THE GREAT ONE, WATER, AND THE LAOZI: NEW LIGHT FROM GUODIAN

Abstract

In 1993, when Chinese archaeologists excavated a Warring States Period (475-222 B.C.) tomb atJingmen Guodian jr[9Jin Hubei Province, they discovered a cache of philosophical texts written on some 800 bamboo slips. In 1998, transcriptions of these texts prepared under the auspices of the Jingmen City Museum by Peng Hao ~A , Liu Zuxin glrJiL and Wang Chuanfu TE{IW, with additional notes by Qiu Xigui iSf, were published under the title Guodian Chu mu zhujian l -J~X3tTfM' together with high-quality photographs of the original bamboo slips.' In Chinese history, discoveries of ancient manuscripts were rare events. The most notable examples were the ancient script texts said to have been discovered in the walls of Confucius' house and the Bamboo Annals found in the third century A.D. in a late Warring States tomb. In the last three decades, however, Chinese archaeologists have excavated dozens of ancient tombs containing manuscripts written on silk or bamboo slips. Even in this context, however, the Guodian tomb-given the number one by its excavatorshas a special significance because it contained manuscripts of philo-