President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a museum to learn about efforts to enhance the protection, research and use of cultural relics in Yunmeng county of Xiaogan, Central China's Hubei province, Nov 4, 2024. Xi inspected the cities of Xiaogan and Xianning, Central China's Hubei province, from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. [Photo/Xinhua]

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has stressed sound protection of and in-depth research on ancient bamboo and wooden slips.

Xi made the remarks during his visit to an exhibition featuring slips dating back to the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) at a museum in Yunmeng county, Central China's Hubei province, on Monday afternoon.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a museum to learn about efforts to enhance the protection, research and use of cultural relics in Yunmeng county of Xiaogan, Central China's Hubei province, Nov 4, 2024. Xi inspected the cities of Xiaogan and Xianning, Central China's Hubei province, from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. [Photo/Xinhua]

During his visit, Xi learned about the content of the bamboo and wooden slips, their historical and cultural value, and the local preservation and research efforts.

Noting that these ancient artifacts are extremely precious and are important, physical evidence that supports China's reliable historical records, Xi urged sound protection of and in-depth research on them.

Xi also called for continuous archaeological excavation to provide more materials that could serve as irrefutable evidence of the nation's history.

President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a museum to learn about efforts to enhance the protection, research and use of cultural relics in Yunmeng county of Xiaogan, Central China's Hubei province, Nov 4, 2024. Xi inspected the cities of Xiaogan and Xianning, Central China's Hubei province, from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. [Photo/Xinhua]

Ancient bamboo and wooden slips are slender, rectangular pieces on which ancient Chinese recorded information using brush and ink. Before the invention of paper, bamboo and wooden slips were the primary writing medium in China.

Unearthed in various parts of China, they offer a rare glimpse into the nation's administrative, legal and social structures of the time.