Wei Li Zhi Dao (The Way of Being an Official), Shuihudi Qin Manuscripts

Qin Dynasty (221–207 BC)

Length: 27.5 cm

Unearthed in 1975 from Shuihudi Qin Tomb M11, Yunmeng

Collection of Hubei Provincial Museum

A total of 51 bamboo slips are written in a multi-column format. Wei Li Zhi Daois divided into five columns, written from right to left. The content mainly consists of guidelines for officials, using commonly employed terms. In some places, the text lacks coherence. The first column primarily consists of 3–4 characters per line; the second column mainly uses 5, 6, and 8 characters; the third column predominantly uses 4 characters per line; and the fifth column features lines with 12 or more characters. Horizontal incised lines, created with a sharp blade, are visible at the top of each line, suggesting that the bamboo slips were first prepared and then divided into columns for writing. The writing in the fourth and fifth columns is more cursive than in the earlier columns, indicating that these may have been added later. The fifth column includes eight rhymed verses, which, based on their format, can be identified as xiang, a type of song sung during rice threshing by the people at the time. At the end of the fifth column, two articles of Wei law are added, which may also have been added later.