A Cultural Journey through Henan: Exploring the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties
At the end of July, sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks began to spread across the country, unexpectedly derailing the summer road trip my friend and I had planned for a year—the Gannan Small Loop. We had no choice but to give up our original travel plans. Still unwilling to give up, I kept browsing flight tickets online and found that the airfare from Chongqing to Luoyang was quite reasonable. Thinking of Luoyang's world cultural heritage site—the Longmen Grottoes—I and two friends decisively said, "Let's go," and bought tickets for the next day's flight to Luoyang. Our plane landed at night, so we booked a hotel near the airport through Ctrip. Possibly due to the pandemic, the price during the summer vacation was surprisingly attractive. (After landing in Luoyang, I realized this decision was a bit of a mistake. Luoyang Beijiao Airport is very close to the city center—only about ten kilometers—so we could have directly booked a hotel in the city center.)
Day 1: Since we weren't on a tour and hadn't thoroughly researched Luoyang's history, culture, and city features beforehand, the only things I knew about Luoyang were: peonies, the Longmen Grottoes, and an ancient capital. So our first stop was the museum, and we chose the Luoyang Museum as our primary destination. (When arriving in an unfamiliar city, you can also adopt this method: the fastest, most comprehensive, and effective way to understand the city. But you absolutely must request a guide.) In a city as culturally rich as Luoyang, there are many museums of various sizes, and I'll touch on a few later. The Luoyang Museum has three floors, with the main exhibition hall on the first floor. After an immersive two-hour cultural tour of Luoyang at the museum, we gained a clear picture of this ancient capital of thirteen dynasties. Luoyang served as the capital of the Xia, Shang, Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, Cao Wei, Western Jin, Northern Wei, Sui, Tang, Wu Zhou, Later Liang, Later Tang, and Later Jin dynasties—some for short periods, some for longer, but all left their marks on this city, whether profound, faint, or blurry...
In Luoyang, the most prominent cultural atmosphere is from the Tang Dynasty (at least that's what I felt). As the capital during the Wu Zhou period, it left us with the Heaven Hall (where Wu Zetian worshipped Buddha), a Buddhist hall that looks like five stories from the outside but is actually seven; and the Bright Hall (where Wu Zetian ascended the throne and handled state affairs). It wasn't very impressive during the day, but the night view was barely acceptable. The ticket price of 120 yuan did feel a bit like a tax on intelligence. Later, when discussing with my travel companion why the Tang culture was emphasized so much, we felt it was hard to surpass Xi'an, a shining example before it. On the other hand, the cultures of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, which are rarely seen elsewhere, are deeply embedded in the city's bones—why weren't they highlighted more? This puzzled us. Since we were particularly interested in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou, we kept searching for traces of them in the city.
**Zhou Royal City & Tianzi Jialiu Museum**
After visiting the Luoyang Museum, we started looking for marks of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou. My companion suggested visiting the "Zhou Royal City & Tianzi Jialiu Museum." After arriving, we circled around twice and couldn't find the museum; we thought the navigation was wrong. Then suddenly we realized the museum was underground in the square. So we bought tickets, requested a guide, and began our second museum tour. To be honest, I didn't have high expectations for this place; there were hardly any recommendations online. But after visiting, I felt it was quite good. The "Tianzi Jialiu Museum" is located in the center of Luoyang, built on the original site of a burial pit of one of the Zhou dynasty kings. Which king it was is still unknown because the detected tomb has not been excavated. This burial pit was discovered and rescued to prevent further damage. It is a chariot-and-horse burial pit. When a king died, many items were buried with him, such as bronze vessels, musical instruments, chariots, horses, animals, and even humans. This pit contained chariots and horses: 26 chariots, 70 horses, and 7 little dogs. Among them were the "two-horse chariot" used by ministers, the "four-horse chariot" used by feudal lords, and most importantly, the "six-horse chariot" used exclusively by the Son of Heaven (the king). This reflected a strict hierarchical system and confirmed the historical record that "the Son of Heaven rides a chariot drawn by six horses"—a fact that had never been proven until this discovery.
In the evening, you can visit places like Shizi Street, Yingtian Gate, and Lijing Gate to stroll, eat snacks, and enjoy the night view. It's similar to the snack street found in every city, so I won't go into detail. Honestly, I wasn't quite used to Henan's cuisine. End of Day 1.
