In October 2025, researchers announced 232 carved symbols across 1,000+ pottery sherds from the Lianshi site in Hubei (~5000 BC), originally excavated in 1998-1999 for the Three Gorges Reservoir. The carvings include graphic symbols resembling the sun and hieroglyphs corresponding to 'one,' 'two,' 'eye,' and 'sun' — potentially pushing back the origins of Chinese writing by thousands of years!
2025 Lianshi discovery: 232 carved symbols on pottery dated to 5000 BC
Key facts
- In October 2025, Chinese researchers announced a major find from the Lianshi site in Zhuguang County, Hubei province, several hundred km south of Jiahu along the middle Yangzi
- Lianshi sites were originally excavated in 1998 and 1999 ahead of flooding for the Three Gorges Reservoir, with material stored until recently analyzed
- Researcher Fang Xi led the study, reported through Hubei Daily and Global Times
- 232 carved symbols were identified across more than 1,000 ceramic pottery examples dated to around 5000 BC
- Unlike isolated marks at Jiahu, Lianshi symbols appear in groups, with one pottery sherd having eight sets of characters together
- One pottery support had eight sets of characters engraved on its top surface, with characters matching the oracle bone script forms for 'five' and 'field'
- The find places Lianshi in the same chronological neighborhood as Jiahu and provides evidence against the 5,000-year gap
- Some symbols resemble Chinese characters Zhu, Wei, and Yao
Site mentioned
📍 Lianshi
Sources
shufa.pku.edu.cn
Linked in video description
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Symbols of a similar nature have also been found on pottery sherds from the Liangzhu culture of the lower Yangtze valley. A pottery inscription of the ...
Pictographic writing decodes genesis of Chinese charactersenglish.cssn.cn
These carvings include graphic symbols resembling the sun and hieroglyphs corresponding to “一” (one), “二” (two), “目” (eye), and “日” (sun).
Old but Never Forgotten: Chinese Neolithic Potterybowers.org
They include human faces, fish, birds, and fangs, among others, and these motifs often reflect a spiritual belief or deity.
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