In 1975, archaeologists excavating a tomb from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in Yunmeng county, Hubei province, discovered a remarkable letter carved onto two wooden tablets, each about 22 centimeters long.
The tomb belonged to a man of the Qin state named Zhong, and the letter had been written by his two younger brothers, Heifu and Jing, who were serving in the Qin army on the front line.
Comprising 527 characters, the letter is simple, direct and deeply personal. It opens by asking after their mother's health and the family's well-being before describing the hardships of military life. The brothers urge Zhong to send clothing and supplies, as Qin soldiers were expected to provide for themselves while campaigning.
More than 2,000 years old, the letter is widely regarded as China's earliest surviving personal correspondence. Whether Heifu and Jing ever made it home remains unknown. What is certain is that Zhong cherished the letter enough to have it buried with him, preserving for future generations a moving testament to family ties and brotherly affection that has endured across the millennia.
The Heifu Wooden Tablets are now featured on a stamp in a commemorative philatelic folder recently released by China National Philately and the All-China Philatelic Federation to celebrate the cultural legacy of traditional Chinese epistolary writing.
Designed like an envelope, the folder incorporates embossed seals and handwritten family letters. Its cover features a bamboo-slip motif that evokes a quiet sense of history, while the back traces the tablets' journey from the Huaiyang battlefield, in present-day Zhoukou, Henan province, to the brothers' home in what is now Yunmeng.
Under ultraviolet light, the stamp reveals a translated version of the letter, allowing readers to appreciate the enduring devotion to both family and country expressed by two brothers writing from the battlefield.
