The Bamboo Annals (竹书纪年) is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins at the earliest legendary times (Huangdi, 2497 BC to 2398 BC) and extends to the Warring States Period (5th century BC-221 BC), particularly the history of the Wei State. It has 13 sections.

The original text was interred with the king of Wei (died 296 BC) and re-discovered in AD 281 (Western Jin dynasty). For this reason, the chronicle survived the great burning of the books by Emperor Shi Huangdi. The Annals, and other texts recovered from the same tomb, were written on bamboo slips, the usual writing material for the Warring States period, and it is from this that the name of the text derives.

The Bamboo Annals is one of the three most important ancient texts on early China, the others being the earlier Zuo Zhuan and the later Shiji.

Background

The Bamboo Annals was not the only text retrieved. The collection is known under the name of Ji zhong shu 汲塚书, it also included the Guo yu, Yi jing (The Book of Changes), and Mu tian zi zhuan《穆天子传》.