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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — Archaeologists have discovered a rare inscription high on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwest China, dating back more than 2,000 years to the Qin Dynasty.
The rock carving records an imperial journey led by officials from China's first unified empire, and provides insight into the political and cultural life of the era.
The inscription indicated that people had already ventured into the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC), and is a clear historical proof of China's diversified yet unified civilization.
ANCIENT WORDS, HIDDEN HEIGHTS
In the summer of 2020, while fieldwork on the shores of Gyaring-Tso Lake in Mado County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Professor Hou Guangliang of Qinghai Normal University and his team made a surprising discovery: an engraved stone hidden among the rocky highland landscape.
The inscription is carved into the base of a quartz sandstone cliff at an altitude of 4,306 meters and covers an area of approximately 0.16 square meters. It consists of 12 vertical lines, each containing 37 characters, read from right to left. Remarkably, several key elements, including the date, are still legible after so many years.
An inscription missing from written records tells how Emperor Qin Shi Huang—China's first emperor, famous for unifying the country, ordering the creation of the Terracotta Warriors, and initiating construction of the ancient Great Wall of China—sent alchemists in search of the legendary "elixir of life."
They stopped at Lake Gyaring-Tso near the source of the Yellow River, explained Tong Tao, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CAS).
Subsequent research has shown that this stone, dating back to the Qin Dynasty, is the only known inscription preserved in its original location and at its highest elevation from the era following the Qin Emperor's unification of China.
According to Wang Zijin, a history professor at Northwest University in China, the date of the inscription is entirely consistent with historical accounts of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's intense search for immortality in the final years of his life.
LOST STORIES, FRESH IDEAS
"Honestly, the moment we found this, my mind was completely blown," Hou Guangliang said. "We couldn't even imagine that at the source of the Yellow River, we would find ancient calligraphic characters that even begin with the character 'huang' (which means 'emperor' in Chinese)."
The Yellow River, often called the "Mother River" of China, has long held a central place in the country's history and culture. Successive dynasties have undertaken numerous studies of its origins.
From Princess Wencheng's passage through the source of the Yellow River during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to the worship of the source by officials during the Yuan (1271-1368) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, there are numerous historical records of exploration of the river's source. However, written sources remain lacking evidence from earlier periods.
The discovery of the inscription marks a major breakthrough in Chinese archaeology, said Bu Xianqun, a historian at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an expert on the Qin and Han dynasties.
"The inscription, carved more than 2,000 years ago, represents the earliest concrete evidence of the Qin Dynasty's presence deep in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, expanding our knowledge beyond previous texts," Bu Xianqun noted.
He added that the inscription sheds light on how ancient Chinese rulers explored the origins of the Yellow River and interacted with plateau cultures, reflecting the deep historical and cultural foundation for the formation of a sense of community among the Chinese nation.
MODERN SCIENCE, PAST TRUTHS
In June, after a thorough examination, Tong Tao of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published a paper claiming that the inscription dates back to the Qin Dynasty. His discovery sparked widespread attention and months of debate, as experts expressed differing opinions about its authenticity, age, and other details.
The National Administration of Cultural Heritage of China then conducted field research with experts to collect data on the stone and its surrounding environment, and organized specialized seminars.
Laboratory analysis confirmed that the inscription was carved on quartz sandstone, a rock highly resistant to abrasion and weathering – a property experts say is “the key to its preservation for more than two millennia.”
In addition, the stone faces southeast, with a mountain behind it and water in front, which experts believe provides natural protection from strong winds and intense sunlight, further facilitating long-term preservation.
During the examination, Chinese archaeologists used high-precision data enhancement technology to digitally capture the stone without any physical contact or damage, extracting clear images of its surface, decorative patterns, and inscriptions.
Mineral and metallic analysis was also conducted, revealing signs of long-term weathering and virtually ruling out recent carving.
“Unlike previous cases, this is the first time that scientific methods have been systematically used to analyze a single ancient stone carving,” said Zhao Chao, a research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at CASS and a participant in the study.
According to him, this process marked the beginning of a new model for authenticating stone inscriptions in China. -0-
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