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散見簡牘合輯‧江蘇連雲港市海州西漢侍其[殘]墓木牘

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Text ID
KR2p0132
Date
-100–-1
Dynasty
漢

Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Jiāngsū Liányúngǎng Hǎizhōu Xīhàn Shìqí [cán] Mù Mùdú 散見簡牘合輯‧江蘇連雲港市海州西漢侍其[殘]墓木牘

Collected Scattered Documents — Wooden Tablet from the Western Han Tomb of Shìqí [damaged] at Hǎizhōu, Liányúngǎng, Jiangsu

(anonymous; burial clothing inventory)

About the work

A wooden inventory tablet (mùdú 木牘) from a Western Han tomb at Hǎizhōu 海州 (within modern Liányúngǎng 連雲港 city), Jiangsu Province. The tomb belongs to a person surnamed Shìqí 侍其, with one character of the given name damaged in the source text (encoded &CH-A). The tablet lists silk and textile garments placed in the burial. Published in KR2p 散見簡牘合輯 (Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí), Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1990.

Abstract

The tablet is an inventory of burial clothing (suízàng yīwù qīngdān 隨葬衣物清單), listing garments in a format that consistently marks each entry with a terminal slash (/) indicating end-of-item. Each item is described by fabric type, construction, color, trim, and the generic garment category. The text is partially damaged, with several entries beginning with a lacuna (□). The following items can be identified:

Garments listed:

  1. A crimson (hóng 紅) wild-silk brocade (yě wáng qǐ 野王綺) padded long-robe (fù □ yú 復[衣]褕) with crimson pellet-patterned trim (hóng wán yuán 紅丸緣), one garment (yī lǐng yī 一領衣/).

  2. A [fabric] wild-silk brocade padded garment with intact □ trim (wán □ yuán 完□緣), one garment/.

  3. A [fabric] □ single-layer garment (shān yī 襌衣), one garment/.

  4. A [fabric] □ padded short jacket (fù rú 復襦) with white pellet-patterned trim, one garment/.

  5. A plain-silk (liàn 練) single-layer short jacket (shān rú 襌襦) with white pellet-patterned trim (bái wán yuán 白丸緣), one garment/.

  6. A white-pellet padded crimson garment (bái wán fù jiàng 白丸復絳), one garment/.

  7. A □ brocade padded garment (fù yī 復衣) with fast-dyed yellow (sù huáng 涑黃) pellet-patterned trim (wán yuán 丸緣), one garment/.

  8. A white wild-silk brocade (bái yě wáng qǐ 白野王綺) padded garment, one garment/.

  9. A fast-dyed yellow glossed-silk (sù huáng □) padded long-robe (fù □ yú 復褕), one garment/.

  10. A [fabric] dark (jiē □) pellet-patterned padded long-robe (fù □ yú 復褕), one garment/.

  11. A gauze-fabric (shā 紗) [pattern] padded garment (fù yī 復衣) and plain-silk (liàn) single-layer short jackets (shān rú 襌襦), three [garments]/.

  12. □ garment/.

  13. A fast-dyed yellow pellet-patterned padded crimson (wán fù jiàng 丸復絳), one/.

  14. A white pellet-patterned padded □, one/.

  15. A white pellet-patterned auspicious □ (jí □ 吉□), one/.

  16. A gauze-fabric [pattern] padded suit (fù xí 復襲), one/.

  17. Snow-white pellet (xuě wán 雪丸) auspicious garment, [cut from] the remaining crimson, tall lined single-layer garments (chū □ jiàng chán shàng shān yī 出□絳繟上襌衣), one garment each/.

  18. Embroidered □ [fabric], one/.

  19. An embroidered padded coverlet (xiù fù bèi 繡復被), one/.

  20. A crimson brocade padded coverlet (gōng qǐ bèi fù 綪綺被復), one/.

  21. A □ platform padded coverlet (□ tái fù bèi □臺復被), one/.

  22. Snow-white pellet garment and plain-silk round-topped lined single-layer [garments], each one/.

  23. Branch-pattern □ garment and stranded-silk lined single-layer [garments], each one/.

  24. A gauze-silk padded garment (shā luó fù yī 紗羅復衣), one/.

  25. A padded dark-silk glossed long-robe (fù zào □ yú 復皂□褕), one/.

Structure and significance. The inventory records a total of roughly 25 garment entries (many partially damaged). The garments are consistently described using the terminology of Western Han textile technology: yě wáng qǐ 野王綺 (wild-silk brocade, a luxury textile associated with Yěwáng 野王 in Hénán); wán yuán 丸緣 (pellet-pattern trim); sù huáng 涑黃 (fast-dyed yellow, a mordant-dyeing technique); shā luó 紗羅 (sheer gauze); xiù 繡 (embroidery). The repeated distinction between fù 復 (padded / lined) and shān 襌 (single-layer) garments reflects the standard Han classification of burial clothing.

The tomb owner’s surname Shìqí 侍其 is an uncommon compound surname (fùxìng 複姓) attested in Han sources. Hǎizhōu (the Han-period HǎiXī 海西 or Yúlíng 朐縣 area) was a coastal administrative centre in the eastern part of Sùxiù 蘇徐 region. Western Han tombs in this area have yielded several important document finds (cf. the Huaguoshan finds in KR2p0133).

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.
  • Kuhn, Dieter. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5, pt. 9: Textile Technology: Spinning and Reeling. Cambridge University Press, 1988 — reference for Han textile terminology.
  • Loewe, Michael. Records of Han Administration. 2 vols. Cambridge University Press, 1967 — general reference for Han burial document practices.

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