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Primary sourceDocument221-207 BCE

Qin Bamboo Slips from Shuihudi

221-207 BCE

Bamboo writing slips from a Qin-dynasty tomb, administrative documents from the era of Qin Shi Huang's rule.

These administrative bamboo slips come from the era of Qin Shi Huang's rule, showing the bureaucracy underpinning his empire.

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Museum display of Qin dynasty bamboo slips from Tomb 11 at Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei, unearthed 1975. Left: about a dozen numbered bamboo slips mounted vertically in glass. Right: a diagram of a square with eight gate labels and columns of small Chinese characters. Caption below in Chinese and English reads Zhi Shi Men, Qin (221-207 BC).
Qin bamboo slips from Shuihudi, Tomb 11, 221-207 BCE. Hubei Provincial Museum, Wuhan.

About this source

What it is

These are bamboo slips from the Qin dynasty, unearthed from Tomb 11 at Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei. They are displayed in the Hubei Provincial Museum alongside a diagram of a walled structure with labeled gates. The slips date to the period of Qin rule, 221-207 BCE.

Why it matters

Bamboo slips like these were a common writing material before paper became widespread, and the Shuihudi find is an important source for understanding Qin law and administration. They show how the government established by Qin Shi Huang kept detailed written records, giving historians direct insight into the bureaucracy that ran his empire.

Look closer

  • Why might bamboo have been chosen as a writing material?
  • What does the diagram with labeled gates suggest the slips might describe?
  • What kinds of information would an administration need to record in writing to run a large empire?

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