Tsinghua Bamboo Slips

The Tsinghua Chu Slips (Chinese: 清华楚簡; pinyin: Qīnghuá Chǔjiǎn) are a cache of approximately 2100 bamboo slips acquired by Beijing's Tsinghua University in mid-2008, with first official reports of the acquisition appearing in university news outlets on October 23. The slips have been tentatively dated to the third or fourth centuries BCE, the latter half of the Warring States period, making them similar in age to the Guodian Chu Slips (Chinese: 郭店楚簡; pinyin: Guōdiàn Chǔjiǎn) unearthed at Jingmen, Hubei in 1993. While their precise place of origin is currently unknown, the Tsinghua slips feature graphs associated with the Warring States kingdom of Chu, and designs visible on the remnants of a case also suggest a Chu origin.

Although the specifics of the slips' contents have not yet been made widely available, indications from university sources, including the eminent scholar of ancient China and Tsinghua University professor Li Xueqin, suggest that the collection contains hitherto unknown versions of portions of the Classic of History (Chinese: 尚书; pinyin: Shàngshū), as well as a chronological history of the Zhou period akin to, but distinct from, the Bamboo Annals (Chinese: 竹書紀年; pinyin: Zhúshū Jìnián), among other materials. If such claims are accurate, the collection will indeed become of extreme importance for the study of the history, philosophy and language of early China.

According to reports, the cache was donated to Tsinghua by a university benefactor in July of 2008, having been acquired through the Hong Kong antiquities market. The slips, in their fragmentary state, range from ten to 46 centimeters in length; Prof. Li suggests that recomposition into a total number of around 1700 complete slips will eventually be possible, placing the cache among the largest yet unearthed.

References

• Tsinghua Acquires Cache of Warring States Bamboo Slips (Chinese), Tsinghua University News Net
• 2100 Warring States Bamboo Slips Acquired By Tsinghua University (Chinese), Beijing Daily