Research center aims to dig into Yan culture

A research center that will combine archaeological efforts from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province in the study of Yan culture and its influence, dating back thousands of years, was inaugurated in Beijing on Sunday.

The Research Center for Archaeology of Yan Culture was established by the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Centre for Archaeology, the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, and the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

Lei Xingshan, the head of Beijing Union University and director of the center's academic committee, said Yan culture refers to the culture of the Yan state, which was established as a vassal state in the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-771 BC) and fell in 222 BC, the year before Emperor Qinshihuang unified the country and established the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).