Western Zhou Yan State Capital Museum, Archaeological museum in Fangshan District, Beijing, China
The Western Zhou Yan State Capital Museum stands at Liulihe in Fangshan District, 43 km south of central Beijing, where the walled capital of the Yan state measured 3.5 km east–west and 1.5 km north–south. In the farmland around the museum, 829 m of the north wall and 300 m of the west wall remain visible, and a 2 m deep moat once surrounded the city. The museum opened in 1995 with seven exhibition halls covering 3,000 m², displaying over 300 artifacts.
The walled Yan capital at Liulihe was found in 1962 and excavated in four major campaigns from 1972 to the early 1990s. Tomb M1193, of a Marquis of Yan, held bronze vessels whose inscriptions record the enfeoffment of Yan to the Duke of Shao, matching the Records of the Grand Historian. The site became a National Level Cultural Heritage Protection Site in 1988; the museum opened on 21 August 1995.
The name Liulihe comes from the township where the site lies. The museum's seven halls display over 300 artifacts, among them the bronze vessels Ke He and Ke Lei from tomb M1193, whose inscriptions record the Zhou king's investiture of the Marquis of Yan and the granting of people and land. A tortoise shell bearing the name of King Cheng was found in pit H108.
The museum lies in Dongjialin Village, Liulihe Township, Fangshan District, 43 km south of Beijing's centre, off the G4 Expressway and National Highway 107, with parking available. Bus routes 834, 835 and 835 Express, plus Fangshan routes 房27 and 房39, stop at the Shang Zhou dynasty Site stop. Admission is free and the museum closes on Mondays.
Several of the burial pits on the grounds contain complete chariot and horse sets, where the animals were buried alongside the vehicles at the same time as their owners. This type of pit burial is rarely found so well preserved in northern China from this period, which is why the site attracted attention from researchers early on.
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