Earliest Chinese writing possibly unearthed in Hubei

New research suggests that the earliest known Chinese characters have possibly been unearthed at the Liulinxi Neolithic site in Zigui county, Central China's Hubei Province, pushing the origins of Chinese writing back to 7,000 years ago, according to the Hubei Daily.

Chinese archaeologist and paleographer Feng Shi, who released the research findings, confirmed to the Global Times that his study noted that inscriptions carved on pottery-made supports unearthed from the Liulinxi site are the earliest known Chinese characters to date.

These inscriptions were discovered among 232 carved symbols found on more than 1,000 pottery supports during the early excavation of the site, which was identified in the 1960s as belonging to the Neolithic period dating back roughly 7,000 years.

Eight individual characters, including zhu, wei, and yao have been identified so far, per the Hubei Daily.

The Liulinxi Neolithic site now lies submerged beneath the waters of the Three Gorges reservoir.

Zhou Hao, an expert with Zigui's cultural heritage department, said he had visited the Liulinxi site multiple times in the 1990s and early 2000s to conduct field surveys and provide preliminary assessments for future excavations. "The site sits on a low terrace by the Yangtze River," Zhou explained. "Even after years of sediment buildup, numerous artifacts and traces of ancient human life remain well preserved."

In 1998 and 1999, before the Three Gorges reservoir was filled, archaeologists carried out rescue excavations at Liulinxi, which covers an area of 1,325 square meters. The discoveries mainly included tombs and ash pits, with stone and pottery artifacts making up the bulk of the unearthed items.

Among the finds, over 1,000 pottery supports stand out as particularly significant, with more than 100 restored to near-complete condition. A total of 232 carved symbols were found on these artifacts, providing crucial physical evidence for tracing the origins of Chinese characters.

Replicas of these eight ancient characters were unveiled at the Hubei Three Gorges Migration Museum on Saturday, where visitors could take part in activities such as tracing and copying the inscriptions.

A museum staff member told the Global Times that a special display case has been set up for the Liulinxi site, showcasing three pottery supports with clearly discernible and patterned carved symbols.

Feng noted that the inscriptions, carved on the columns or tops of pottery supports, exhibit features consistent with the writing system represented by the Shang Dynasty (c.1600BC-1046BC) oracle bone script. These inscriptions can be considered the earliest known Chinese characters. More importantly, the Liulinxi symbols appear in groups rather than in isolation, making their interpretation more feasible, the research reads.

In one instance, a pottery support is carved with eight sets of the characters. The Hubei Daily reported that the forms of these characters are nearly identical to those found in oracle bone inscriptions, demonstrating that 7,000 years ago, early inhabitants of the region already possessed a relatively sophisticated concept of civilization.

Feng noted that the accumulation of early writing materials has made it increasingly plausible to establish a line of continuity predating the Shang Dynasty oracle bone script.

For example, the discovery of cinnabar inscriptions from the mid-Shang period, the early Xia Dynasty (c.2070BC-c.1600BC) cinnabar inscriptions discovered at the Taosi site in North China's Shanxi Province, and incised symbols unearthed on pottery at the Hongshan Temple site in Central China's Henan Province together help extend the developmental history of Chinese writing back to the early third millennium BC or even earlier.

Liu Zheng, a member of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, told the Global Times that while Feng's findings and similar discoveries are highly valuable for exploring the origins of writing, as to the early leap from pictorial signs to pictographic oracle bone script, scholars are still debating the defining characteristics and exact time period of this transition. "Hopefully, a consensus will be reached in the near future," Liu said.