China was taking legal measures to protect the natural environment as early as West Han Dynasty (206BC - 24AD), according to the latest archeological discovery from northwest China's Gansu Province.

The country's oldest rule on environmental protection was written on a piece of wall dug from a Han Dynasty ruin between October 1990 and December 1992 in Dunhuang by archaeologists with the Gansu Provincial Institute of Heritage and Archaeology.

In reviewing their findings, the archaeologists had recently concluded that it was an imperial order jointly signed by the parents of the Pingdi Emperor.

The rule, in 50 articles, has detailed provisions on activities that were banned.

For example, it prohibits the felling of trees and hunting of young animals in spring, burning of woods in summer, mining in autumn, or digging too deep in civil work in winter.

The imperial order showed the ancient Chinese already had an understanding of the importance of environmental protection and sustainable growth, said He Shuangquan, head of the research team.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2002)