Bamboo slips and silks are the main carriers of ancient Chinese characters. Silk and silk are expensive and will not be widely circulated. Bamboo slips are simple to make and easy to preserve. Compared with other carriers, bamboo slips were the main text carrier before the popularization of paper.

Bamboo slips are the longest-used book form in the history of China and the main writing tool before the invention of papermaking and the popularization of paper.

From the Spring and Autumn Period to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, bamboo slips have always been the main materials for writing and the carrier of books. In Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was replaced by paper.

The early characters were carved on Oracle bones and Zhong Ding, which were limited by their materials and were difficult to spread widely. So until the Shang Dynasty, only a few hundred people in the upper class mastered the writing, which greatly restricted the spread of culture and ideas, and all this was not changed until the appearance of bamboo slips.

For the first time, bamboo slips liberated the characters from the top circle of society and strode towards a broader society with great momentum. Therefore, bamboo slips have played a vital role in the spread of China culture. It is precisely because of its appearance that a hundred schools of thought contend, and the ideology and culture of celebrities such as Confucius and Laozi have been passed down to this day.

This paper briefly introduces the changes and characteristics of ancient Chinese characters in China.

Pottery (appeared in the Neolithic Age, mostly in the Zhou and Warring States periods)

Fragile, difficult to preserve for a long time

Oracle Bone Inscriptions (Xia Shang Zhou)

It is difficult to obtain materials and carve, but the preservation period is long.

Bronze ware (Xia Dynasty, flourished in Shang and Zhou Dynasties)

It is not easy to make, and bronze is easy to be lost or destroyed.

Jade (the budding period was in Shang Dynasty, and there were many carved stones in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the carved stones prevailed from the Warring States Period to Qin and Han Dynasties, especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty)

Hard and heavy, it is not easy to process, but it is widely available and can be preserved for a long time.

Bamboo (Spring and Autumn Period to Late Eastern Han Dynasty)

The materials and technology are easy, the writing is convenient, and it can be bound into a book, which is convenient for circulation; Bamboo and wood are perishable and difficult to preserve for a long time. Moreover, it is inconvenient to carry simple book series, and the rope is easy to break and become a "broken piece"

Silk Books (During the Spring and Autumn Period, silk books prevailed from the Warring States to the Three Kingdoms. After Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, paper was widely used, and silk books gradually decreased)

Large capacity and small volume, convenient for writing, unwinding, reading, collecting and carrying, and can be cut at will; But it is expensive and perishable.

Paper (paper only replaced bamboo and silk as the main writing material in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties)