By Li Han

Staff Writer of the Tsinghua News Center

An alumnus donated to Tsinghua University in July of this year an invaluable collection of Warring States period bamboo strips. Tsinghua University has established a Center for Unearthed Documents Research and Protection to conserve and do research on the cache of 2100 bamboo strips. A panel of eleven experts has authenticated the bamboo strips. They noted that these bamboo strips were mainly parts of books. Most of them have never been seen before. Their academic value for historical research is inestimable. They will also be invaluable sources for the study of bamboo materials and the ancient characters which are inscribed on the strips.

“From the form and the way they were made and the characters on them, these bamboo strips seem to have been unearthed in the Chu area. They are very rare cultural relics which directly relate to the core of traditional Chinese culture. It is a very significant discovery which will have a great influence on such disciplines as history, archaeology, ancient writing studies, and philology,” according to the release made by the eleven experts on the panel.

Tsinghua Vice President Xie Weihe noted that the long-term protection of bamboo strips is still a world wide problem. Jointly with other institutes, Tsinghua University will invite experts from China and abroad to consult on the conservation and study of the bamboo strips.

(Photo by Guo Haijun)