Ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts return from U.S.(1/6)

A staff member displays the ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.) in Beijing, May 18, 2025. (Photo:China News Service/Fu Tian)

Returned by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art on Friday, the fragments are from "Wuxing Ling" and "Gongshou Zhan," the latter two volumes of the Zidanku Silk Manuscripts.

Collectively, the silk manuscripts, containing more than 900 Chinese characters, are the earliest examples of silk text discovered to date and the oldest classical Chinese book in the true sense.

The manuscript was named after the Zidanku area of Changsha, Hunan province, from where it was stolen by grave robbers in 1942. It was then illegally taken to the U.S. in 1946.

The ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period are displayed during a handover ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in the United States in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2025. (Photo:China News Service/Chen Mengtong)

The ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period are displayed during a handover ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in the United States in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2025. (Photo:China News Service/Chen Mengtong)

The ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period are displayed during a handover ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in the United States in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2025. (Photo:China News Service/Chen Mengtong)

A staff member displays the ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.) in Beijing, May 18, 2025. (Photo:China News Service/Fu Tian)

A staff member displays the ancient Zidanku Silk Manuscripts from the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.) in Beijing, May 18, 2025. (Photo:China News Service/Fu Tian)