Chinese scientists have unearthed some 1,000 bamboo and wooden slips of the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) in Chenzhou City of central China's Hunan Province, which they hope will shed more light on the war-ridden ancient dynasty.

"Our studies on the south China politics and culture of that time will get a significant boost by the latest find as these bamboo and wood slips are the sole official archives China has found so far," said Qin Xiaojun, who led an archaeological team to continue the excavation.

Qin said the slips were dug out of a bustling construction sitein the city and some of them recorded accurately the distance between Chenzhou and Luoyang, capital of the Western Jin Dynasty. They also bear the words "Tai'an" and "Yongkang", two titles of the reign by the dynasty's Emperor Jinhui.

Though the papermaking technique spread throughout China in the second century A.D., bamboo slips and wooden slats were still powerful competitors for paper in recording royal decrees and statutes in the country.

Few historical documents about the Western Jin Dynasty were handed down from ancient China since frequent chaos and wars led to the dynasty's quick termination 52 years after its establishment.

Before this new archeological discovery, China had only 10 original bamboo and wood slips of the dynasty.

The city unearthed large amounts of bamboo and wooden slips of the Eastern Han Dynasty (24-220) last year, indicating Chenzhou was once a political and cultural center of ancient China, according to archeological experts.

Other articles excavated in the construction site also include porcelain shards wrapped by brown paper but archeologists still do not know the owner of those slips.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2004)