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散見簡牘合輯‧甘肅武威旱灘坡十九號晉墓木牘

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Text ID
KR2p0117
Date
265–420
Dynasty
晉

Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Gānsù Wǔwēi Hàntánpō Shíjiǔ Hào Jìn Mù Mùdú 散見簡牘合輯‧甘肅武威旱灘坡十九號晉墓木牘

Collected Scattered Documents — Wooden Tablet from Jin Tomb no. 19 at Hàntánpō, Wuwei, Gansu

(anonymous; funerary inventory document concerning Jī Yú 姬瑜)

About the work

A wooden tablet (mùdú 木牘) recovered from Jin-dynasty 晉 tomb no. 19 at the Hàntánpō 旱灘坡 cemetery, Wuwei 武威, Gansu. The tablet contains official appointment records and a detailed inventory of burial goods (suízàng pǐn 隨葬品) belonging to a man named Jī Yú 姬瑜 of Wuwei. It is preserved in KR2p 散見簡牘合輯 (Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí), compiled by the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published in 1990.

Abstract

The document is composite, comprising two distinct sections. The first section records three official appointments received by Jī Yú 姬瑜 of Wuwei during the Jiànxīng 建興 era of the Former Liang 前涼 state (a successor regime in the northwest after the Western Jin collapse): (1) “Jiànxīng year 3, twelfth month, twenty-seventh day: the Pacifying General’s (Fǔ Jiāngjūn 撫將軍) Western Bureau (Xīcáo 西曹) orders the Martial-Fierce General and Commander of the Battle Formation of Wuwei, Jī Yú 姬瑜, to be now appointed as Consort Commandant (Fùmǎ Dūwèi 駙馬都尉)”; (2) “Jiànxīng year 4, ninth month, fifteenth day, wùzǐ: [appointment record]”; (3) “Jiànxīng year 8, fourth month, twenty-ninth day, xīnwèi: the Eastern Bureau (Dōngcáo 東曹) orders the straight [military secretary?] (zhāi zhí jūnyì yuán 齋直軍議椽) of Wuwei, Jī Yú 姬瑜, to be Founding-Righteousness [and] Martial-Vigorous General and Recorder (Jiànyì Fènjié Jiāngjūn Chángshǐ 建義奮節將軍長史).”

The second section lists the inventory of personal effects (suíshen wù 隨身物) buried with Jī Yú: “Shēngpíng 升平 thirteenth year (369 CE), seventh month, twelfth day: the Liáng (Former Liang) deceased Consort Commandant, Founding-Righteousness Martial-Vigorous General and Recorder of Wuwei, Jī Yú — personal effects inventory, thirty-five categories.” The inventory is extensive, recording: white liàn-silk cap (故白練尖一枚), head-cloth (jīnzé 巾幘), face-cover (miàn yī 面衣), silk robe (liàn yú 練褕), wadding (mián 綿), robes of various colours and fabrics, silk socks (liàn wà 練袜), rush mat (pú xí 蒲席), white silk outer garment (bái juàn qiā 白絹帢), clothing in celadon and azure, silk trousers and coats, blue silk shoes, bedding, the silver seal with green cord of the Consort Commandant (故駙馬都尉青銀印一紐), the gold seal of the General and Recorder (故奮節將軍長史金印一紐), one hundred jīn of gold, one hundred jīn of silver, a brush, three hundred bolts of yellow and white silk, 300 sheets of paper (zhǐ 帋), and various official tablets (bǎn 板). A second partial inventory, dated “Xiánkāng 咸康 year 4, eleventh month, tenth day” (348 CE), records the possessions of the wife of the deceased Liáng commandant — indicating that the tomb may have been used for a subsequent interment, or that the document preserves multiple family members’ inventories.

The Hàntánpō cemetery has yielded a number of Jin-era documents important for the history of the Former Liang and the northwest during the period of fragmentation. The appointment records for Jī Yú provide rare documentation of official career advancement in a regional successor state.

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 — general reference for administrative document types.
  • Mair, Victor H., ed. The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press, 2001 — context for the period of fragmentation.

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