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散見簡牘合輯‧湖北雲夢大墳頭一號漢墓木牘

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Text ID
KR2p0122
Date
-100–0
Dynasty
漢

Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Húběi Yúnmèng Dàféntóu Yī Hào Hànmù Mùdú 散見簡牘合輯‧湖北雲夢大墳頭一號漢墓木牘

Collected Scattered Documents — Wooden Tablet from Han Tomb no. 1 at Dàféntóu, Yúnmèng, Hubei

(anonymous; tomb inventory document)

About the work

A single wooden tablet (mùdú 木牘) from Han tomb no. 1 at the Dàféntóu 大墳頭 site, Yúnmèng County 雲夢縣, Hubei Province. The tablet is a burial inventory (suízàng pǐn qīngdān 隨葬品清單) listing grave goods by category. It 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.

The site of Yúnmèng is also famous as the provenance of the Shuǐhǔdì 睡虎地 tombs (see KR2p0128), which yielded the largest Qin legal corpus discovered to date. The Dàféntóu tomb is a subsequent Han-period burial at the same general locality.

Abstract

The inventory is arranged in several thematic groups:

Bronze and metal vessels. The list opens with metalware (jīn bīng 金兵, i.e. bronze vessels): two bronze weapons/vessels (jīn bīng 金兵二), one small bronze basin (jīn xiǎo yú 金小盂一), one bronze vessel [type damaged], one bronze pán-basin (金□般一), one each bronze lì-cauldron and yǎn-steamer (金鬲甗各一), one two-dǒu vessel, one one-dǒu vessel, two bronze tripods (金鼎二).

Lacquerware. A substantial section lists lacquered items, with many entries beginning with a character indicating lacquered and painted (𣲥 畫, painted): two painted yú-basins (𣲥畫盂二), two sets of painted shèng-containers (𣲥畫盛二合), various painted small and large bèi-cups (畫小婄十, 畫大婄十), small painted bēi-cups (畫小卑㔸二), painted kǎn-vessels (畫閜二), various lacquer cases (jiǎn 檢), lacquer-painted horn vessels (jiǎo shāng 畫角傷二), a set of serving utensils (jù qì yī jù 具器一具), bronze and wooden spatulas (jīn bì mù bì 金匕、木匕各一), a painted ladle (𣲥畫sháo 𣲥畫勺一), and iron and bronze ladles (tiě dǒu jīn dǒu 鐵枓、金枓各一).

Wooden items. Two wooden baskets (mù sì 木笥二), one wooden case, miscellaneous wooden items, one board-game set (bó yī jù 博一具), a curved-lacquer piece (𣲥畫qū 𣲥畫曲一), one wooden flask (mù hú 木壺一).

Ceramics and storage. Five fǒu-jars (缶五), one mirror chest (jìng jiǎn 竟檢一).

Textiles. Purple head-cloth (zǐ jīn 紫巾一), three cloth bags (□ tuó □橐三), two silk bags (liàn tuó 練橐二).

Figurines and personnel. Four female figurines (nǚ zǐ ǒu rén 女子禺人四), seven male servant figurines (chén zǐ qī rén 臣子七人).

Vehicles and animals. One large cart and one light chariot (dà chē yào chē gè yī yǒu gài 大車、軺車各一，有蓋), two black horses, five white horses, one yellow horse.

Weapons and other items. One bronze sword (jīn jiàn 金劍) with scabbard, a set of equipment (yù shū yī jù 豫疎一具), six crimson head-cloths (tí jīn liù 緹巾六), one bronze helmet (jīn móu 金鍪一), two large bamboo baskets (zhú sì dà èr 竹笥大二), various ceramic cups (jiàng bēi shí 醬桮十, xù bēi èr shí 緒桮廿).

The inventory follows a standard Han-period format for recording burial goods by category, with each item enumerated. The assemblage is consistent with a mid- to late Western Han tomb of moderate rank, probably a county-level official or a wealthy commoner (wú jué landowner).

Yúnmèng County is well-known in epigraphy as the site of the Shuǐhǔdì tombs, which yielded the most extensive Qin legal corpus discovered to date. The Dàféntóu Han tomb shows that the area continued to be a burial ground for local officials and elites through the Han period.

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 — reference for Han administrative and burial practices.
  • Wu Hung. The Art of the Yellow Springs: Understanding Chinese Tombs. University of Hawai’i Press, 2010 — context for Han tomb inventories.

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