Exhibition on Chinese characters opens at National Museum of China

(ECNS) -- An exhibition titled "Amazing Chinese Characters" opened at the National Museum of China in Beijing on Thursday, featuring more than 270 ancient script artifacts.

The exhibition, co-hosted by the National Museum of China and the secretariat of the Project for the Preservation and Development of Ancient Chinese Characters and Chinese Civilization, showcases the project's latest findings from the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

The exhibits, which include oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, bamboo and silk manuscripts, seals and coins, are on loan from 20 museums, archaeological institutes and universities.

Among the highlights is a piece of oracle bone inscribed with a record of an invasion. The exhibition's curator, Tian Wei, a researcher at the National Museum of China, said the oracle bone records King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty (c.1600–1046 BC) divining a border threat and receiving reports of invasions. The inscription was filled with cinnabar to distinguish it from ordinary oracle bones.

Huang Dekuan, chairman of the expert committee of the project and a professor at Tsinghua University, said ancient scripts are the key to understanding early Chinese history and traditional culture. Their forms and structures reflect the thoughts and habits of ancient people, as well as the social customs, technological development and living conditions of the time.

The exhibition will run for three months.

(By Tang Yuxian)