In Lanzhou, situated in Northwest China’s Gansu Province, the Gansu Bamboo Slips Museum unveiled over 1,000 invaluable bamboo and wooden slips this Saturday. This fascinating exhibition, attracting numerous history enthusiasts and the curious public alike, introduces many of these artifacts to spectators for the very first time since their discovery in Gansu.
Painting a vivid picture of the ancient Silk Road during the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), these slips offer a mesmerizing glimpse into China’s antiquity. Notably, bamboo slips, historically termed as bamboo scrolls, represent one of the oldest manifestations of Chinese books. These artifacts, containing narrow vertical columns of meticulously carved characters, predate the invention of paper. Consequently, they were the paramount writing medium of their time.
Beyond their apparent historical significance, bamboo slips serve as invaluable keys to unlocking the mysteries of the past. A single slip, or even an individual character etched on it, can illuminate previously enigmatic archaeological quandaries or bring to light a previously hidden chapter of history.
The Gansu region has an advantage that greatly aids the preservation of these delicate historical remnants—its arid climate. Over the last century, archaeologists have unearthed more than 60,000 bamboo slips in Gansu, most of which date back to the Han Dynasty. Astoundingly, this amounts to over half of the total bamboo slips discovered in all of China. Thus, Gansu has rightfully earned the epithet of “the hometown of Han bamboo slips.”
The museum’s latest hall is not merely an exhibition space but serves as a cultural bridge, enabling the broader public to immerse themselves in traditional Chinese culture. The museum’s vast collection comprises an impressive array of over 10,000 artifacts. This diverse range includes items made of paper, textiles, wood, lacquer, iron, bone, pottery, and more. Furthermore, within this treasure trove, there are 1,679 artifacts classified as first-class cultural relics.
One of the primary objectives of the museum is to breathe life into the bamboo slips. Employing an innovative blend of light, sound, and modern technology, they depict the individuals and tales these slips convey. Through recreating images reminiscent of a Han Dynasty border area, the museum hopes to enthral visitors, sparking their interest in the rich culture and narratives behind these bamboo slips.
In a separate recent discovery, on March 20, 2023, the Hebosuo Site in Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, revealed over 10,000 bamboo slips. Remarkably, approximately 2,000 of these artifacts retained readable Chinese characters, further augmenting the country’s reservoir of knowledge from this ancient medium.
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