Bamboo and silk are ancient writing materials made of bamboo and wood in China. Popular in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties (about 5th century BC to 3rd century BC). After paper was widely used, bamboo slips were gradually abandoned. At present, the earliest bamboo slips found are those unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suizhou, Hubei Province in the early Warring States period, and the latest bamboo slips are the Loulan site in Lop Nur, Xinjiang.
The contents of ancient bamboo slips are very extensive, including official documents and archives, private letters, copies of books, calendars and books specially used for burial. , with high historical value, is also a very noble calligraphy ink. Their discovery and research is one of the important achievements of modern academic circles.
Bamboo slips and silk books
Bamboo slips and silk books are ancient writing materials, which were used before the invention and wide application of paper in China, mainly during the period from Yin Shang to Han Wei. The writing material of silk books is silk, which is quite expensive and uneconomical, so bamboo slips were mainly used in ancient times, and silk was rarely used, which is why there are more bamboo slips and silk books found underground now.
Historically, bamboo slips and silk books were used in parallel, so they are often called "bamboo slips and silk books", which refers to the extensive use of ancient writing materials and ancient documents before paper appeared.