ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Zhangjiashan Han bamboo texts

Have you ever seen a book made out of paper? Well, a long long time ago, before paper was invented, books were written on something else - bamboo! And that's where the Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Texts come in.

Around 2,000 years ago in China, people wrote important information and stories on thin, flat pieces of bamboo. They would use a sharp tool to carve characters into the bamboo, like how you might draw with a pencil. Then, they would tie the bamboo pieces together with string to make books.

The Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Texts are a collection of these ancient bamboo books that were discovered in 1993 in a tomb in China. They have over 64,000 characters written on them, which is a really big number! The characters tell stories and give important information about what life was like a long time ago.

These texts are special because they are some of the oldest and most complete examples of ancient Chinese writing that we have. It's like finding a treasure trove of ancient stories and history that we thought we had lost forever.

So, to sum it up - the Zhangjiashan Han Bamboo Texts are a bunch of old books made out of carved bamboo pieces that were found in a tomb in China. They have a lot of writing on them that tell stories and give us insight into ancient Chinese life and culture.