World's oldest family letters on display at Hubei museum

Two family letters inscribed on wooden tablets are currently on display at the Yunmeng Xiangshan Museum in Xiaogan, Hubei province, Nov 24.[Photo/Sipa]

Two letters home believed to be the world's oldest are currently on display at the Yunmeng Xiangshan Museum in Xiaogan, Hubei province.

The two correspondences, inscribed on wooden tablets, were written during the end of the Warring States period dating back 2,200 odd years ago by brothers Heifu and Jing to their brother in "Zhong," their hometown in today's Hubei province. The authors were soldiers serving in the Qin army, located then in today's Huaiyang county, Henan province.

The inscriptions were discovered in 1975 in the western suburb of Yunmeng county in Hubei province. The letters are kept in good condition, with the ink handwriting still clearly legible.