The Tsinghua Bamboo Strips (simplified Chinese: 清华简; traditional Chinese: 清華簡; pinyin: Qīnghuá jiǎn) are a collection of Chinese texts dating to the Warring States period and written in ink on strips of bamboo, that were acquired in 2008 by Tsinghua University, China. The texts were obtained by illegal excavation, probably of a tomb in the area of Hubei or Hunan province, and were then acquired and donated to the university by an alumnus. The very large size of the collection and the significance of the texts for scholarship make it one of the most important discoveries of early Chinese texts to date.^[1][2]

On 7 January 2014 the journal Nature announced that a portion of the Tsinghua Bamboo Strips represent "the world's oldest example" of a decimal multiplication table.^[3]

Discovery, conservation and publication

The Tsinghua Bamboo Strips (TBS) were donated to Tsinghua University in July 2008 by an alumnus of the university. The precise location(s) and date(s) of the illicit excavation that yielded the strips remain(s) unknown. An article in the Guangming Daily named the donor as Zhao Weiguo (赵伟国), and stated that the texts were purchased at "a foreign auction",^[4] Neither the name of the auction house, nor the location or sum involved in the transaction were mentioned. Li Xueqin, the director of the conservation and research project, has stated that the wishes of the alumnus to maintain his identity secret will be respected.^[5]

Similarities with previous discoveries, such as the manuscripts from the Guodian tomb, indicate that the TBS came from a mid-to-late Warring States Period (480–221BC) tomb in the region of China culturally dominated at that time by the Chu state. A single radiocarbon date (305±30BC) and the style of ornament on the accompanying box are in keeping with this conclusion. By the time they reached the university, the strips were badly affected by mold. Conservation work on the strips was carried out, and a Center for Excavated Texts Research and Preservation was established at Tsinghua on April 25, 2009. There are 2388 strips altogether in the collection, including a number of fragments.^[6][7]

A series of articles discussing the TBS, intended for an educated but non-specialist Chinese audience, appeared in the Guangming Daily during late 2008 and 2009. The first volume of texts (photographic reproductions, transcriptions, and commentary) was published by the Tsinghua team in 2010.^[8] The series is scheduled to have a total of 18 volumes, with the latest volume 13 forthcoming in December 2023. A series of studies and publications are appearing in the series The Tsinghua University Warring States Bamboo Manuscripts: Studies and Translations《清華大學藏戰國竹簡》研究与英译, edited by Huang Dekuang 黃德寬 and Edward Shaughnessy.

The texts

The Tsinghua manuscripts vary greatly in content. The collection caught attention because several of the TBS texts have connections to the received Shang Shu 尚書, Exalted Writings, a collection of texts dated to various periods from the first millennium BC to the 3rd century CE. Because of the incredible important role the Shang Shu has been playing in Chinese culture, the discovery of Warring States manuscripts that bear on its formation attracted interest. For example, the Yin zhi 尹至 manuscript from volume one has a partial overlap with the "Tang shi" 湯誓 text in the Shang shu; volume 9 of the series includes a manuscript whose content largely overlaps the "Jin Teng" 金滕 text in the Shang shu, and accordingly the editors titled the manuscript *Jin teng. Several others "writings-style"^[9] manuscripts, however, are not found in the received Exalted Writings, either having been "lost" in the process of transmission, or else never having been incorporated into the canonical collection.^[10]

Other content resembles that of annalistic histories (編年體史書), recording events from the beginning of the Western Zhou (mid-11th century BC) through to the early Warring States period (mid-5th century) is said to be similar in form and content to the received Bamboo Annals.^[11]

Another text running across 14 strips recounts a celebratory gathering of the Zhou elite in the 8th year of the reign of King Wu of Zhou, prior to their conquest of the Shang dynasty. The gathering takes place in the ancestral temple of King Wen of Zhou, King Wu's father, and consisted of beer drinking and the recitation of hymns in the style of the received Shi Jing.^[12]

Texts by volume

Volume one

The following texts were published in volume one: *Yin zhi 尹至, *Yin's arrival; *Yin gao 尹誥, *Yin’s Announcement; Cheng wu 程寤; *Baoxun 保訓, *The Protective Instructions; *Qi ye 耆夜; *Jin teng 金縢;*Huangmen 皇門, *August gate; and Zhai Gong zhi gu ming 祭公之顧命 The Duke of Zhai’s Retrospective Command; and Chu ju 楚居.

