Bamboo slips, writing materials from the Warring States Period to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It is a long and narrow piece of bamboo made by cutting it (there are also wooden pieces, which are called wooden slips). The slips are wider and thicker than the slips. The bamboo slips are called bamboo slips, and the wooden slips are called wooden slips. All written with brush and ink. The length of the book is, for example, three feet (about 67.5cm) for writing edicts and laws, two feet and four inches (about 56cm) for copying scriptures, and one foot (about 23cm) for folk letters, so people also call letters " Ruler slips". Important discoveries have been made in Changsha, Hunan, Jingzhou, Hubei, Linyi, Shandong, and northwest regions such as Dunhuang, Juyan, Wuwei and other places. Among them, a volume of Eastern Han Dynasty documents was unearthed in Juyan.
Bamboo slips originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty and were more widely used during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Around the 4th century AD, as paper became widely used, bamboo slips were replaced by paper manuscripts.
The value of calligraphy
Bamboo slips are important materials for studying Chu characters in the Warring States Period and calligraphy in the early Western Han Dynasty. In the pre-Qin era, writing evolved from practicality to artistry. Calligraphy at this time was closely linked to the transformation of characters. It gradually matured from a naive stage to perfection, thereby establishing a special position in the history of Chinese calligraphy. In December 1975, more than a thousand bamboo slips were unearthed from the Qin Tomb in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei Province, with Qin Li written in ink on them. Judging from the archaeological excavation materials, the characters on some wooden plaques and bamboo slips during the Warring States and Qin Dynasties have been simplified in seal script, with fewer strokes, the characters have become square and flat, and the pen has a tendency to wave. This is the germ of official script. During the Western Han Dynasty, the element of official style in calligraphy further increased. The Western Han Dynasty silk painting "Laozi Jiaben" unearthed in Mawangdui, Changsha has obvious official meaning.
The bamboo slips of the Warring States Period are handwritten. The strokes of these characters are elastic, with sharp beginnings and endings, and slightly thicker parts in the middle or in front, fully demonstrating the characteristics of brush writing. This is different from the weight and weight of bronze inscriptions and the condensation of strokes due to the connection. It has changed from slow and heavy to smooth and beautiful, and the strokes and styles are simpler than seal script. It can be seen that the early official script was popular long before Qin Shihuang implemented Xiaozhuan. "Bamboo slip calligraphy" is a school that has emerged in the Chinese calligraphy circle in recent years (also known as "bamboo slip calligraphy"). This is an "ancient official" style that imitates the bamboo slips and silk scripts of the Qin and Han Dynasties. It imitates the calligraphy of ancient characters on bamboo chips, wood chips and silk fabrics in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties. The raw rice paper is brushed with vertical strips similar to bamboo slips, and the font is written on these ocher-colored "bamboo slips" strips. It has a unique quaint character and adapts to the modern aesthetic and decorative taste.