Does this stone reveal Qin Shi Huang's quest for immortality? A US-based physicist chips in
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwestern China and northeastern India, archaeologists recently discovered a 2,246-year-old stone inscription that might record one of the most mysterious chapters in
Chinese history
Advertisement
The stone reads: in the 26th year of
Qin Shi Huang 's reign, the emperor commanded the five Grand Master Yi to lead a group of alchemists westward to the Kunlun Mountains in
search of the elixir of immortality
The team travelled by carriage to the mountain, arrived at Zhaling Lake in what is now Qinghai province on the day of Jimao, or first in the third month, and would proceed another 150 li – about 75km – to reach their final destination, according to the stone found near the lake, at an altitude of 4,300 metres (14,100 feet).
The text was engraved in small seal script, or xiaozhuan, the written script standardised during the
Qin dynasty (221-207BC).
Tong Tao, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Archaeology, reported his findings in the state-run Guangming Daily on June 8.
Advertisement
'This stone carving at the source of the Yellow River is the only stone carving left by Qin Shi Huang after he unified China that still remains at its original site. It is also the most complete one and is of great significance,' he wrote
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
12 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
AI scientist Cao Ting leaves Microsoft lab for Tsinghua University
Cao Ting, a leading artificial intelligence researcher and former research manager at Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA), has left the US tech giant to join Tsinghua University , as AI becomes a new front in the US-China tech rivalry. According to the university's website, Cao left MSRA in July to join Tsinghua's Institute for AI Industry Research under Zhang Yaqin, a former MSRA managing director. The Beijing-based MSRA, established by Bill Gates in 1998 to tap China's 'deep pool of intellectual talent' and once hailed as the 'hottest computer lab in the world', is under growing pressure. US government restrictions on AI research in China , coupled with China's own booming AI sector, has accelerated an exodus from the lab, casting uncertainty over the future of Microsoft's key research hubs in Beijing and Shanghai Microsoft hired hundreds of researchers for MSRA, offering competitive pay and excellent working conditions. The lab pioneered Microsoft's work on voice, image and facial recognition, as well as AI projects. The Beijing lab became one of the world's most important laboratories in the field, growing into Microsoft's biggest research facility outside the United States and its first in Asia.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
China's rise in biotech to potentially lower healthcare costs, life science investor says
China's rise in biotech innovation offers the world a potentially cheaper alternative to costly healthcare products from Western suppliers, but geopolitical tensions remain a major challenge for the country's globalisation efforts, according to a local investor in the sector. 'We can lower the cost of healthcare and benefit more people through technological innovation and efficiency improvement,' Da Liu, managing director of CR-CP Life Science Fund, said in an interview with the Post earlier this week. 'China's recent achievements in biotech show that it's possible.' The CR-CP Life Science Fund was launched in 2019 by the state-run China Resources Group and Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, with US$170 million under management. Companies the fund has backed include Legend Biotech, which went public in New York in 2020, and Singapore-based Mirxes, which listed its shares in Hong Kong in May this year. Innovative drugs coming out of China's biotech firms have become increasingly popular licensing targets among multinational corporations (MNCs) in recent years, leading to what some are calling a 'DeepSeek moment' for the local industry. Da Liu, managing director of CR-CP Life Science Fund. Photo: Handout Multinationals have turned their attention to Chinese biotech companies and assets because of their 'cost efficiencies, accelerated timelines and promising quality', US investment bank Jefferies said in a report last month.
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China vows stronger biotech support as deals with global pharmaceutical giants surge
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for stronger policy support for the biotech industry, as part of efforts to bolster innovation in a sector that has witnessed a boom in recent years. 'The biopharmaceutical industry is both a strategic emerging sector and vital to public health,' he said during an inspection in Beijing on Wednesday, as reported by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. 'Efforts should be made to strengthen original innovation, address core technological challenges and mobilise resources from the government and market to achieve breakthroughs quickly.' Li also urged research institutes to focus on global frontiers and critical areas, while training top talent to establish a solid foundation for the sector's development. His remarks came as Chinese biotech developers continue to sign increasing numbers of out-licensing agreements with multinational pharmaceutical companies. Out-licensing involves biotech firms selling drug candidates, which have often completed Phase I and II trials in China, to global partners. Chinese drug developers have widely adopted the model to ease financial pressures in an industry where embracing new therapeutic approaches has proven cash-intensive and carries a high risk of failure. With China's healthcare system largely government-funded, steep price cuts under its national insurance scheme also limit domestic profitability.
