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Primary sourceArtifact

Stone Drums of Qin

Ten ancient inscribed stone boulders from the state of Qin, the oldest known stone inscriptions in China and ancestors of the script Qin Shi Huang later standardized.

These older Qin stones carry the script that Qin Shi Huang later standardized across his empire.

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A large, dome-shaped, weathered brown-grey stone with a rough surface sits on white gravel on a yellow cloth-covered display base. A small plaque in front reads 'Er Shi stone' with Chinese characters.
Stone Drum "Er Shi," Forbidden City, Beijing.

About this source

What it is

These are ten granite boulders, shaped like drums, carved with rhymed verse about royal hunting and fishing. They were made at the order of a Duke of Qin, likely in the Spring and Autumn period, centuries before Qin Shi Huang. They are now kept in the Palace Museum (Forbidden City), Beijing.

Why it matters

The Stone Drums carry the oldest known stone inscriptions in China, and their script is the ancestor of the small seal script that Qin Shi Huang later made the standard writing system across his unified empire. They show the deep roots of Qin culture before the First Emperor's reign and help explain why script standardization was possible.

Look closer

  • Why might a ruling family want to record hunting and fishing trips in stone?
  • How has damage over the centuries affected what we can read today?
  • What does the survival of these stones tell us about how writing changed over time?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emperor Qin Shi Huang on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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