articles are mostly large, heavy and intriguingly modeled, making them not only exquisite artistic works but also indicators of Shang’s ritual systems. Bronze ritual articles with inscriptions total to 190 pieces and are important materials for studies on the ritual systems of the Shang Dynasty.
More than 700 jade wares were unearthed, most of which are intact or only slightly broken. They are in a large diversity, including not only ritual wares such as rectangular jades, holed jades, and semi-circular jades etc, but also articles for guards of honor, like daggers, battle-axes, and spears. Also there are tools and ornaments. The latter represent the largest number, exceeding 420 in total. The majority of them are for wearing and the rest are for inlays and appreciation. There are jade-made human figures which could be used as real objects for studying people’s hairstyle, headwear, and dressing of that time. Still, there are jade ornaments resembling different legendary animals such as dragon, phoenix, and other imaginary beasts, but most of them were images of real animals.
Exquisite and splendid, the funeral objects mirror the economic prosperity, cultural achievements, and highly-developed handicraft industry in the Wu Ding period. Besides, the magnificent tomb of Fu Hao demonstrates the respected status of women in the Shang Dynasty. The discovering of the mausoleum is a milestone in the history of China’s archaeology. At present, the Museum of Yin Ruins has restored the memorial hall of Fu Hao Tomb.
