The 200,000-strong characters written on the newly-discovered
ancient bamboo slips in south China's
Hunan
Province will provide vital clues for the study of the
evolutionary process of Chinese calligraphy, Chinese experts said.
The 20,000 bamboo slips, which belonged to the Qin Dynasty
(221BC-206BC), were unearthed on June 4 from a well at Liye
Village, Longshan County, Hunan. Some Chinese archaeologists said
this could turn out to be one of the most significant
archaeological discoveries in modern China.
The founder of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who
conquered six kingdoms to unify China, was the first ancient ruler
to standardize the country's diversified writing styles. He ordered
all his subjects in the Qin empire to write in Xiaozhuan, or
the Lesser Seal Style.
However, most characters on the unearthed slips were written in Qin
Li, or the official script of the Qin style. Li Jiahao, a
professor of the Chinese language in the prestigious Peking
University, said that Qin Li was actually derived from
Xiaozhuan and was often used in official documents for
convenience and clarity.
Hunan archaeologists have already found that most of the slips were
official documents from Qin Dynasty government archives.
"These slips are of great significance for the study of the
evolution of Chinese handwritings in the early stages," said Zhang
Chunlong, an expert in the ancient Chinese language, who described
the handwriting on the slips as "very pretty."
Guo Weimin, deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Archaeological
Institute, said that the smooth writing style and rich variety of
the slip characters indicated the high level of accomplishment in
ancient Chinese calligraphy and can help modern Chinese
calligraphers to improve their skills.
While only a small number of the slips had been cleaned and shown
to experts and scholars, Yuan Jiarong, director of the Hunan
Archaeological Institute, said researchers would later photograph
all the slip characters and publish a book for calligraphy lovers
worldwide.
(Xinhua News
Agency July 31, 2002)