The oracle bone script, inscribed on pieces of bone or tortoise shell used for divination in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.), is the earliest known form of Chinese writing. Juyan Hanjian is a collection of wood and bamboo slips recording texts from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) unearthed in the ruins of the ancient town of Juyan, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The Dunhuang Manuscripts are a variety of religious and secular documents drafted between the fifth and 11th centuries and found at the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. The archives of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties are the most complete archives of ancient Chinese dynasties that have ever been recovered.

These four cultural heritage items, all discovered in the early 20th century, have long been scattered across different museums and academies. They were rounded up in an exhibition that opened at the National Museum of Classic Books in Beijing on February 15, giving visitors a chance to appreciate ancient Chinese culture spanning 3,000 years. 

(Text and photos by Wei Yao)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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