Bamboo slips engraved with 'Chengdu' found in China's Chengdu

A batch of bamboo and wooden slips from the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) engraved with the Chinese word "Chengdu" was released on Wednesday by the cultural relics and archaeology research institute of Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

From April to December last year, the institute conducted an excavation at the site of Zikujie Street in Chengdu and cleared out 53 pieces of bamboo and wooden artifacts with complete and clear writing, said Tang Bin, the person in charge of the excavation site.

Another 212 pieces of suspected bamboo and wooden slips were found, Tang said, adding that the word "Chengdu" is visible on one of the bamboo slips.

"Based on the lettering style, it is speculated that these slips date from the late Warring States Period (475 B.C.-221 B.C.) to the Qin Dynasty," Tang said.

A large number of cast copper weapons and a batch of pottery were also unearthed at the site.

"The bamboo and wooden slips discovered this time are the earliest of its kind found in Chengdu, which contains information such as administrative management systems, officials, and historical geography," Zuo Zhiqiang, associate researcher of the cultural relics and archaeology research institute of Chengdu.

"They are of great historical significance and also have high calligraphy art and cultural value," Zuo said.