Archives record our journey

At the national study Wenhua Hall, 44 big bookcases erected around the grand hall house more than 30,000 classic books. On the second floor is Inception of Chinese Civilization: Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Publications and Cultural Articles. Zhao points to zun of He, a piece of bronzeware from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-771 BC). It is special because it is inscribed with early Chinese characters that spell out zhongguo (China), the earliest physical record of the term, despite that the meaning differs from that of today's China.