Writing history Introduction to the Exhibition

Most of human history was preserved and transmitted by written records, and the 5000-year history of the Chinese civilization is no exception. Before the invention of paper, the ancient Chinese wrote on tortoise shells, bones, metal, stones, bamboo slips, wooden tablets and silk. Among these carriers, bamboo slips played a prominent role, such as in the copying and transmission of the five Confucian classics, historical records, works by various schools from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the early Han Dynasty. Since the 1970s, bamboo slips and wooden tablets dating from the Warring States and the Qin and Han dynasties have been unearthed in many places in China. Hubei is one of the regions with the largest number of discoveries of such relics. This exhibition is staged to allow viewers to have a direct impression of ancient Chinese ‘books’ as well as the beauty of early Chinese characters.

Oracle-bone inscriptions are words engraved or written on tortoise shells or animal bones in the Shang Dynasty or the early Western Zhou Dynasty. They are the oldest mature form of writing that remains in China. In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the monarchs were so superstitious that they would have their fortunes told with tortoise shells or animal bones before doing many things. Divinations were then recorded on oracle bones. As a result, oracle bones contain records on various aspects of the society, and provide precious first-hand materials for studying the history, culture and language of ancient China, especially the Shang Dynasty.

A small number of oracle bones handed down from ancient times are kept by Hubei Provincial Museum.

The plate, dating from the Spring and Autumn Period, was unearthed at Huangjiadian, Lichang Township, Tianmen in 1974. It measures 7.2 cm in height and 37.8 cm in rim diameter. There are twenty characters in five lines on the inner bottom.

3. Ant-nose coins

They were modeled on shells and used in Chu State. They are usually oval, with curved facade and flat tails. They resemble shells but are smaller than the latter. They are also called ‘ghost-face coins’ because the character engraved on each of them seems to be the face of ghost. More than 5,000 coins with that character were unearthed at Yezhu Lake, Xiaogan in 1963; the average weight is about 4.37 g.

Eaves-tiles were pottery components for protecting wooden eaves. Those made in the Han Dynasty usually bear words expressing the wish for good luck. This one shown here dates from the Han Dynasty. It measures 19.5 cm in diameter, with a phrase meaning ‘longevity’ on it.

5、Chu bamboo slips from Guodian

In 1993, the rescue excavation of Chu tomb No. 1 at Guodian (Sifang Township, Shayang County, Jingmen City, Hubei) revealed more than 700 bamboo slips with characters on them. The texts are pre-Qin classics. In terms of philosophical schools, they fall into three categories: Taoist writings, Confucian writings, and Yu Cong (vol. 4), which is typical of the school of ‘political strategists’. The three versions of Lao Tzu are the oldest copies of the book discovered so far. Tai Yi Sheng Shui is a book that had been lost, ‘Tai Yi’ being the name for ‘Tao’ in the pre-Qin period. As a very important Taoist book, it discusses the relationship between Tai Yi and Heaven, Earth, the four seasons, Yin and Yang. Zi Yi is roughly the same as the corresponding chapter in Book of Rites, but the two differ much in the division and order of chapters as well as in wording. They may be different copies of the same chapter, while the version found at Guodian may be a little earlier.

Tai Yi Sheng Shui

Xiao L�

Questions and Answers on Law

7.Han bamboo slips from Kongjiapo, Suizhou

The bamboo slips were unearthed from Tomb 8 at Kongjiapo, Suizhou in 2000. Each of them measures 33.8 cm long and 0.7~0.8 cm wide. They fall into two categories in terms of contents—Ri Shu and calendar. The Rishu slips marked another important discovery of fortune-telling literature after the discovery of the Qin Rishu slips at Shuihudi in Yunmeng. Divided into many chapters and rich in contents, they are typical of Western-Han fortune-telling slips.

Facade of the letter                          Back of the letter