Erlitou Site is the capital of late Xia. The excavated cultural remains here fall into four phases, and between the PhaseⅢ andⅣV lies the borderline of the Xia and Shang Dynasties. A main evidence is that two splendid palaces were ruined at the end of the PhaseⅢ, which means the collapse of Xia dynasty. Yanshi Capital Site is the capital of early Shang. The cultural remains found here fall into three phases and the PhaseⅠ is equivalent to the Phase IV of Erlitou Culture. Considering that the capital began to be constructed in the Phase I evidenced by the forth palace and the palace city and the capital site is only 6 kilometers away from Erlitou site, the collapse of the late Xia capital and the rise of the early Shang capital at the same time quite justify the viewpoint that the beginning of the construction of Yanshi Capital is the time of the rise of the Shang Dynasty and the fall of the Xia Dynasty.
This essay is a combined study of historical records, and archaeological findings, According to historical records, Xia Temple was the place for Xia people worshiping their ancestors and a sign of state power. Having overthrown Xia dynasty, Shang kings still allowed Xia people to go to the temple for worship and implemented the policy of control through conciliation. In archaeology, there is a fact that in Erlitou, the capital site of Xia, a big burial has been found upon the palace No. 2 apparently after the palace was dilapidated. The palace continued to be used and coexisted with Yanshi Shang Capital site. Its style, date and fountion were all similar to the temple of Xia. Taijia, the senior grandson of Tang (汤), was recorded being imprisoned in Tonggong palace because of his immoral activities by his prime minister Yiyin. Taijia returned to the throne three years later after he repented his guilt. The archaeological findings show that Shang City site is 6 kilometers away from Erlitou site. In this city site, there have been eight foundations of palaces, seven of them face south and are huge in size. All the seven constructions look most magnificent and are reasonably palaces of Shang kings. But only one construction faces east and is enclosed by small rooms, and there are two wells inside the court. This special construction seems like a prison, and might be the Tonggong Palace judged by its style, function and date.
Concerning Xia and Shang sites, there has long been controversy in academic circles. It involves the nature of the Erlitou site and the Shang city-sites in Zhengzhou and Yanshi, and especially the relationship between the two Shang cities. Debates have also been provoked on the questions of which of the two cities can be taken as the demarcation line between the Xia and Shang and where the Shang Tang capital of Bo was located. Based on the already obtained excavation and research achievements, the present paper elaborates a comparative study of the two Shang cities in the aspects of their rise and decline courses, architectural layout, cultural features and mutual relationship. It concludes that the Shang city in Yanshi, being smaller on scale and earlier in date, must have been the center in the region of the early Shang culture. Its construction can be taken to be the demarcation line between the Xia and Shang, and it was just the Shang Tang capital of Bo.
