Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Jiāngxī Nánchāng Dōng [cán] Gāo [cán] Mù Mùcì、Mùdú 散見簡牘合輯‧江西南昌東[殘]高[殘]墓木刺、木牘
Collected Scattered Documents — Wooden Name-Cards and Wooden Tablet from a Jin Tomb at [Damaged Toponym], Nánchāng, Jiangxi — the Tomb of Gāo Róng
(anonymous; funerary name-cards and burial inventory)
About the work
A set of wooden name-cards (mùcì 木刺) and a wooden inventory tablet (mùdú 木牘) from an Eastern Jin tomb at a site in Nánchāng 南昌, Jiangxi Province, whose full name contains damaged characters in the source text (encoded as &CH- sequences in the CHANT digital edition). The tomb occupant is identified by the inventory tablet as Gāo Róng 高榮, a man from Pèiguó Xiāng 沛國相 (Xiāng County 相縣 in Pèi Commandery 沛國) with the style-name Wàn Shòu 萬綬. Published in KR2p 散見簡牘合輯 (Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí), Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1990.
Abstract
Wooden name-cards. The tomb contained twenty-one surviving name-cards, all bearing the identical visiting-card formula:
弟子高榮再拜 / 問起居 / 沛國相字萬綬
“Disciple / junior Gāo Róng 高榮, [presents] two prostrations / and inquires after [your] health / [native of] Xiāng, Pèiguó 沛國相, style-name Wàn Shòu 萬綬.”
The repetition of twenty-one cards with an identical text likely reflects either a stock of personal calling-cards placed in the tomb wholesale, or a set prepared specifically for the funerary ritual. The self-designation dìzǐ 弟子 (“disciple / junior”) positions Gāo Róng as a man of deferential social stance. His native place, Pèiguó Xiāng 沛國相 (in the area of modern Suzhou 宿州, Anhui), indicates northern origin — a significant biographical detail in the context of the Eastern Jin dynasty, when many northern families had relocated south following the Jin court’s flight after the fall of Luoyang (311 CE).
Burial inventory tablet. The wooden tablet is the most extensive burial inventory in this collection, listing well over a hundred individual items in a dense, systematic format. The inventory is organized thematically and closes with a summary: “Grand total: one hundred and ten items; all [belong to] Gāo Róng’s household (dà fán bǎi yī shí méi jiē Gāo Róng xǔ 大凡百一十枚皆高榮許).”
The catalogue falls into the following categories:
Outer garments and robes (chèn, rú, bāo, biǎo, and related forms): Multiple items listed in the Jin-specific terminology for layered garments, including: liàn tuì 練褖 (silk shroud-wrap), juān tuì 絹褖 (plain-silk shroud), liàn fú qún 練緮裙 (silk lined skirt), juān fú chèn 絹緮襙 (silk lined robe), liàn liǎng dāng 練兩襠 (silk sleeveless jacket), liàn dān chèn 練單襙 (silk single-layer robe), juān dān chèn 絹單襙 (plain-silk single-layer robe). Many items are enumerated singly (yī méi 一枚) or in pairs.
Waist-wraps and binding garments: Multiple types of fú fù 緮縛 (silk wrapped bands), including bàn jiǎn fú fù 半䌞緮縛 (half-thin silk wrapping) and liàn fú xiǎo fù 練緮小縛 (small silk binding). A variety of quilted and lined qiū dān 丘單 (under-garments) are also listed, including zǎo qiū dān 早丘單 and jiǎn qiū dān 䌞丘單.
Sashes and ornamental bands: juān shòu 絹綬 (silk sash) in multiple pieces; zhǎo shǔ 䘥屬 (claw-shaped ornament); zǎo qì 早𦃪 (early-style decorative piece).
Outer coats and accessories: juān bāo guǎn 帛越褠 (silk outer coat), xù bù guǎn 緒布褠 (coarse-cloth outer coat), má shū dān yī 麻踈單衣 (hemp-gauze single robe), má bù dān kù 麻布單絝 (hemp-cloth single trousers), xù bù qiū dān 緒布丘單.
Headwear and personal accessories: juān shòu 絹綬 (silk sash, two); juān miǎo fù 絹緮縛 (silk binding, two); bù shǒu jīn 帛布手巾 (silk-cloth hand kerchief, three); miàn zhī (face cream); fěn náng 粉囊 (powder pouches, two); jìng 竟 (mirror, one); niè 聶 (tweezers / ear-pick, one); xiāng náng 香囊 (scent pouch, one); xiù fā náng 綉發囊 (embroidered hair-pouch, two); qīng fā náng 青發囊 (blue hair-pouch, two); qīng cǔ tóu 青縅頭 (blue head-band, eight); fù tóu 縛頭 (wrapped head-cloth, five).
Writing implements and miscellaneous: zhǐ hán 指函 (finger-stall case); dà dāo 大刀 (large knife); xūn zēng 熏繒 (incense-silk, four bundles); jīn yín 金銀 (gold and silver, two pouches); shū dāo 書刀 (scribing knife); yán 研 (inkstone); bǐ 筆 (writing brushes, three); guān zhǐ 官紙 (official paper, 100 sheets); qī wǎn 漆碗 (lacquer bowl); zhěn 枕 (pillow); guān zhōng shēng 官中笙 (official-grade mouth-organ); jīn chèng 金稱 (gold steelyard weights or gold ornaments, three).
Valuables and ornaments: jīn chā 金叉 (gold hairpin); jīn □ zi 金□子 (gold [object]); additional silk items.
Historical significance. This is one of the most voluminous burial inventories among the Eastern Jin tomb documents in the Sǎnjian Jiǎndú Héjí. Gāo Róng’s origin from Pèiguó Xiāng (northern Anhui) marks him as likely a refugee or descendant of refugees from the north, part of the great southward migration (yì mín 移民) of the early Eastern Jin. The careful itemization of over a hundred textile goods — with fine distinctions between silk grades (liàn 練, juān 絹, jiǎn 䌞, xù 緒), garment types, and layer counts — reflects both the material culture of Jin élites and the administrative concern for proper transmission of property to the deceased in the afterlife. The presence of writing implements (inkstone, brushes, official paper, scribing knife) alongside a guān zhōng shēng 官中笙 (official-grade mouth-organ) suggests Gāo Róng was a man of some cultural attainment and official standing.
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.
- 胡平生、馬月華, 《簡牘檢署考校注》, 上海古籍出版社, 2008 — reference for Jin visiting-card and inventory conventions.
- Richter, Antje. Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China. University of Washington Press, 2013 — context for Jin social practices and self-presentation in funerary documents.
Other points of interest
The damaged place-name in the tomb’s title (encoded as &CH- in the CHANT text) cannot be recovered from the digital source alone. The full excavation report would be required to establish the precise site address. The companion tomb from the same Nánchāng site (Wú Yīng’s tomb, KR2p0130) was excavated in the same vicinity and published together in the Sǎnjian Jiǎndú Héjí, suggesting systematic excavation of an Eastern Jin burial ground in the Nánchāng urban area.
Links
- Wikipedia (Nanchang): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanchang
- Wikipedia (Eastern Jin dynasty): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Jin_dynasty