Anyang, the ancient capital of the Shang dynasty about 500 km south of Beijing, has been chosen as the site of a new museum that will showcase Chinese written languages.

The projected museum, with a budget of 278 million yuan (about US$34.75 million), has won approval from the State Council, according to a spokesman for the city government of Anyang, in central China's Henan Province.

The museum, which will have 12 exhibition halls with a combined floor space of 33,000 sq m. to display exhibits, will also play a role in academic research.

The first phase is scheduled to be finished in late 2007 and the museum will go into service a year later.

The most famous language characters to be showcased at the museum will be inscriptions on tortoise shells or animal bones dating from the Shang Dynasty (16th century B.C.-11th century B.C.), which were first discovered in 1928 in pits and tombs of the Yin Ruins in Anyang. The Yin Ruins, the imperial capital of the Shang Dynasty, are now included on the World Heritage list.

Altogether 160,000 pieces of tortoise shells and animal bones have been recovered from the Yin Ruins, all bearing inscriptions that recorded harvests, astronomical phenomena, worship rituals and wars in ancient China.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2006)