Rong Cheng Shi
ancient Chinese codex
The Rong Cheng Shi (Chinese: 容成氏; pinyin: Róng Chéng shì) is an ancient bamboo manuscript from the Chinese Warring States period (ca. 453–221 BCE) that was discovered and purchased on Hong Kong's antiquity market in 1994. It is now kept at the Shanghai Museum. It was published in the second volume of the Shanghai Bowuguan can Zhanguo Chu jian shu 上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書. Like the entire collection, it is dated to the mid through late 4th century BCE.
To date, it is the only historical narrative from that runs from ancient times to the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. It addresses abdication as an ideal way of ruling, and describes history as devolutionary. It also contains among the earliest descriptions of the Nine Provinces allegedly divided by Yu the Great.
References
External links
Pines, Yuri (2010). "Political mythology and dynastic legitimacy in the Rong Cheng shi manuscript" (PDF). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16874277. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1994 and 2010.
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