4,000-yr-old characters found on pottery piece
February 12, 2018
- Archaeologists have found 4,000-year-old characters, even older than the oracle bones scripts, in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Ink marks, which were confirmed to be three or four characters, were found on a pottery piece unearthed at Gaojiataizi, the ruins of the Lower Xiajiadian Culture in the city of Chifeng, Lian Jilin, with the regional research institute of cultural heritage and archaeology, said Sunday. The ruins, an area of over 10,000 square meters, were jointly excavated by the institute and Jilin University.
http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2018-02/12/content_50493641.htm
Chinese oracle bone inscriptions current with modern popularity
2018-01-25
- Chinese oracle bone inscriptions have been included on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register ever since last November, according to the UNESCO website. The Chinese oracle bone inscriptions is springing up as a new cultural hot spot in China.
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9,000-year-old wells found in central China
2018-02-06
- Archeologists have discovered six wells dating back some 9,000 years in central China’s Henan Province. The wells in Xiping County are the oldest ever discovered in China, said Wei Xingtao, deputy head of the provincial archaeological research institute. “The discovery pushes the origins of China’s wells back over 2,000 years,” he said. “The invention of wells was of great significance as it freed people from their reliance on rivers for water.”
2,200-yr-old gov’t office ruins unearthed in Shaanxi Province
2018-01-30
- File photo shows ruins of a government office building, which was believed to be a musical department of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.), in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. The ruins, 110 meters long and 19.5 meters wide, were composed of four rooms of equal area, with clay walls of around 3 meters thick, said Zhang Yanglizheng, assistant researcher with the provincial research institute of archaeology. In addition to architecture materials, such as tiles and bricks, pieces of stone chimes, a percussion instrument in ancient China, were found in the ruins excavated in Xixian New Area. (Xinhua)
Tomb owner confirmed as son of “Marquis of Haihun”
2018-01-26
- At the tomb of the “Marquis of Haihun” in east China’s Jiangxi Province, the identity of a tomb owner has been confirmed to be the eldest son of the controversial Chinese emperor Liu He. Archaeologists said Friday, that a metal seal reading “Liu Chongguo” was unearthed from the No. 5 tomb at the Marquis of Haihun site, China’s most complete Western Han Dynasty(206 B.C.- 25 A.D.) cemetery.
Ancient China: 1,000-Year-Old Palace Discovered, ‘Summer Home’ For Powerful Liao Dynasty
1/11/18
- Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient palace that served as the summer retreat for the elite members of the Liao Dynasty. To escape the oppressive heat, each year from mid-April to mid-July the Liao emperors would move the royal family, along with palace officials, into the mountains of what is now China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Archaeologists discovered more than 100 structural components at the site in Duolun County, including glazed tiles, pottery and copper nails, according to Xinhuanet. They recorded the foundations of 12 buildings—more than 2,500 square feet in total. Ge Zhiyong, a researcher with the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Institute of Archaeology, said that artifacts excavated at the site appear to date the palace to the mid-Liao Dynasty, according to Xinhua.
Ancient, ‘Extremely Rare’ 1,900-Year-Old Chinese Mirror Discovered Intact on Japanese Island
12/29/17
- Archaeologists in Japan have unearthed a 1,900-year-old Chinese mirror that’s not only still intact, but well-preserved enough to still show a faint reflection. City officials in Fukuoka, the capital of the Japanese island where the mirror was found, said such a discovery is extremely rare, according to Japanese national newspaper the Asahi Shimbun.
Ancient oracle bones added as UNESCO memory
2017-12-27
- Ancient oracle bone inscriptions－the earliest documentary evidence found in China－became the 13th Chinese documentary heritage inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, a senior official from the State Archives Administration said on Tuesday.
Across China: Wooden slips reveal China’s first emperor’s overt pursuit of immortality
2017-12-24
- The pursuit of immortality was commonplace among the most powerful handful of people in ancient China — emperors. According to new archaeological findings, China’s first emperor even went so far as to make it a government function, more than 2,000 years ago. A set of wooden slips found in central China’s Hunan province contain the emperor’s executive order for a nationwide search for the elixir of life and official replies from local governments.
Chinese calligraphy paintings sell for record US$144 mln
2017-12-18
- A collection of 12 calligraphy landscape paintings by Chinese ink-brush master artist Qi Baishi fetched 931.5 million yuan (144 million US dollars) at a Beijing auction on Sunday night. The price set a new global record for Chinese artworks sold at auction. Qi created the “Twelve Landscape Screens” in 1925, each of which contains an elegant, natural scene. The paintings are framed separately in 1.8-meter long vertical frames.
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