Archaeologists at the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology have made a remarkable discovery at the Hebosuo Site in Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province. Over 10,000 ancient bamboo and wooden slips, known as jiandu, were found at the more than 2,000-year-old Hebosuo Site, some of them still bearing clear written Chinese characters.
Administrative and Political System
Some of the bamboo and wooden slips recorded the names of 12 counties, including “Dian Chi county” and “Jian Ling county,” which once belonged to the Yizhou Prefecture. This was an ancient region founded by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty after he defeated and incorporated the Dian Kingdom, a regime established by an ancient ethnic group that lived along what is now the southwest frontier of Yunnan Province.
The discovered characters, such as “county magistrate,” and “Dian Cheng” (prime minister of Dian management), reveal that a well-designed social administrative system was used to govern the southwest border area. According to Jiang Zhilong, lead archaeologist on the Hebosuo project, titles such as “Dian Cheng” indicate that special political roles were set up by the Han government in the southwest area.
Training and Administrative Texts
The content of the slips covers a wide variety of topics, including judicial documents and texts related to the administrative system, transportation, and ethnic relations. Parts of the Analects of Confucius, the fundamental philosophical guide to Confucianism, were also found on the slips. This text may have served as a “training text” or “guidebook” for people, especially the governors at that time, said Chu Xin, a cultural expert.
Chen Wei, an expert at the Center of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts, Wuhan University, noted that the Hebosuo Site is the home of the ancient Dian people, where the well-known Dianwang Gold Seal was also found. The seal, made of gold, was gifted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the King of Dian. The gold seal weighs 90 grams and is adorned with a snake totem, providing solid proof of the Dian culture’s existence.
Embracing Different Ethnic Cultures
The Dian culture has long been considered a mystery in Chinese history, except for in Records of the Historian, a monumental work of history written by Sima Qian. According to Tao Zhongjun, a Chinese historian, the discovery shows the Han Dynasty’s wisdom in embracing and managing different ethnic cultures. The discovery provides insight into China’s multi-ethnic past, with evidence of an efficient administrative system in place in the southwest border area.
