Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Gānsù Wǔwēi Wǔbàshān Sān Hào Hànmù Mùdú 散見簡牘合輯‧甘肅武威五壩山三號漢墓木牘
Collected Scattered Documents — Wooden Tablet from Han Tomb no. 3 at Wubashān, Wuwei, Gansu
(anonymous; administrative document)
About the work
A single wooden tablet (mùdú 木牘) recovered from Han tomb no. 3 at the Wǔbàshān 五壩山 cemetery, Wuwei 武威, Gansu. The tablet contains a travel-pass (guòsuǒ 過所) and a brief record of personal property transactions. It is preserved as part of the KR2p 散見簡牘合輯 (Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí, Collected Scattered Bamboo and Wooden Documents) compiled by the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and published in 1990.
Abstract
The tablet opens with a standard Han travel-pass formula: “Zhāngyē 張掖, Western District (Xī Xiāng 西鄉), Dìngwǔ village (Dìngwǔ Lǐ 定武里) resident Tián Shēngníng 田升寧, now returning to Huáng [county]; do not detain [him] or make difficulties (guòsuǒ wú liú nán 過所毋留難也).” This single phrase is the standard formula for Han-period internal travel documents, which functioned as passports for movement between administrative units. The remainder of the tablet records Tián Shēngníng’s personal affairs: arrangements concerning his wife, clothing, and land (tiándì 田地), with references to descendants (desūn 得孫) including Zhào Jìpíng 趙季平, Rèn Hú 任胡, and Hú Kāikǒu 胡開口. The final line invokes heaven as witness: “Zhāng Hào Heaven knows the straight from the crooked, therefore this is trustworthy” (Zài Zhāng Hǎotiān zhī qūzhí gù wéi xìn 在張昊天知曲直故為信).
The document belongs to the well-attested corpus of Han administrative tablets from the Hexi Corridor 河西走廊. Wuwei (ancient Gūzāng 姑臧) was the administrative center of Zhangye Commandery (Zhāngyè Jùn 張掖郡) under the Han, situated on the main overland route to the Western Regions. Travel passes of this type are commonly attested at Dunhuang, Juyan, and other northwestern Han sites; the Wubashān example is notable for combining the official transit formula with a private property memorandum on a single tablet, suggesting that the deceased used blank administrative tablet space for personal record-keeping.
Dating is uncertain within the Han period (206 BCE–220 CE); the script style and administrative formula are consistent with the Eastern Han.
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. Cambridge University Press, 1967 — standard reference for Han administrative documents of the northwest.
- Giele, Enno. “Using Early Chinese Manuscripts: An Incentive for Introducing Conventions and Standards.” Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques 57.4 (2003): 777–851 — methodology for Han administrative documents.
Links
- Wikipedia (Wuwei): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuwei,_Gansu