Celadon figurines capture scene of ancient proofreading

Guess what these two ancient figures are doing face-to-face? These lively celadon figurines from the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) capture a scene of ancient document proofreading.

Wearing official hats and long robes, they kneel opposite each other. The figurine on the left holds a brush and bamboo slip, carefully writing, while the one on the right holds a board with slip documents on it.

Before the widespread use of paper, texts were copied onto bamboo or silk, and mistakes were common. Proofreading was crucial — errors were scraped off with a knife and corrected immediately.

This pair of figurines was unearthed in 1958 in the suburbs of Changsha and now resides at Hunan Museum.