Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Gānsù Dūnhuáng Sūyóutǔ Hànjian 散見簡牘合輯‧甘肅敦煌酥油土漢簡
Collected Scattered Documents — Han Bamboo Slips from Suyoutu, Dunhuang, Gansu
Excavated text; no attributed author.
About the work
A large and varied assemblage of Han bamboo slips from Sūyóutǔ 酥油土, Dūnhuáng 敦煌, Gānsù province, published in the Sǎn jiàn jiǎndú héjí 散見簡牘合輯. The site lies in the Dūnhuáng area of the Héxī corridor 河西走廊, at a location known as “Butter Clay” (sūyóutǔ 酥油土) — probably a Han-period beacon tower or garrison outpost. The assemblage is the largest in the 散見簡牘合輯 corpus, comprising a heterogeneous mix of military orders, private correspondence, commodity and financial accounts, a pardon edict, divination or wisdom text fragments, military personnel records, and miscellaneous frontier administrative documents. Part of the 散見簡牘合輯 corpus.
Abstract
The Sūyóutǔ, Dūnhuáng slips represent the daily documentary output of a frontier garrison and its environs in the Han period. The CHANT transcription, running to some 800+ lines, includes the following identifiable document categories:
Imperial pardon edict: The opening slip reads: 制曰：赦妾青夫仁之罪。外青移錢六十萬與青家 (“Imperial decree: Pardon the crimes of the concubine Qīng, wife of [name] Rén. Send outside [funds?]: transfer 600,000 cash to Qīng’s family”). This is a brief imperial pardon (shè 赦) for a named individual, Qīng 青, described as a qiè 妾 (concubine). The document type is the individual pardon of a specific named person, distinct from the general amnesty edicts (dà shè 大赦) issued on ritual occasions.
Reward edicts for defeating the Xiōngnú: A sequence of slips preserves a detailed schedule of rewards for victories against the Xiōngnú: 擊匈奴降者賞令 (“Reward regulations for defeating and causing the surrender of the Xiōngnú”). The schedule specifies: killing 8,000 or more enemies → ennoblement as a Ranked Marquis (lièhóu 列侯) with a fief; 2,000-shí officials receive 500 catties (jīn 斤) of gold; 200 households or 500 cavalry → Shàoshàngzào 少上造 rank (17th of 20 Han noble ranks) plus 50 jīn of gold and a 100-household food fief; 100 cavalry → lesser reward; etc. These reward regulations are comparable to those preserved in other Han military documents and provide data for the study of Han military incentive structures.
Military orders and beacon watch records: Many slips record standard frontier military communications: orders from the Dūnhuáng commandery (Dūnhuáng dàshǒu 敦煌大守) and sub-units, transmission orders for beacon watches (fēnghuǒ 烽火 signal fires), and duty rosters. Slips name specific garrison sub-units: Pínwàng 平望, Pòhú 破胡, Tūnhú 吞胡, and Wànsuì 萬歲 Beacon Offices (hòuguān 候官). Specific dates include: Sìyuè wùwǔ 四月戊午 (… year, fourth month, cyclical day wù-wǔ) and Qīyuè dīngwèi 七月丁未 (seventh month, dīng-wèi day), naming the Dūnhuáng central commandery duty officer (shì 士吏 Fú 福, acting with private seal). The slips mention beacon fires signaling Xiōngnú incursions: 官乃丙午虜可二百餘騎燔廣漢塞 (“Officials: on the bǐng-wǔ day the enemy [Xiōngnú] with approximately more than two hundred cavalry burned [beacon fires at] the Guǎnghàn frontier wall section”).
Weapon tallies: Registers of crossbows classified by power: 大黃弩 (great yellow crossbow), 六石弩 (six-shí power crossbow), 五石弩 (five-shí power crossbow) — each type to be restrung daily (rì fù zhāng 日復張), stored under cover (chǔ gài 處盖), and not left exposed to the elements.
Commodity accounts and personnel records: Several slips record market purchases (grain, bolts of cloth, quivers and their cord bindings), guard duty rosters, fodder (jiǎo 茭) production counts, and individual garrison personnel by name and native place (e.g., 戍卒濟陰郡定陶安定里徐霸, “Garrison soldier Xú Bà from Āndìng Ward, Dìngtáo county, Jìyīn commandery”).
Wisdom / philosophical fragments: Two groups of slips (numbered 第三 and 第七 in the edition) preserve what appear to be fragments of a popular wisdom dialogue text: 於蘭，莫樂於溫，莫悲於寒。中子對曰：支莫[X]於，𥝣復莫薌於 (“There is no contentment better than orchid; no happiness better than warmth; no grief worse than cold. The middle son replied: Supports nothing exceeds…”). The genre and attribution are unclear, though the question-and-answer format with a “middle son” respondent echoes the frame of various Han popular philosophical texts. A second fragment (第七) involves military metaphor: 者兼甲臨兵，兩軍相當，兩期相望，鼓以前，未毋生，此乃賢 (“One who wears armor and faces soldiers, when two armies are matched, when two [appointed] times face each other, [one who] drums [to advance] and does not live [to retreat] — this is the worthy one”).
Beacon personnel tallies: Lists of beacon torch slips (sǔo 槊 and signal bundles) with individual garrison stations named: Qīngduī 青堆, Bówàng 博望, etc.
The Sūyóutǔ slips span a broad chronological range within the Han dynasty. The earliest datable items reference the Former Han era (possibly as early as 86 BCE based on the name Lǐ Guǎnglì 李廣利 mentioned on one personnel record, identifiable as a Former Han general); the latest clearly datable items belong to the Later Han. The assemblage as a whole reflects the continuous nature of frontier garrison life over several generations.
Other points of interest
The presence of a partial Cāngjié piān 蒼頡篇 allusion in KR2p0113 (Huāhǎi slips) and the weapons inventory formulae shared between KR2p0113 and KR2p0115 suggest that the Héxī corridor garrison outposts shared common administrative and educational materials, as would be expected for a unified Han frontier system. The Sūyóutǔ slips are particularly valuable for the military reward schedule (未見於他處者 — not well attested elsewhere in the received literature) and for the named beacon sub-stations.
Translations and research
- 中國社會科學院歷史研究所, 《散見簡牘合輯》. 文物出版社, 1990. Editio princeps.
- Loewe, Michael. Records of Han Administration. 2 vols. CUP, 1967.
- Hulsewé, A. F. P. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23. Brill, 1979. For northwest frontier administrative and military context.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §59.7.2 (Han border slips, Dūnhuáng area); §26.5 (Han military organisation and rewards).
Links
- Editio princeps: 中國社會科學院歷史研究所, 《散見簡牘合輯》, 文物出版社, 1990.