Archaeologists have discovered pottery bearing inscriptions
dating back 4,500 years, which could prove to be China's earliest
example of written language.
These pottery fragments, found in the ruins of an ancient city
in Huaiyang County of Henan Province, are believed to be parts of a
spinning wheel, according to a report released by the county
government.
A photo, posted on the local government's website, showed a
piece of black pottery bearing white strokes. The fragment formed
half of a round spinning wheel, with a diameter of 4.7 centimeters
and a thickness of 1.1 centimeters.
The inscriptions are similar in shape to the Ba Gua
writings, an octagonal diagram that is a fundamental philosophical
concept of ancient China, the report said, quoting renowned Chinese
archaeologist Li Xueqin of Tsinghua University. "The discovery of
the inscriptions on the spinning wheel proves that Pingliangtai,
where the ruins are located, could be one of the birthplaces of
Chinese civilization," Li said.
Zhang Zhihua, curator of Pingliangtai ancient city museum, said
he found the fragments in May while accompanying a group of
archaeological magazine reporters around the Pingliangtai ruins.
"When I picked up the fragment and saw the inscriptions, I was very
excited because I knew it could be a major discovery," Zhang said
in the report.
Before this discovery, the earliest known Chinese characters are
inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells -- known as the Oracle
Bones -- buried in the royal tombs of the Shang Dynasty 3,000 years
ago. They were used by oracles to divine auguries from the
gods.
Inscriptions on these bones, one of the oldest forms of writing
in the world, resemble the cuneiform writing of the ancient Near
East and hieroglyphic writing of ancient Egypt, experts say.
(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2006)