Chinese Bamboo and Wooden Slip Writing

Type Object Region China Time c. -500–1

Writing on bamboo slips and wooden tablets was the main form of text recording from the pre-Qin era to the early Han, widely used in Warring States a…

Timeline

c. -500–-221Chu, Qin, Qi, Zhao and other states · ChinaWarring States vassal states commonly recorded statutes, accounts, divination, and philosophical texts on slips; regional scripts and styles varied, and excavated slips from Shuihudi and Guodian provide direct evidence of contemporary knowledge forms.
-221–-206Xianyang · ShaanxiQin unified the script with small seal script and used slips to carry edicts, statutes, and commandery-county documents; excavated materials such as the Liye Qin slips show the center's dense recording and transmission mechanisms for local administration.
-202–1Chang'an and frontier commanderies · ShaanxiWestern Han continued to use slips as the mainstream official writing; Han slips from Juyan, Dunhuang, and elsewhere preserve forms of frontier garrisoning, statute transmission, and transcribed classics, providing material context for the New Text and Old Text classics controversy.

Sources

中国简牍学概论 — 李均明 (2000)
Bamboo and Wood Documents from Ancient China — Anthony J. Barbieri-Low (2016) https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.123