The Yinshan Cultural Site, officially known as the Yinshan Longshan Cultural Site, is also named after its location—just 300 meters west of Taiqing Palace, the birthplace of Laozi. Chinese historians named it after the Neolithic site discovered at Chengziya in Longshan County, Zhangqiu, which shares the same era. Thus, the archaeological and historical communities in China refer to cultural remains from the same period as Longshan Culture. The Yinshan Cultural Site refers to the Longshan-period ruins excavated at Yinshan in Taiqing Palace, Luyi County. It is an important ancient cultural relic not only for Luyi County but also for eastern Henan. In June 1963, it was among the first group of sites designated as key cultural relics protection units by the Henan Provincial Government, making it the earliest such site in Luyi County.
Luyi is located in the heart of the Huang-Huai Plain, so how did a Yinshan come to exist here? To understand this, we must go back to the geological and geomorphological history of the area. According to geologists, a very long time ago, this region was a large valley. It was the millennia-long sedimentation from the Yellow River that eventually turned it into a plain. Although it is now a plain, the area remains relatively low-lying. Whenever the Yellow River flooded, water would flow here. With no effective way to stop it, the early inhabitants had to pile up earth to raise their living areas. Unlike today—when the Yellow River might flood only once every few decades—back then, floods occurred two or three times a year, even annually, due to the sparse population and underdeveloped productivity. It was impossible to mobilize large groups to manage the river. Each time the Yellow River flooded, people would raise their dwellings a little higher. Over time, they built two increasingly tall earthen mounds to escape the floods. Because these two mounds stood opposite each other, resembling the horns of a goat, people called them Yangjiao Shan (Goat Horn Mountain).
At that time, Yangjiao Shan covered a large area and could accommodate dozens of households.
By the end of the Five Dynasties period, the renowned recluse Chen Tuan built an alchemy furnace on Yangjiao Shan, and people began calling it Yinshan. Elderly residents near Taiqing Palace still refer to the area as Yangjiao Shan, though nowadays, it is more commonly known as Yin-Yang Shan (a combined name).
According to elders near Taiqing Palace, before the nationwide liberation in 1949, Yin-Yang Shan was still about 10 zhang high. By the 1950s, it remained four or five zhang high. However, due to population growth, soil extraction, construction, and the digging of air-raid shelters, the site suffered significant damage. Yin-Yang Shan grew progressively shorter and now exists only as a low platform measuring 300 meters in length and 200 meters in width. On the southern side of Yinshan, the elevated terrain of the site is less noticeable, but on the northern side, one can still clearly feel that Yinshan stands noticeably higher than the surrounding land.
In ancient times, Yinshan was an important scenic landmark in Luyi. The Luyi County Annals compiled during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty listed Yinshan as the foremost of Luyi’s Eight Scenic Spots.
Ancient Eight Scenic Poems of Luyi
Faint green mountains veiled in sunset haze, The immortal scenery of Taiqing remains the same.
Tiger tracks in snow bewilder woodcutters, Wind-blown sails at Wokou hide fishing boats.
In warm spring, warblers flit through the woods, In autumn’s height, the Dragon Well moon shines alone.
Travelers ask idly of river-control crossings, The Mingdao stele bears no record of its years.
The first line refers to Yinshan, describing its towering height and the constant mist that once surrounded it. The second line speaks of Taiqing Palace, the sixth of the autumn moon over Jiulong Well, and the eighth of the Mingdao Palace stele in front of Laojun Terrace. Four of Luyi’s ancient eight scenic spots are related to Laozi.
According to archaeological findings from the 1960s, the site stretches 147 meters from north to south and 140 meters from east to west, covering an area of over 26,000 square meters.
This is not a single-period cultural site. The stratigraphy ranges from the Longshan Culture of the Neolithic Age 5,000 years ago, through the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Han dynasties, and up to the Sui and Tang periods. From the lowest Neolithic layer to the uppermost Sui-Tang layer, the cultural strata exceed 4 meters in depth.
The lowest layer of the site dates back approximately 5,000 years to the Longshan Culture. Archaeologists believe that Longshan Culture evolved from the Yangshao Culture, which is over 6,000 years old. It was mainly distributed across Henan, southern Shanxi, and southern Hebei. Longshan Culture represents the transition of primitive clan societies from matrilineal to patrilineal communes, corresponding archaeologically to the Neolithic Age. During this time, men began to dominate key productive activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, and handicrafts.
The site contains rich ancient cultural remains, including those from the Longshan Culture as well as various periods such as the Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, and Han dynasties. In the 1950s, ancient pottery shards, stone tools, and bone artifacts were commonly found on the site. In the early 1960s, as earth excavation expanded, archaeologists discovered numerous gray pottery pieces from the Neolithic Age, decorated with cord patterns. These included cups and tripods—the cup had an open mouth with a semi-circular flat handle, while the tripod feet were plain, fired at lower temperatures, and appeared grayish-red. Stone tools mainly consisted of polished stone axes, chisels, and sling bullets. Bone tools included needles, awls, shell sickles, and shell knives.
Shang Dynasty relics include pottery jars, li cooking vessels, and large-mouthed zun. The jars came in two types: one made of gray pottery, covered in cord patterns, with an open mouth and flared rim; the other with a rounder rim. The large-mouthed zun also had two types—one with an outward-flaring rim and shoulder decorations of appliqué, stamped with cord patterns; the other with an outward-flaring rim and shoulders adorned with raised string patterns. Additionally, jade bi disks and jade gui tablets from the Shang Dynasty were unearthed.
Artifacts from the Han Dynasty layers include a large quantity of bronze bowls, ranging from just a few to dozens. According to Jiang Ruoshi, president of the Luoyang Archaeological Society, these bronze bowls are believed to be remnants from the Chu-Han Contention between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang.
The excavation of the Yinshan Cultural Site holds great significance. It proves that as early as 5,000 years ago, humans were already laboring, living, and thriving here. This discovery marks Luyi as a vital part of the cradle of Chinese civilization and an important component of Yellow River civilization, holding a prominent place in the history of Chinese civilization. From the time of the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor, the Chinese nation has a 5,000-year history. The Yinshan Cultural Site shares this timeline and showcases clear cultural remains from matrilineal and patrilineal communes through the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, and onward through the Han, Sui, and Tang periods. The wealth of artifacts discovered makes it a microcosm of China’s 5,000-year civilization and a concentrated representation of that history in eastern Henan. Therefore, if you wish to understand the civilization of this region, studying the Yinshan Cultural Site in Luyi offers a comprehensive view—this is what we mean by “See 5,000 years of eastern Henan through Yinshan.”
Source: Luyi County People's Government Website
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