Recently, a commendation symposium for the Sixth China Publishing Government Award was held in Beijing. Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended and addressed the symposium.
The China Publishing Government Award is the highest national honor in China's press and publishing industry. It is selected every three years, aiming to recognize and commend outstanding publications, publishing units, and individuals in the domestic press and publishing sector. A total of 60 books were awarded with the China Publishing Government Award for Books this year. Among them, Changsha Zoumalou Bamboo Slips in the Western Han Dynasty, co-edited by the Research Center for Bamboo Slips and Silk Manuscripts of Hunan University and the Changsha Bamboo Slips Museum, made the list.
Honors of Changsha Zoumalou Bamboo Slips in the Western Han Dynasty:
• Major Project supported by the National Social Science Fund of China
• Project included in the "Project of Ancient Scripts and Inheritance and Development of Chinese Civilization"
• "High-Quality Collation and Publication of Bamboo Slips" project
• 2021-2035 National Ancient Books Work Plan's key publishing project
• Achievement of the Project Funded by the National Publishing Fund
Changsha Zoumalou Bamboo Slips in the Western Han Dynasty is co-edited by Professor Chen Songchang, professor of Yuelu Academy and director of the Research Center for Bamboo Slips and Silk Manuscripts of Hunan University, and Li Equan, director and research fellow of the Changsha Bamboo Slips Museum. It was published by Yuelu Publishing House. Supported by the National Social Science Fund and the National Publishing Fund, the research team worked collectively for nearly seven years to complete the compilation and publication of this remarkable work.
The Zoumalou bamboo slips from the Western Han Dynasty are a collection of official documents from the Changsha Kingdom during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty (156 BC-87 BC). These documents date back to 128 BC-120 BC period when Liu Yong, the second Liu-surnamed king of the Changsha Kingdom, held the throne. They mainly recorded various judicial cases in the kingdom. The more than 2,600 bamboo slips documented the Changsha Kingdom from such aspects as governance, taxation, institutions, and folk customs, providing valuable materials of historic significance for studying the politics, justice, taxation, postal relay, and other areas of a vassal state during that reign.
In 2024, Changsha Zoumalou Bamboo Slips in the Western Han Dynasty was officially published, systematically unveiling for the first time the over 2,600 bamboo slips unearthed from Zoumalou, Changsha for the first time. The work consists of a four-volume main body and two monographs—Archaeological Report and Research. The six volumes have 4.43 million Chinese characters in total. The publication includes color plates, infrared plates, annotations, registration sheets, and indexes by personal names, places, and official titles, offering a thorough and detailed introduction to the bamboo slips. Through collation and rejoining of the slips, the research team reconstructed 26 cases. The remaining fragmentary slips that could not be categorized were placed following the judicial cases in each volume according to their relative completeness and original numbers, for reference by the academic community.
