Zheng Zhenxiang facts for kids

Zheng Zhenxiang (Chinese: 郑振香) was a famous Chinese archaeologist. She was born in 1929 and passed away on March 14, 2024, at 94 years old. Zheng Zhenxiang is best known for finding and digging up the Bronze Age tomb of Fuhao in a place called Anyang. Many people called her the 'First Lady of Chinese Archaeology' because of her important discoveries.

Becoming an Archaeologist

After finishing her studies at Peking University in 1954, Zheng Zhenxiang started working. She was a special teaching assistant in the History Department, helping with archaeology.

In 1955, she began to study Shang and Zhou Dynasty archaeology. She learned from a famous expert named Yin Da for four years. After she graduated in 1959, she joined the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. There, she continued to study the ancient Shang and Zhou periods.

Early Digs and Training

In 1959, Zheng Zhenxiang led a team digging at a site called Wangwan near Luoyang. She also helped train students from Peking University in archaeological fieldwork.

She wrote about the Luoyang digs between 1960 and 1961. Later, in 1989, her work was published after being edited by Zhao Zhiquan.

Discoveries at Anyang

In 1962, Zheng Zhenxiang became the leader of a new digging team in Anyang. They were studying the ancient Yinxu culture. She taught 59 students from Peking University how to do archaeological field methods.

During this time, they created a way to date the Yinxu culture into four periods. The first period was matched to the time of King Wu Ding using special oracle bones. More digs happened at Miaopu North between 1963 and 1964.

Finding Fuhao's Tomb

During a time called the Cultural Revolution, most planned digs were stopped. Only small digs were allowed in places where new buildings were being made.

In the winter of 1975, there was a farming contest in the Anyang area. This involved making the land flat and fixing drains. Zheng Zhenxiang arrived and found old building materials near where the drains were being fixed. She started digging there. Her team found an ancient workshop with pottery and jade items.

Searching for Hidden Treasures

At the same time, Zheng and her team explored the area north of Xiaotun Village. They used special tools called Luoyang spades to take samples from the soil. They found ancient buildings and tamped earth. This special earth stopped local workers from leveling a hill.

Zheng believed there was a tomb under the tamped earth. Most of her colleagues did not agree with her.

The Amazing Discovery

In 1976, Zheng's team began digging in a large area, about 1,000 square meters. They uncovered 46 sets of building foundations, 165 ash pits, and 54 burials. The most important discovery was the tomb of Fuhao. She was a queen and general for King Wu Ding.

Fuhao's tomb was very well preserved. Unlike other tombs, it had not been robbed. Inside, they found a huge number of grave goods. These included bronzes, jades, precious stones, and ivory. They also found 1,928 bone items and over 7,000 seashells.

The bronze items included 468 ritual vessels and weapons. Out of 210 ritual vessels, 190 had special symbols carved on them. Fuhao's name was on 109 of these items. Zheng Zhenxiang realized that the name Fuhao matched a powerful person mentioned in ancient oracle bones. This person was known for leading ceremonies and soldiers into battle during King Wu Ding's time.

Awards and Recognition

• 1992: Received a Special Government Grant from the State Council.
• 1993: Won the First Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. This was for her book Yinxu Fuhao Mu (The Tomb of Fuhao at Yinxu).
• 1996: Received the Second Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. This was for her book Yinxu de Faxian yu Yanjiu (Discoveries and Research at Yinxu).

See also

In Spanish: Zheng Zhenxiang para niños