Bamboo Annals

The Bamboo Annals is a chronicle of ancient Chinese rulers, known from a manuscript reportedly excavated from a tomb and from later transmitted versions.

Ji Tomb: A Warring States-period tomb in Jizhou, Henan, reportedly excavated in 279 CE and associated with the Bamboo Annals manuscript. The chronicle’s received origin story places its manuscript in this tomb.
Xia dynasty: A traditionally recorded early Chinese dynasty, whose historical status and chronology remain debated. The chronicle supplies a distinctive succession and chronology for rulers assigned to this dynasty.
Old Text Bamboo Annals: A fragmentary form of the Bamboo Annals preserved through quotations and citations in early sources. It is the closest surviving route to the text associated with the excavated manuscript.
Oracle bone script: The earliest substantial Chinese writing, carved mainly on bones and shells for divination during the late Shang dynasty. Its contemporary records offer evidence against which the chronicle’s Shang-era claims can be assessed.
Western Jin dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 266 to 316 CE after the collapse of the Three Kingdoms. The tomb discovery and first recovery of the chronicle are dated to this dynasty.
Shang dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled in the second millennium BCE and is documented by oracle bones and archaeology. Its rulers appear in the annalistic sequence between the Xia and Zhou periods.
New Text Bamboo Annals: A later transmitted version of the Bamboo Annals, reconstructed in a form that became influential from the Ming period onward. Its relationship to the older fragments raises questions about additions, omissions, and textual authenticity.
Bronze inscriptions in ancient China: Inscriptions cast or carved on ritual vessels and other bronze objects in ancient China. Their dates and names provide independent checks on ruler sequences reported in the annals.
Shu Xi: A Western Jin scholar and poet who wrote an account of the discovery of the Bamboo Annals. His report preserves an early description of the manuscript’s excavation.
Zhou dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from about 1046 to 256 BCE and shaped early Chinese political thought. The chronicle’s account extends through Zhou rulers and the era of competing states.

Linked from 14 pages