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Corruption is by no means a modern problem. Two bronze urns unearthed recently in northwest China's Shaanxi province bear witness to this. They carry inscriptions telling the story of how, in 873 B.C., a noble man bribed judges in order to escape charges of appropriating farmland and slaves.

The inscriptions on each urn contain 111 ancient Chinese characters, detailing the story, narrated in the first person by Zhou Sheng, who was taken to court by disgruntled civilians, according to Wu Zhenfeng, archaeologist of Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology.

A legal investigator named Shao Bohu was sent to Zhou's manor but Zhou managed to bribe Shao's mother with a bronze pot and Shao's father with a large jade instrument. Zhou received no punishment and in return for Shao's "kindness", Zhou presented him with a jade Gui, an elongated pointed tablet held by ancient rulers on ceremonial occasions.

"It is rare to find 'bribery stories' in ancient Chinese inscriptions. Usually only heroic stories, wars, evidence of a king's largess, covenants and policies are seen on relics," said Zhang Enxian, curator of Zhouyuan Museum in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province.

The urns were among 27 relics discovered by six peasants on Nov. 9 in their fields in Fufeng town near Baoji City, 110 kilometers west of Xi'an, according to Zhang.

"As the story was interpreted by archaeologists, it doesn't mean it is necessarily correct," said Zhang. "Some verbs have become abraded over time, which has made it hard to verify if Zhou was really guilty."

Professor Ding Li, with the Law Department of Sun Yat-sen University, does not subscribe to the view that Zhou's actions constituted bribery in its modern-day form.

"According to China's current criminal law, Shao would have been convicted of judicial corruption. But Zhou Sheng and Shao Bohu were probably innocent at that time as laws for nobles during the Zhou Dynasty were much more lenient," Professor Ding said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)