Changsha Zoumalou Three Kingdoms Wu Bamboo Slips · Jiahuo Officials and People's Land Certificates

Author: Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Cultural Relics, Department of History, Peking University
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-09-01
Features: The Changsha Zoulao Three Kingdoms Wu Jians collected in this volume are bamboo slips unearthed from Well No. 11 at the Zoulao construction site in Changsha, Hunan Province, in October 1996. For details on the discovery and excavation of these slips, please refer to the Excavation Report of Well No. 22 at Zoulao, included in this volume. The excavation of the Zoulao Wu Jians belongs to the results of emergency rescue excavation. The first batch of slips unearthed, including most wooden slips, wooden tablets, and some bamboo slips, were salvaged from the silt dug up by earth-moving machinery, with varying degrees of damage, and their original condition and spatial relationship are now unknown. Subsequently, archaeological excavation was conducted on Well No. 11 based on stratigraphic relationships, and most bamboo slips were obtained from later excavations. The 1,141 wooden slips (including fragments) of tenancy-related documents, which began to be organized in 1997, are mostly from the salvaged batch mentioned above, with relatively good material and legible inscriptions. Due to their unique form, similar content, and minimal damage, these large wooden slips were published as the Changsha Zoulao Three Kingdoms Wu Jians Volume I, titled "Jia Mu Li Min Tian Jia Qing", using a method of comparing slips with their transcriptions. The bamboo slips from the same salvaged batch, with greater damage, have now begun to be organized, numbered, and transcribed. They will be published in several volumes alongside the bamboo slips excavated using archaeological methods. Most of the slips that have been organized and transcribed have clear dates, primarily belonging to the early period of the Three Kingdoms Wu-Jin dynasty, with a concentration in the Huangwu (222–228) and Huanglong (229–231) eras of Emperor Wu Zhi, as well as the Jiahe (232–237) era. A few bamboo slips use the Jian'an (196–230) era of Emperor Xian of the Eastern Han dynasty. Considering that Wu Zhi had already controlled Changsha since the tenth year of the Jian'an era, we speculate that these slips, including those with Jian'an era dates, belong to the Wu-Jin government. It is not ruled out that earlier slips may be discovered among the vast majority of slips yet to be organized.
In terms of material, bamboo slips are the most numerous in the Zoulao Wu Jians. The total number of slips cannot be determined at present, but it is estimated that there may be as many as nearly 100,000 after organization and numbering. This would be the largest number of slips unearthed since the Jijung Shu of the Jin Dynasty. Historical records on the Wu-Jin period mainly consist of The Records of the Three Kingdoms: Wu Book and its annotations, along with a few other classical texts. Written materials unearthed from this period are even rarer, limited to isolated inscriptions on stone tablets, bricks, wooden tablets, and fragments of (Jin) and (Tang) manuscripts of The Records of the Three Kingdoms: Wu Book. The discovery of the Zoulao Wu Jians has supplemented Wu-Jin historical materials and filled a gap in the excavation of slips. Based on the wooden slips included in this volume and the bamboo slips currently being organized, the Zoulao Wu Jians are official archives of local government offices, covering various aspects such as tenancy, taxation, household registration, justice, and official documents.
During the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods, the area of Changsha was under the jurisdiction of the Changsha Commandery of Jing Province. In the 19th year of the Jian'an era (314 AD), Wu Zhi sent Lu Meng to compete with Liu Bei for the southern three commanderies of Jing Province, including Changsha. The following year, it was agreed that the east of the Xiang River would belong to Wu and the west to Shu. Four years later, the entire Jing Province fell under Wu's control. From then until the fall of Wu, the Changsha region was under Wu-Jin rule. The seat of the Changsha Commandery was in Linxiang County, whose seat was located in what is now the urban area of Changsha. In the second year of the Huangwu era (222 AD), Wu Zhi enfeoffed Bu Zhi as the Marquis of Linxiang, with the administrative head of the marquisate titled Hou Xiang. The Linxiang Hou Xiang Jing in the Wu Jians refers to this person. The Zoulao slips were likely archives of the official office of the Linxiang Marquisate or a higher-level administrative institution.
The site of Changsha City has changed little since ancient times. The central area of the Changsha city during the Han and Six Dynasties periods remained the same as that of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The cultural layers discovered in construction sites around Wuyi Square in the present day indicate that the Zoulao area has been the center of Changsha City since the Qin and Han dynasties. The office of the Linxiang Marquisate during the Wu-Jin period may have been located near Wuyi Square.
Significant archaeological discoveries have been made in Changsha since modern times. The earliest Chu slips were unearthed in Changsha. The Zidan Chu Boshu from the Danyuan Chu site and the bamboo slips and silk texts from the Mawangdui Han tombs revealed the cultural landscape of Changsha during the Warring States and Han periods, causing great excitement at the time. The appearance of the Zoulao Wu Jians has once again provided a wealth of historical information about the Three Kingdoms period. We anticipate that this will help to provide a more detailed understanding of the social and economic conditions of Changsha during the Wu-Jin period, especially the lives of the people and the functioning of the local government. The study of the overall history of medieval Chinese society may also be significantly advanced.
These Wu Jians are also a valuable legacy of Three Kingdoms calligraphy. The Zoulao Three Kingdoms Wu Jians Organization is responsible for the interpretation and editing of the Wu Jians, carried out in collaboration by the Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Chinese Academy of Cultural Relics, and the Department of History at Peking University. The photography and publishing tasks were undertaken by the Cultural Relics Publishing House. The interpretation and editing of this volume were completed by Hu Pingsheng and Li Junming of the organization, with review by Tian Yuqing and Wu Rongzeng, with the assistance of the Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Most of the slips, with the majority of their inscriptions still, are currently being processed. The original Zoulao Wu Jians are stored at the Changsha Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. The institute has done extensive and difficult work to rescue, preserve, and organize the Wu Jians and has also taken on the task of planning permanent storage. This is specially noted.