Over 400-year-old stone tablet found in North China’s Hebei Province

Archaeologists have found a stone tablet dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in a village in North China’s Hebei Province, members of the local cultural relics protection department announced on Thursday.

The tablet, which is believed to have been made while the Wanli Emperor was in power, has a history of approximately 400 years.

The tablet, 310 centimeters in height, 88 centimeters in width and 23 centimeters thick, was discovered in Huaizhuang village in Sansi township, Nanhe county.

It was well preserved with a clear inscription on it.

The inscription has a total of 729 characters that describe the social situation at the time and the process of building a temple.

The temple mentioned in the inscription was also built during Wanli’s rule, but only a small part of the ancient temple remains today, said Lan Jianhui, a history expert in the city of Xingtai.

The tablet will provide valuable material for research on the religious traditions and on the changes of the administrative division in the region, according to Lan.