Day 2: The next day, we headed to the highlight of our trip—the Longmen Grottoes (about 15 km from downtown Luoyang, a 30-minute drive). The four great grottoes of China are: Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Luoyang Longmen Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes, and Tianshui Maijishan. The Longmen Grottoes were first constructed during the Northern Wei dynasty and continued through the Sui, Tang, and Northern Song dynasties, spanning more than 400 years. They are mainly concentrated on Xiangshan and Longmen Mountain on both sides of the Yi River. Over a thousand years ago, there were no roads on the mountains; craftsmen traveled by boat, then climbed the cliffs, first chiseling a cave, then carving the rough shape of a Buddha out of the rock inside the cave, and finally refining it to create the exquisite Buddha statues we see today. History is profound, but the actual scenes constantly remind us of history's mottled nature. During a persecution of Buddhism by a certain ruler, many Buddha heads at Longmen were severely damaged. Later, during the invasion of foreign powers, seeing these exquisite statues, they looted many by various means. As a result, many small and medium-sized cave temples are now empty. The emptiness is not only of the caves but also of the hearts of the Chinese people at that time. After the founding of New China, the "Four Olds" campaign also dealt a heavy blow to this world-renowned artistic treasure. Furthermore, we happened to encounter the most important statue at Longmen—the Vairocana Buddha (said to be modeled after Wu Zetian's face)—which was undergoing its once-every-50-year maintenance. Scaffolding surrounded this statue and those around it, affecting the view. Overall, perhaps my expectations were too high, which made me a bit disappointed. But that doesn't diminish the fact that historically, many literati like Bai Juyi visited this place. The Xiangshan Temple on Xiangshan Mountain is the source of Bai Juyi's name, "Xiangshan Jushi." It takes about 1.5 hours to visit the Longmen Grottoes. If you are fortunate enough to see the full Vairocana Buddha, you can take a panoramic photo of the Longmen Grottoes from the opposite bank of the river.
After the Longmen Grottoes, we hurriedly continued our search for traces of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou. Next was the Yanshi Erlitou Xia Dynasty Capital Site Museum. The Xia Dynasty is considered the first dynasty in Chinese history textbooks—a widely accepted fact. We discovered that the Xia Dynasty had highly advanced smelting techniques, capable of producing exquisite bronze and pottery wares. The "Basic Annals of Xia" in the Records of the Grand Historian also records the existence of the Xia Dynasty. However, internationally, there is considerable controversy over whether the Xia can be recognized as a dynasty. Some scholars argue that no systematic written script from the Xia Dynasty has been discovered yet, so they don't acknowledge it as a dynasty; it might just have been a tribe. The existence of writing is crucial for establishing a dynasty. The earliest known Chinese script is oracle bone script, discovered in the early 20th century during the Republic of China, and so far only about 1,500 characters have been deciphered. The formation of a script is a continuous, long process. The Xia Dynasty, which preceded the Shang Dynasty (where oracle bone script was found), has not yielded any written records. This cultural discontinuity makes it difficult to trace the origins of oracle bone script, increasing the difficulty of deciphering it. The exhibits at the Erlitou Xia Dynasty Capital Site Museum need no further elaboration; in a word, it's worth recommending.
Erlitou Xia Dynasty Capital Site Museum
After learning about the mysterious Xia Dynasty, we decided to make our cultural journey more complete. We drove four hours directly to Yinxu in Anyang, Henan, to search for memories of the Shang Dynasty.
