Recently, the National Planning Leading Group for Ancient Books Collation and Publishing of the National Press and Publication Administration issued the Plan for National Ancient Books Work from 2021 to 2035 and unveiled the first batch of key publication projects. The selected projects include the project “Bamboo and Wooden Slips Excavated from the Han Dynasty Tomb at Zhoujiazhai of Suizhou” in the charge of Luo Yunbing, a research fellow from Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and four projects of the School of History, Wuhan University.

As one of academic results of systematical collation of Han bamboo and wooden slips excavated from the tomb at Zhoujiazhai, Zengdu District, Suizhou in 2014, the project “Bamboo and Wooden Slips Excavated from the Han Dynasty Tomb in Zhoujiazhai of Suizhou” was undertaken by Luo Yunbing, Fan Guodong and Shi Deyong, with the Science Publishing House as the cooperative publisher. The four projects of the School of History of Wuhan University are the project “Shuihudi Bamboo and Wooden Slips of the Western Han Dynasty” led by Professor Chen Wei, the project “Han Bamboo and Wooden Slips Excavated from Hujiacaochang, Jingzhou, Hubei” by Professor Li Tianhong, and the projects “Hui Yao in Tang Dynasty (Institution History of Tang Dynasty” and “A New Compilation of Turpan Manuscripts” by Professor Liu Anzhi.

Ancient books are important part of outstanding traditional Chinese culture and Chinese literary context, from which precious resources for present-day use in making new brilliant achievements in Chinese culture are derived. The Plan for National Ancient Books Work from 2021 to 2035 was formulated by the National Planning Leading Group for Ancient Books Collation and Publishing jointly with relevant departments in line with the Opinions on Advancing Ancient Books Work in the New Era released by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council. The first batch of key publication projects under the National Ancient Books Work Plan covers 10 categories such as literature, history & geography, philosophy & religion, and excavated manuscripts. Specifically, the projects in terms of excavated manuscripts cover five domains, such as inscriptions on oracle bones, inscriptions on ancient bronze objects, bamboo and wooden slips, and silk manuscripts (22 sub-projects).

"Hubei deserves the name of ‘A Province of Bamboo and Wooden Slips’ for it is home to dozens of batches of bamboo and wooden slips," said Chen Wei, a senior professor from the Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences of Wuhan University, director of the Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts Research Center and member of the expert committee of the "Inheritance, Spread and Development Project of Ancient Writing and Chinese Civilization". The excavated manuscripts, represented by Chu bamboo slips from Guodian of Jingmen, Qin bamboo slips from Shuihudi of Yunmeng, Han bamboo and wooden slips from Hujiacaochang of Jingzhou and Kongjiapo and Zhoujiazhai of Suizhou, and "China's most characters inscribed wooden slip" from Zhengjiahu of Yunmeng, literally record the brilliant history of Chinese civilization in Chinese characters.

The projects “Bamboo and Wooden Slips Excavated from the Han Dynasty Tomb at Zhoujiazhai of Suizhou”, “Shuihudi Bamboo and Wooden Slips of the Western Han Dynasty” and “Han Bamboo Slips Excavated from Hujiacaochang, Jingzhou, Hubei”, included in the first key publication projects, contributed significant academic achievements based on bamboo and wooden slips unearthed in Hubei in recent years. Especially in 2006, the archeologists obtained over 2,000 bamboo and wooden slips when working in No. 77 Han tomb at Shuihudi, which provide abundant materials for studying ancient society and picturing the life of ancient people. In 2014, the well-preserved bamboo and wooden slips with a large quantity of clear informative characters in fine handwriting on them, unearthed in M8 of Zhoujiazhai, Suizhou, serve as particularly-precious source materials for the historical research on Chinese society in the Qin and Han Dynasties. In 2018, the bamboo and wooden slips of the Western Han Dynasty, excavated from the tomb at Hujiacaochang of Jingzhou, totals 4,642, the greatest number unearthed in a single tomb ever known to people so far, topping all counterparts in many aspects.