Hidden character stone
{{Short description|Chinese historical artifact}}{{Multiple issues|
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Hidden Character Stone ({{zh|c=藏字石 / 救星石 |p=cángzì shí / jiùxīng shí}}) is a stone located in a scenic area in the town of Zhangbu ({{lang|zh-hans|掌布镇}}), Pingtang County, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou. The stone features several glyph-like patterns on its surface that have been tentatively identified as Simplified Chinese characters or Traditional Chinese characters, the meaning of which has been variously interpreted as "Communist Party of China" ({{lang|zh-hant|中國共產党}}), or alternatively "Communist Party of China perish" ({{lang|zh-hant|中國共產党亡}}).{{cn|date=February 2024}}
Area
The Hidden Character Stone is one of the main attractions - along with a jade water basin (玉水金盆) - located at the Qiannan Pingtang National Geological Park (黔南平塘地质公园). The park has an area of about 201.6 square kilometers.{{cite news |url=http://life.chinatimes.com/2009Cti/Channel/Life/life-article/0,5047,11051801+112011060200077,00.html |title=新民晚報－貴州平塘 玉水金盆處處景 |publisher=Life.chinatimes.com |date=2011-06-02 |access-date=2011-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324084504/http://life.chinatimes.com/2009Cti/Channel/Life/life-article/0,5047,11051801+112011060200077,00.html |archive-date=2012-03-24 |url-status=dead }} The stone is situated within a narrow gap between two cliffs, just wide enough for two people to stand adjacent.{{cn|date=February 2024}}
History
{{Weasel words|date=February 2017}}
In June 2002, the Duyun international photography exposition (都匀国际摄影博览会) recommended an area in Zhangbu as a photo spot.{{cn|date=February 2024}} The stone was discovered during the cleanup process following the exposition's conclusion. The site has been isolated and effectively untouched by humans for centuries.{{cn|date=February 2024}} According to the Chinese official Xinhua News Agency the person who initially discovered the site was local party secretary Wang Guo-fu (王国富), who noticed the characters written on the stone as he was stacking poles in the cleft in the rock.{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2003-12/08/content_1220053.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040304113939/http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2003-12/08/content_1220053.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 4, 2004 |title=2.7亿年"中国共产党"字样地质奇观惊现贵州(图) |publisher=News.{{cn|date=February 2024}} {{cn|date=February 2024}} |date=2003-12-08 |access-date=2011-06-27}}
Between December 5–8 2003 a Chinese scientific inspection group of about 15 scientists is reported to have investigated the stone.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Some of the more notable members include Li Ting-dong (李廷栋) from Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liu Bao-jun (刘宝君) from Chinese academy of Sciences and Li Feng-lin (李凤麟) from China University of Geosciences.{{cite web|url=http://www.dongtaiwang.com/dm/uGGc/o5.xNaMUBaTThb.pbz/abqr/402546 |title=看中國 - 《新看點》：懸疑！從貴州藏字石到太湖冤魂、安陽靈異案(圖) |publisher=Dongtaiwang.com |access-date=2011-06-27}} The stone was analyzed and determined to be about 270 million years old, with a likely provenance in the Permian period.{{cite web|url=http://www.china.com.cn/v/2008-02/13/content_9675017.htm |title=2.7亿年前的藏字石谜_视频中国_中国网 |publisher=China.com.cn |date=2008-02-13 |access-date=2011-06-27}}
Liu Bao-jun expressed support for additional research into the stone and its history, and was interested in the natural formation of the "characters" thereon.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ptjp.gov.cn/gzpt/wh/2010/56/10_5_6_10_28_12_65BE2_2.html |title=掌布"藏字石"奇观__平塘金盆网 |access-date=2011-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810214259/http://www.ptjp.gov.cn/gzpt/wh/2010/56/10_5_6_10_28_12_65BE2_2.html |archive-date=2011-08-10 |url-status=dead }} Each character on the stone measures about one square shaku in size, which is equivalent to about 1 square foot (0.09 square meters).{{cn|date=February 2024}}
Description
=Five-character version=
The five-character interpretation posits that the characters on the stone can be translated as "Communist Party of China" (中国共产党). This is the rendition publicly accepted in the People's Republic of China. This reading has also been referred to as 救星石, literally "savior stone". When recounting the narrative of the stone's discovery, Chinese sources usually adhere to the five-character interpretation.{{cn|date=February 2024}}
=Six-character version=
The six-character version suggests the characters on the stone said "Communist Party of China perish" (中国共产党亡).{{cite web |last1=Aspinwall |first1=Nick |title=Guizhou's 'hidden character stone': A modern myth, and a story of modern China |url=https://thechinaproject.com/2019/10/15/a-modern-myth-and-a-story-of-modern-china/ |website=The China Project |access-date=7 February 2024 |date=15 October 2019}} Often when pictures are shown with the stone having six characters, the description still refers to it by the five-character version.{{cn|date=February 2024}}
=Traditional and Simplified Chinese=
The characters on the stone are a mix of Traditional Chinese characters and Simplified Chinese characters. The first and third character ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|中}}}}, {{lang|zh|{{linktext|共}}}}) are identical in both versions. The second character "country" ({{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|國}}}}) and fourth character "produce" ({{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|產}}}}) is in the traditional form. The fifth character, "party" ({{lang|zh-hans|{{linktext|党}}}}) is in the simplified form.{{cite web|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2005-03-01/07135229255s.shtml |script-title=zh:惊看平塘"藏字石"(图)_新闻中心_新浪网 |publisher=News.sina.com.cn |date=2005-03-10 |access-date=2011-06-27}} The sixth character "perish" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|亡}}}}) has no difference. Some have analyzed all the odd characters as Simplified, while the even characters are Traditional.ATV China's mystery files (中國神祕檔案) episode on save star stone
- On the stone: {{lang|zh|中國共產党亡}}
- Traditional Chinese: {{lang|zh-hant|中國共產黨亡}}
- Simplified Chinese: {{lang|zh-hans|中国共产党亡}}
=Analysis=
The origin of the characters remain a subject of dispute.{{cite journal| title=平塘掌布藏字石发现经历|url=http://www.xzbu.com/4/view-3821203.htm|author=Mao, Jianquan|journal=贵阳文史|volume=6|pages=25|year=2012}} There were some early speculations that the characters were put there by the People's Liberation Army, but according to the path of the Long March, they never went to Pingtang. The characters also read left to right, which was not practiced at the time. The inclusion of a Simplified character before the CPC did any simplifications also ruled them out. There were also some skeptics who suspected the village was creating a fraud to build their tourism industry at the time. Others think the Hidden Character Stone was made in the Cultural Revolution.[http://gzczs.guiyangbus.com/gzczs/002.html 贵州藏字石-见解] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118023221/http://gzczs.guiyangbus.com/gzczs/002.html |date=2012-01-18 }} Also, others, especially Christians, consider the message to be of divine origin, this idea being ridiculed by pro-Marxist groups.{{cn|date=April 2023}}
Cultural reference
The Hidden Character Stone has been featured as a topic on a number of science-oriented television programmes such as CCTV's "Approaching Science" (走近科学) and the Hong Kong ATV series "China's Mystery Files" (中國神祕檔案).{{Cite web |url=http://www.ptjp.gov.cn/gzpt/wh/2010/510/10_5_10_11_37_2_76G39.html |title=惊看平塘"藏字石"__平塘金盆网 |access-date=2011-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326062033/http://www.ptjp.gov.cn/gzpt/wh/2010/510/10_5_10_11_37_2_76G39.html |archive-date=2012-03-26 |url-status=dead }} In both instances the programs referred to the five-character reading of the stone.