Voices from the Han frontier

Unearthed in the deserts of Juyan, thousands of wooden slips document nearly four centuries of military, economic and social life, Deng Zhangyu and Yuan Hui report in Hohhot.

At the display case of the Inner Mongolia Museum in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, visitors lean in to gaze at a wooden slip about 23 centimeters long. The ink characters on it are still clear, spelling out a message in Chinese from 2,000 years ago — a "plea for help" from Yuan Chang, a low-ranking border fortress clerk, to his friend Zi Hui. Unable to mend his torn clothes on his own, he earnestly asked his friend to lend him an old short garment.

"Doesn't it feel like texting a friend today to borrow some clothes?" asks Zhao Yuan, director of the Alshaa Museum who helps organize the show.

Not far away, on an interactive screen, this very text is being brought to life through AI animation: a ragged Yuan Chang wringing his hands and sighing, while Zi Hui rummages through a chest to find an old robe. The vivid scene makes the awkwardness and warmth from two millennia ago feel present and relatable.