Bamboo Leaves Reveal Ancient China’s Ideology of Governance

This undated photo shows books on the study of bamboo slips from the Warring States period (475 BC-221 BC) hosted by Tsinghua University. (Photo: Xinhua)

This undated photo shows the recently published books on the study of bamboo slips from the Warring States period (475 BC-221 BC) hosted by Tsinghua University. (Photo: Xinhua)

Researchers from China’s Tsinghua University have published three papers after sorting and deciphering pieces of bamboo dating back more than 2,000 years, according to a press conference held Friday in Beijing.

These documents reflect the governance ideology of the rulers of the early Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) as well as ancient legends and political thoughts of the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC).

They offer valuable insights into the study of ancient history and political ideology, said Shi Xiaoli, associate professor at the Center for Research and Preservation of Unearthed Texts at Tsinghua University.

For example, one paper advocates that policies should not be implemented too urgently or too slowly, but rather at an appropriate pace and scale, ensuring that people are not confused and can follow them, explained Shi.

Tsinghua is home to nearly 2,500 precious bamboos dating from the Warring States period (475-221 BC). The university’s research team has been collecting and studying ancient documents since 2008.

Since 2011, Tsinghua researchers have published their research results annually, publishing 14 volumes of reports covering a wide range of topics, including classics, history, politics, astronomy and mathematics.

The latest results of translating the original bamboo texts into modern Chinese and English were also released at the conference, aiming to make them more accessible to readers and promote their international dissemination and research.