Day 3: Anyang, located in northern Henan, was the capital of the late Shang Dynasty. It is also where oracle bone script was discovered, and thirteen Shang royal tombs along with more than 2,600 sacrificial pits were found here. Yinxu is divided into the Temple-Palace Area and the Royal Tombs Area. A combined ticket costs 60 yuan. Guided tours cost 200 yuan for the Temple-Palace Area and 100 yuan for the Royal Tombs Area. This proves that knowledge is expensive, but a guide is indispensable. The buildings in the Temple-Palace Area were constructed later based on the social environment of that time; they do not possess the magnificence of palaces as we usually imagine. However, in the Temple-Palace Area, the tomb of Fu Hao—the second queen of King Wu Ding, a very influential Shang king—was discovered, and it was exceptionally well-preserved. Fu Hao was not only a queen but also the first female general in history, so she greatly assisted Wu Ding politically, and the king loved her deeply. After her death, he buried her near his own residence so he could visit her often. That is why Fu Hao's tomb remained intact, untouched by tomb robbers. After visiting the Temple-Palace Area, a ten-minute drive takes you to the Royal Tombs Area, where thirteen large tombs were discovered. Of these thirteen, twelve belong to Shang kings, and one belongs to a queen. The owner of the queen's tomb was identified as Wu Ding's first queen, Wu. The world-famous Simuwu Quadripod was discovered in this tomb. It was cast by Wu's son in memory of his mother. The tomb is displayed in a shocking manner: it is a "甲" (jia) shape, called a jia-shaped tomb. It has a tomb passage about 10 meters long leading to a square main burial chamber about 8 meters deep. In the center of the main chamber is a square waist pit, positioned at the waist level of the deceased. The waist pit contains animal bones and some small burial objects. Around the main chamber are numerous bronze vessels, beautifully shaped and well-preserved. However, four robbers' holes around the tomb indicate that it had been repeatedly looted. The display of this tomb is due to archaeological principles: rescue excavation. This was my first time seeing a tomb exposed so openly, and it was truly shocking. But what moved me even more was that within this royal tomb area, there are more than 2,600 sacrificial pits of various sizes, containing a total of over 30,000 people. Although only about forty sacrificial pits are displayed, seeing the distribution map with densely detected pits made me sigh deeply: living in an era where human life was as worthless as grass—how tragic! They were merely dust in the torrent of history, but because of their existence, we have a clear understanding of that distant world. They preserved traces of the ancient past in such a sorrowful way for future generations. For us, it is a blessing, but how sorrowful that blessing is!
Simuwu Quadripod
Round trip from Luoyang to Anyang took about eight hours of driving. Though a bit far, it was definitely worthwhile. After visiting Yinxu, we drove to Dengfeng City near Luoyang, where Mount Song and Shaolin Temple are located. We stayed in downtown Dengfeng, where there are many hotel options. Dengfeng is only about a 20-minute drive from Shaolin Temple, making it very convenient.
Day 4: Today we slept in, then had a late breakfast/lunch—Henan-style beef noodles. Knowing that portions might be large, we ordered just two bowls for three people. But when they were served, we were still shocked: one large bowl was enough for three girls to share. A reminder to friends from the south: be cautious when ordering noodles.
After replenishing our energy, we headed to the world-famous Mount Song Shaolin Temple. Mount Song is one of the Five Great Mountains, located in the central region, which confirms that Henan was geographically and culturally central at that time. Previously, Shaolin Temple and Mount Song were separate attractions, but now they are combined into one, with a combined ticket of 80 yuan. Shaolin Temple sits at the foot of Mount Song. It consists of the temple area—what we commonly know as Shaolin Temple—and the Pagoda Forest area, which contains more than 200 pagodas of successive Shaolin abbots, in various shapes: square, hexagonal, etc. Not far from Shaolin Temple, there is a cable car to Mount Song. For people like us from a mountain city, these towering mountains and rivers didn't spark much interest. We took the round-trip cable car, watched a 30-minute martial arts performance at the top, took some photos, and then descended.
From Shaolin Temple, it takes about an hour to drive back to downtown Luoyang. There is another renowned ancient temple in Luoyang—the first officially established temple in China: the White Horse Temple. In the tenth year of Yongping of the Eastern Han dynasty (67 AD), Emperor Ming sent envoys to invite the eminent monks Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna to China to propagate Buddhism. They arrived in Luoyang carrying Buddhist scriptures on a white horse. At that time, the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" was called "si" (temple), and the two monks were lodged in the official guesthouse for foreign affairs, the "Honglu Si." To facilitate their preaching, the following year a temple was built about 12 kilometers east of Luoyang. Because the scriptures were carried by a white horse, it was named the White Horse Temple. In front of the temple are two stone horses from the Northern Song dynasty. The various halls inside have been damaged and restored over the dynasties, with elements from the Song, Yuan, and Qing periods. The White Horse Temple is revered by Buddhist followers as the "ancestral temple" and the "source of the Buddha's teaching." It holds profound significance for the development of Buddhism in China and the world. Friends interested in Buddhist culture should not miss it.
Our trip to Luoyang was almost over. Around Luoyang, there are also Laojun Mountain—a Taoist sacred site, and Yuntaishan—a world-class geopark. But since we live in a mountain city, we really weren't interested in more mountains, so we didn't visit these two. If you're interested, feel free to add them to your itinerary. Overall, the Luoyang trip truly allowed me to savor a grand cultural feast!
