Since 1899 when the first oracle bones were identified, the existence of the Shang Dynasty has been confirmed, while the overall knowledge to the Shang Dynasty remained quite limited. Barely nothing had been known about all the aspects of this dynasty except for the inheritance of the throne and the movement of the capital. The archaeological excavation undertaken to the Yinxu site in Anyang city, Henan Province has remarkably promoted the research into the Shang Dynasty ever since 1928. On the basis of the Archaeology excavation, taking some other discoveries into consideration, our understanding of the Shang Dynasty has been improved far beyond what had been known in the past. A detailed but magnificent history of the Shang Dynasty is being established upon the basis of the archaeological studies.

在史马迁的【史记】中，商王朝是被记录下来的两个最古都的王朝之一（另一个是夏王朝）。按照文献记载，商王朝大致存在于公元前16世纪至公元前1046年。
关于商王朝的面貌，最初我们只能从【尚书】、【诗经】，以及【史记∙殷本纪】等有限的文献中获得。1899年，安阳发现甲骨卜辞之后，零星出土的贞卜文字证实了商王朝的存在，但学术界关于商王朝的整体知识，仍然十分缺乏。除了排列这一王朝的王位传承和讨论其都邑迁徙，我们对王朝的其它方面几乎一无所知。
1928年开始实施的对安阳殷墟的科学考古发现，彻底改变了商王朝研究的面貌。安阳殷墟作为商王朝后期都邑遗址，为我们了解商王朝提供了丰富的资料。
以安阳殷墟的考古发掘为起点，辅之以其它地区的考古发现，今天我们对商王朝的了解已经远远超出从前。我们可以在种族起源、社会组织、管理结构、日常生活、生产技术、物质产品、艺术成就、宗教信仰等诸多方面，复原3000年前商王朝的宏大历史。许多方面甚至实现了历史细节的建构。例如“大邑商”（商王朝最后的王都）的都邑布局、重要人物妇好（商王王后）的人物特性与事迹。

Professor Tang Jigen is a lecture professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology. He directed the long term excavation and research at the Yinxu site in Anyang, and has been granted with many national research projects. He published more than 120 articles and 8 monographs in the past decades. He initiated the archaeological survey to the Huanhe valley in Anyang in collaboration with American and Canadian colleagues. He discovered the Huanbei City Site of Shang Dynasty in 1999, and conducted the study on the layout of Yinxu site from 2009 to 2016.

唐际根，曾就读于北京大学、中国社会科学院研究生院、英国伦敦大学。分获学士、硕士和博士学位。唐际根曾长期主持安阳殷墟遗址的考古发掘与研究。曾承担多项国家级科研课题，发表各类文章120余篇，出版论著8部。