For Li Ling, Chair Professor of Humanities at Peking University and a pioneer in Chinese archaeology and paleography, the return of cultural relics is more than a national issue — it's a window into the world's unfinished history. In this interview, Professor Li reflects on his decades-long journey with the Chu Silk Manuscripts — China's earliest silk texts — unearthed in 1942 and scattered overseas for nearly 80 years. Although volumes II and III were recently returned to China from the United States, Li still longs for the first and most complete volume to be reunited with its counterparts in Changsha.