Scientists sort Qin Dynasty account
26/3/2005 8:52
Archeologists in Hunan Province have sorted about 35,000 bamboo strips
with authentic written records from 2,200 years ago.
Experts say the bamboo
strips could rank among the country's most important archeological finds on the
Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).
Since the Qin Dynasty lasted only 14 years, scarce
records remain. Before the strips were excavated, major events from the era
could only be found in the historical writings of the ensuing Han Dynasty (206
BC-220 AD).
The ancient records, ingrained in official script, provide a
detailed account of the Qin Dynasty. They cover everything from politics and
military affairs to laws and culture, said Zhang Chunlong, a noted researcher
with the Hunan Provincial Institute of Archeology.
The historic records,
believed to have been kept by the Qin court, cover a period that witnessed
China's unification, an economic boom, as well as the construction of the Great
Wall as a major defense fortress. It has also been called a period of tyranny
under the rein of founding emperor Ying Zheng, who historians believe caused the
dynasty to fall early.
Most historians refer to Ying Zheng as one of the most
brutal tyrants in the country's history. He threw millions of laborers into
slavery and forced them to build a 5,000-kilometer-long defense wall (Great
Wall) and his mammoth imperial palace and mausoleum.
A brief study of the
bamboo strip records suggests Qin Dynasty subjects were plunged into penal
servitude if they were unable to pay land rents or debts.
Numerous strips are
believed to carry words like "payment" and "fees for penalty," which suggest the
Qin Dynasty used a rigid political and cruel legal system, said professor Wu
Rongzeng, a noted historian.
Another 1,000 ancient bamboo strips were without
any records, archeologists said.
The bamboo strips were unearthed in June
2002 from an ancient well in Liye village, Longshan County of
Hunan.
Xinhua
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