Mawangdui Tombs Silk Document
source: Wikimedia Commons
author: unknown
Description
A photograph shows a silk document filled with Chinese characters. The manuscript bears signs of aging, with frayed edges and small holes and tears throughout.
Date
Artifact: 2nd century BC
Photo: 1980
Information
This ancient Chinese manuscript was among a number of others discovered in the Mawangdui Tombs in 1973. This photo shows part of a Taoist manuscript. Another text discovered in the tombs was Wushi’er Bingfang or Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments (not pictured), a 2nd century BC medical text detailing 283 prescriptions and treatments for various ailments, such as surface wounds, ulcers, frostbite, warts, internal bleeding, and poisoning.
Related Articles
Recipes for Fifty-Two Ailments
Harper, D. J. (2003). Early Chinese medical literature. Routledge.