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散見簡牘合輯‧青海大通縣上孫家寨一一五號漢墓木簡

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Text ID
KR2p0119
Date
-100–100
Dynasty
漢

Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Qīnghǎi Dàtōng Xiàn Shàng Sūnjiāzhài Yīyīwǔ Hào Hànmù Mùjiǎn 散見簡牘合輯‧青海大通縣上孫家寨一一五號漢墓木簡

Collected Scattered Documents — Wooden Slips from Han Tomb no. 115 at Shàng Sūnjiāzhài, Dàtōng County, Qinghai

(anonymous; military regulations and roster documents)

About the work

A substantial corpus of wooden slips (mùjiǎn 木簡) recovered from Han tomb no. 115 at the Shàng Sūnjiāzhài 上孫家寨 site, Dàtōng County 大通縣, Qinghai Province. The slips contain military laws and regulations (jūnlǜ 軍律), troop-strength accounts (zúshù 卒數), and battle-formation texts (zhèn fǎ 陣法). The manuscript is published in KR2p 散見簡牘合輯 (Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí), compiled by the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1990.

Abstract

The Shàng Sūnjiāzhài tomb 115 slips form one of the most important military text finds of the Han period. The corpus divides into several identifiable sections:

Troop strength accounts. The opening slips record unit compositions: “Private soldiers (sīzú 私卒) and servants (pú yǎng 僕養): 28 [persons]; from horses (cóng mǎ), service private soldiers: 36; carts…” and “Those who seize and capture enemies (shǒu bǔ lǔ): □□ judgment: 21.” These are administrative records of military personnel.

Reward and rank regulations (jué 爵 system). The bulk of the text consists of detailed regulations for the award of noble ranks (jué 爵) for battlefield conduct. Typical provisions include: “Military officers of six hundred [shi-ranking] and above, chariot drivers and right-side fighters, and those who hold the drum-standard and battle-axe — grant rank and award the lùn-jué of a Petty Officer (bǐ shì lì 比士吏), each two levels; rank shall not exceed Left Senior (zuǒ shūzhǎng 左庶長). For each enemy killed or captured: grant rank, one level. […] For those who kill or capture five: grant rank each two levels. For those who kill or capture eight: grant rank each three levels. If below the threshold, award money at one thousand [coins] per level.” The regulations also cover cavalry actions, city-assault (gōng chéng 功城) operations, and rules for frontier auxiliaries (sāi wài mán yí 塞外蠻夷).

Battle formation texts (zhèn fǎ). A notable section of the slips records tactical manoeuvres, beginning “Using the crosswise [formation] as the duì-wǔ [assault] method (yǐ héng wéi duì wǔ zhī fǎ 以橫為兌武之法)…” and proceeding to describe the deployment of left and right wings, forward and rear squads, and the tactical use of drum signals. This section is closely related to the Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ 孫子兵法 tradition: slips near the end of the corpus are explicitly attributed to Sūnzǐ 孫子: “Sūnzǐ said: these thirteen chapters…” and “The Jūn Dòu Lìng 軍鬭令: Sūnzǐ said: able to face three [enemy forces]…” and “The Hé Zhàn Lìng 合戰令: Sūnzǐ said: in battle, value its completion…” These are fragments of otherwise unknown Sūnzǐ-attributed military ordinances (lìng 令), paralleling in some respects the Sūnbīn Bīngfǎ 孫臏兵法 discovered at Yǐnquèshān 銀雀山 in 1972.

Military insignia regulations. A further section specifies colour-coded insignia for unit commanders: “Left cavalry commandant’s wing: green (qīng 青); Right cavalry commandant’s wing: white (bái 白). Left unit commander’s pennant-streamer: green; Front unit commander’s pennant-streamer: red; Centre unit commander’s: yellow; Right unit commander’s: white; Rear unit commander’s: black.” Each unit is identified by the colour and style of its commander’s banner.

The tomb was excavated at a Han-period site on the upper Huáng River in Qinghai, in a region on the frontier between Han territories and the Qiang 羌 people. The slips likely belonged to a Han military officer serving in this border region. The Sūnzǐ-attributed passages are of particular significance for the transmission history of military texts.

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.
  • Sawyer, Ralph D. The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. Westview Press, 1993 — context for Han military thought and the Sūnzǐ tradition.
  • Lewis, Mark Edward. “The Han Abolition of Universal Military Service.” In Hans van de Ven, ed., Warfare in Chinese History. Brill, 2000.

Other points of interest

The explicit attribution of sections to “Sūnzǐ” in the slips — combined with tactical lìng-ordinances not found in the received Sūnzǐ text — is important evidence for the circulation of an extended, ordinance-appended Sūnzǐ corpus in Han military practice, paralleling the Yinqueshan finds. The colour-coded unit insignia system preserved here is the most detailed Han-era example of such a scheme.

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