ANCIENT CARVING LINKED TO MISSION OF FIRST EMPEROR

After months of debate about its nature, an inscribed rock carving near a lake in Madoi county, Qinghai province, has been identified by the National Cultural Heritage Administration as being from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.).

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Archaeological workers examine the site of a Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.) rock carving near a lake in Madoi county, Qinghai province.

(PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The 37-character inscription was found in 2020 on a rock along a lakeside slope, about 14,100 feet above sea level. It is of typical Qin-era zhuanshu, or seal script, writing style. The characters are spread across an area of 1.72 square feet, 7.48 inches above the ground.

Tong Tao, an archaeologist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that when he arrived at the site in 2023 he instantly realized its extraordinary significance.

Except for some unclear characters, he recognized that the surviving words indicated that the carving was a historical recording absent from previously known documentation.