Over 430-year-old stone tablet discovered in North China

SHIJIAZHUANG - A stone tablet dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) has been discovered in North China's Hebei province, local authorities said Wednesday.

Found during a survey of cultural relics in Longyao county, the tablet, which was made in 1586 during the reign of Emperor Wanli as shown on the inscriptions, has a history of 434 years, according to the county's publicity department.

The cuboid is 188 centimeters tall, 86 cm wide and 27 cm thick, with inscriptions of 2,105 characters describing market disputes between two villages from 1505 to 1585 and the official verdicts.

With rich and detailed content, the record on the tablet is thought-provoking and is of great historical value for the study of the political and judicial system, and local customs during the Ming Dynasty, said Li Fang, head of the county's cultural relics preservation institute.