Origins of Chinese Texts

This is hardly an exhaustive list. It currently serves as the basis for future studies into the origins of Chinese texts. If you have information which you would like added to this list, you may email me content for review @ ChronologyTruth@gmail.com.

1510 – Wujing Zongyao reprinted, oldest extant copy available

1557? – I Ching produced by Yi Hwang

1623 – Nestorian Stele unearthed

1623 – Stele of the Spread of the Assyrian Teachings of the Great Qin to the Central States

after 1660 – The Book of Documents (allegedly created c.1279) given an inscription by Gu Mei

1703 – first European commentary on I Ching

1775 – Twenty-Four Histories named as such

1777-1783 – Zizhi Tongjian published in French

1784 – King of Na Gold Seal discovered

1841? – earliest translation of Bamboo Annals

1846 – Biot published Chinese comet rosters

1846-1857 – Catalogue of Oriental Manuscripts, Xylographs etc. in Danish Collections, COMDC

1861? – earliest translation of Mencius

1868 – First English translation of Tao Te Ching

1871? – earliest translation of Classic of Poetry

1872? – earliest translation of Spring and Autumn Annals

after 1872 – Lotus Sutra in Fu Zengxiang’s collection, acquired by Library of Congress in 1941

1884 – Geographical Description of Tiantai Mountain published

1890 – first Western edition of the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial translated in French (English in 1917)

19th-20th centuries – Large Rubbing of Calligraphy by Wen Tianxiang

1900s? – Sutra of the Great Virtue of Wisdom brought to Europe

1900 – Dunhuang manuscripts discovered

1900 – oldest copy of Zuo zhuan manuscript discovered with Dunhuang manuscripts

1900 – On the Fall of States discovered

1900 – copy of Tang-dynasty Chinese version of Diamond Sutra discovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts

after 1900 – oldest surviving Zuo zhuan manuscripts found among Dunhuang manuscripts

1900s – Zhou yi discovered

1907 – Dunhuang Go Manual discovered

1926 – Qieyun held in a palace library, discovered by scholars in 1947

1928 – Sinckan Manuscripts collected, edited and published in 1931

1933 – Zhaocheng Jin Tripitaka rediscovered

1934 and 1942 – Chu Silk Manuscript discovered

1936 – Yu Youren donates 300+ stele rubbings to Xian Forest of Stele Museum

1959 – 3 fragmentary manuscripts of the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial discovered

1961 – the 1535 and 1577 edition of Shitong published

1973 – Mawangdui Silk Texts discovered

1977 – Shuanggudui excavated

1980 – Huangdi Neijing mentioned in Celestial Lancets

1993 – Guodian Chu Slips unearthed

1993 – Book of Rites “Black Robes” chapter found

2003 – 11 isolated symbols carved on tortoise shells found at Jiahu

2008 – Tsinghua Bamboo Slips (TBS) excavated

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References:

[1] – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_manuscripts

[2] – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese

[3] – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_classics

[4] – https://archive.org/stream/chineseclassics07legggoog#page/n123/mode/1up

[5] – https://www.wdl.org/en/sets/chinese-literature/timeline/

[6] – https://www.wdl.org/en/item/11378/

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