From 1928 to 1937, the Institute conducted fifteen seasons of excavation of the ruins of Yin. Eleven large tombs, along with more than 1300 small graves, had been discovered on the highlands of Hsi-pei-kang, located on the northern shore of the Huan River. Whereas in the Hsiao-t’un village on the southern shore of the river, three well structured hang-t’u (pounded earth) construction sites were found.
The Museum separates topics of the the ruins of Yin into the “Shang Royal Cemetery at Hsi-pei-kang” and the “Shang Palace and Ancestral Temples at Hsiao-T’un.” Representative of the Hsi-pei-kang site are royal tombs M1550, M1004, M1400 and sacrificial pits M1022, M1005, M1083 and M1435. On the other hand, tomb 331, horse-and-chariot pits M40 and YH127 are among the remains of Hsiao T’un. The exhibition here aims to provide visitors a glance into the funerary rites, the ritual and warfare were intimately tied to political authority, and the structure of the army in the Shang Dynasty.