• *Yin zhi 尹至, *Yin's arrival and *Yin gao 尹誥, *Yin’s Announcement were written by the same scribe, and were considered two texts in the "writings" style.^[13]
• *Baoxun 保訓, *The Protective Instructions. The text purports to be a record of a deathbed admonition by the Zhou king Wen Wang to his son and heir, Wu Wang. Although the team working on the text refers to it as "The Admonition of Protection" (or "Protector's Admonition", 保训), their transcription of the text refers to a "Precious Admonition" (Bao Xun) and that may be the more appropriate editorial title.^[14] The content of the king's speech revolves around a concept of The Middle (zhong 中) which seems to refer to an avoidance of extremes and an ability to consider multiple points of view. The king narrates a story of the sage-king Shun acquiring The Middle by living a modest, thoughtful life, and a more puzzling second tale which describes the Shang ancestor Wei (微) "borrowing The Middle from the River."^[15][16] A complete translation and study has been publsihed as part of the series The Tsinghua University Warring States Bamboo Manuscripts: Studies and Translations《清華大學藏戰國竹簡》研究与英译.^[17]

Volume two

It includes one text only, the "Xinian" 繫年 (系年), probably composed ca. 370 BC. This text relates key events of Zhou history. It comprises 138 strips in a relatively well preserved condition. Among the contents they transmit is an account of the origin of Qin by supporters of the Shang dynasty, who were opposed to the Zhou conquest.^[18]

Volume three

It includes the Fu Yue zhi ming 傅說之命, Command to Fu Yue;^[19] the *Liang chen 良臣, the Zhu ci 祝辭, among others.

Volume seven

It includes "Zi Fan Zi Yu" 子犯子餘, "Jin Wen Gong ru yu Jin" 晉文公入於晉, "Zhao jianzi" 趙簡子, "Yue Gong qi shi" 越公其事.^[20]

• "Zi fan Zi Yu" 子犯子餘 records a dialogue between Zi Fan and Duke Mu of Qin. This takes place while Chong'er is in exile, traveling from state to state.^[20]
• "Jin Wen gong ru yu Jin" 晉文公入於晉 narrates the story of the Duke Wen of Jin (posthumous name of the aforementioned Chong'er) returning to his state after years of battle, and putting it in order.^[21]

Volume eight

It includes eight texts: *She ming 攝命, *Bang jia zhi zheng 邦家之政, *Bang jia chu wei" 邦家處位; *Xin shi wei zhong 心是謂中; *Tianxia zhi dao 天下之道; Ba qi wu wei wu si wu xing zhi shu 八氣五味五祀五行之屬, and Yu Xia Yin Shang zhi zhi 虞夏殷商之治.

• *She ming 攝命, *Command to She. Titled by the editors. 32 strips. It purports to be a royal command to a certain She. It is written in shu 書 style.^[22][10] The editors identified it as the "original" Shangshu chapter Jiong Ming 囧命.^[23]
• "Xin shi wei zhong" 心是謂中. *The heart is what is at the center, a short (8 strips) text of philosophical nature discussing the heart-mind (xin 心) as the central organ in charge of the body, but also the concept of "luck" and mandate (ming 命). It includes the statement that humans are in charge of their destiny, so far otherwise unattested.^[24]

Volume twelve

Volume twelve presents strip images, transcription and study of one manuscript, titled by the editors "San Bu Wei" 参不韋, the name of the person who talks in the manuscript. The manuscript is of 124 strips, numbered on the verso side in well-preserved conditions. The content is otherwise unattested. In the text, San Bu Wei admonishes Qi 啟 (founder of the Xia dynasty) on how to govern, revise punishments, and conduct rituals.^[25]

Volume thirteen

The volume (forthcoming December 2023) contains 5 manuscripts:

• "Daifu Shi Li 大夫食禮."
• "Daifu Shi Li Ji 大夫食禮記."
• "Wu yin tu" 五音圖.
• "Yue feng" 樂風
• "Wei tian long Shen" 畏天用身. The text is reproduced in full in a paper by Shi Xiaoli 石小力.^[26] The manuscript is of 17 strips, measuring 44.4cm by 0.6cm. The title was assigned by the editors, based on the two initial principles introduced by the manuscript: "being in awe of Heaven" 畏天 and "using one's abilities" 用身. The text articulates behavioral principles (pay attention to surroundings; speaking properly) and how even and the self/person differ. Shi Xiaoli notes several echoes with ideas known in the Xunzi 荀子.

A first introduction to the manuscripts on music can be found in Jia Lianxian's 贾连翔 2023 article in Zhongguo shi yanjiu dongtai 中國史研究動態.^[27]

Decimal multiplication table

Twenty-one bamboo strips of the Tsinghua Bamboo Strips, when assembled in the correct order, represent a decimal multiplication table that can be used to multiply numbers (any whole or half integer) up to 99.5.^[3]

Joseph Dauben of the City University of New York called it "the earliest artefact of a decimal multiplication table in the world".^[3] According to Guo Shuchun, director of the Chinese Society of the History of Mathematics, those strips filled a historical gap for mathematical documents prior to the Qin Dynasty.^[28] "It helps establish the place-value system, a crucial development in the history of math", as Professor Wen Xing of Dartmouth College explains.^[29] It is presumed that officials used the multiplication table to calculate land surface area, yields of crops and the amounts of taxes owed.^[3]