Ancient Chinese Culture： Passing on the Kindling Flame

Lai Xinxia

Huaxia Publishing House

October 2022

49.80 （CNY）

Lai Xinxia

Lai Xinxia is a professor of History at Nankai University， who mainly engages in the research of history， bibliography， and local chronicles.

Since the 1950s， there have been three significant discoveries of bamboo slips from the Warring States and Qin periods in underground excavations. The first discovery was made in July 1953 when 42 bamboo slips were unearthed from the Yangtian Lake Tomb outside the south gate of Changsha， Hunan. The longest slip was 22 centimeters long， inscribed with ink and seal script， with each slip consisting of one line containing two to over ten characters. Based on the examination of other unearthed relics， these bamboo slips are indeed artifacts from the Warring States Period. The second discovery was made in 1972 at the Yinqueshan Mountain in Linyi， Shandong， where more than 5，000 bamboo slips were found， recording The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The Art of War by Sun Bin， which is also from the Warring States period. The third discovery was made in December 1975， when more than a thousand bamboo slips were unearthed from the Qin tomb in Shuihudi， Yunmeng， Hubei. The contents included letters written by the local governor， important events， guidelines for officials， and legal documents. According to experts， these bamboo slips were buried in the thirty-first year of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s reign （217 BCE）. The 53 wooden slips of Records of Major Events recorded chronologically the major events of every single year from the first year of King Zhao of Qin （306 BCE） to the thirty-first year of Emperor Qin Shihuang. And some of the contents can supplement The Records of the Grand Historian， indicating their great historical value.

Due to the excavation of these bamboo slips， people can now see the physical form of the bamboo slips from the Warring States Period. These bamboo slips are undoubtedly the earliest formal books that can be seen today， proving that the transmission of Chinese culture had already had a formally dedicated carrier 2，000 years ago. The bamboo slips were not made directly from raw bamboo but were produced through a certain process. First， the bamboo was cut into a certain length and then divided into a certain width to become a strip of bamboo slip. Then， it was subjected to fire roasting for dehydration to prevent decay and moth damage. This processing technique was called “Sha Qing” or “Han Qing.” After this process， the slips became recording material that could be written on. Each slip was about two chi and four cun （about 70 cm） long and was used to record important books， such as the Confucian classics and government laws， to show respect.

During the Warring States Period， some countries considered eight cun as one chi， so bamboo slips that were two chi and four cun long were also considered three chi long. Legal provisions were written on these bamboo slips， called the “three-chi law” in ancient times. Shorter slips， about eight or nine cun long， were used to write secondary books such as the works of scholars and biographies for easy reading. People used to misunderstand that the characters on bamboo slips were carved or written with lacquer because the material was bamboo or wood. However， from the examination of actual artifacts， it is clear that the characters on the slips were written with a brush and black ink. The term “l(fā)acquer writing” refers to the black color of the ink rather than the use of actual lacquer. Knives were used to correct errors， similar to the function of an eraser today. Generally， each bamboo slip had 20 to 40 characters written from top to bottom. A bamboo slip found in Yunmeng had characters written on both sides， accompanied by illustrations.

A single bamboo slip couldn’t hold a lot of characters， so a document or an article would often require many bamboo slips to be arranged in order， which was called a “compilation” （biān）. The compiled bamboo slips were then bound into a “booklet” （cè） using two， three， or even five silk or hemp cords. The booklet was then rolled from right to left around the last bamboo slip， which served as the central axis， to create a scroll for storage. This is how a unit of measurement for a book became known as a “scroll” （juàn）， a term still used today. When using wood as a writing material， the wood would first be sawn into sections and then sliced into thin pieces， then planed smooth on their cross-sectional surface to create a “block” （bǎn）. Blocks came in different sizes. Those that were three chi long were called “qiàn，” those two chi long were called “xí，” and those one chi long were called “dú.” The width of a block was usually one-third of its length， but some blocks were square， with their length and width being the same and called “fang.” Some blocks were narrow， only allowing one line of text to be written. These wooden slips were called “zhā.” The use of wooden slips was more common during the Han Dynasty. Blocks about one chi-square were generally used to write letters， which is why the term “chǐ dú” was used to refer to letters in the past. A blank “block” added outside of the “dú” was called a “jiǎn，” which was used to conceal the writing on the “dú” and served to protect its contents. Binding a stack of “bǎn dú” together to prevent them from scattering is called “yuē.” Signing one’s name on the “jiǎn” was called “shǔ” while the small， slightly concave square in the middle of the “jiǎn” was called a “hán.” This is why letters are later referred to as “hán.” The rope used to tie the “bǎn dú” was tied in a knot at the “hán，” sealed with mud， and stamped to prevent others from opening it secretly. This action was called “fēng，” also known as “ní fēng” which is why “fēng” became a unit of measure for letters. The blocks （bǎn） used for writing were called “dú” while those used for graphs were still called “bǎn.” The state used “bǎn” to draw the boundaries of its territories， which is why territories are later referred to as “bǎn tú.” Locally， “bǎn” was used to register households， known as “hù bǎn.” Therefore， household registration records were also called “bǎn jí.” During the Warring States Period， the use of wooden slips was relatively rare. According to excavated cultural relics， only two sets of wooden slips were found in a Warring States tomb in Qingchuan county， Sichuan province. They recorded the content of an order issued by King Wu of Qin in 309 BCE， to commanding Prime Minister Gan Mao to modify the content of the field law. Later， due to the convenience of processing and manufacturing， the use of wooden slips became more widespread. A larger number of wooden slips from the Han Dynasty were discovered.

During the Western Han Dynasty， bamboo and wooden slips continued to be used， as recorded in ancient books. During the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han， Zhuge Feng， who was in charge of maintaining public order in the capital， expressed his determination to eradicate evil and offered to sacrifice his own life to cut off the heads of corrupt officials. Then， he hanged them on the main streets and “compiled a book of their crimes.” The word “compile” here refers to connecting the various slips. During the reign of Emperor Cheng， Liu Xiang， the first Chinese bibliographer， provided a detailed account of the process of making bamboo slips and organizing slip books. These written records prove that slip books were still the main form of books during the Western Han Dynasty.