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In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

In the “Statutes on Water Control” seen in Selected Western Han Bamboo Slips from Jingzhou Hujia Caochang: the phrase er jue kui 而決潰 should be read together with the preceding phrase, and not juxtaposed with the phrase liu yi ruo sha ren 流邑若 殺人; the phrase ruo huairen tian she 若壞人田舍 is closely related with the preceding liu he san qing yi shang 流稼三頃以上 and should be differentiated from the following liu dao, qiao, ti, ta gong 流道、撟(橋)、隄、它功; dushui 都水 and li, jiang 吏、匠 could be separated by a list-separator mark 頓號. Judging from the situation reflected in the “Statutes on Water Control,” the details, principles, and ideas of its legal stipulations to an extent find their origins in the Qin statutes and ordinances.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

The Hujia caochang Western Han slip-and-tablet manuscripts include statutes on the manyi 蠻夷 and zhen , which contain unprecedented but significant information. From the Qin to the early Han periods, foreign tribes were divided into two categories: the wai manyi 外蠻夷 and the jiaozhong manyi 徼中蠻夷. Delineating them was the “boundary” called jiao and sai , and the management of these tribes also differed. The Han dynasty ruled the foreign tribes within its border by such means as household registration by dao -march officials, provision of farmlands based on their registers, imposition of land tax and corvée service, recognition of the original status of the ruling classes, and control by Han law. However, the jiaozhong manyi maintained their original residential form, which were different from the ordinary junxian 郡縣 residents. The manyi were under the rule of the manyi zhang 蠻夷長 and others, but were also controlled by the law of the Han dynasty. In addition, the Han inherited the Qin legal notion of zhen as the label for naturalized people from abroad. Zhen refers to the “pure” people born abroad, that is, the first generation of naturalized foreigners. Nonetheless, their children born on the land of Han were no longer regarded as zhen, but as complete Han people. As for naturalized zhen, the dynasty partially recognized their original status or identity.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

In the early Western Han, the “Manyi (zhu)lü” 蠻夷() (“Various Statutes on the Manyi”) was specifically formulated in order to register Manyi 蠻夷 (Southern Barbarians) living in local counties and marches into households, distribute land, collect household cong-tribute (), and conscript Manyi for corvée labor and garrison duty. The term cong referred to a kind of household tax levied by the Qin and Han on Manyi households. The Qin and Han established a relatively systematic and in-depth direct rule over those Manyi who had submitted that consisted of a threefold process of household registration, provincial administration, and Sinicization.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

Recognized as a pivotal moment in early Chinese legal history, Emperor Wen of Han’s 167 BCE legal reform raises significant unresolved questions due to limited available evidence. This paper aims to investigate the reform’s impact on the grading system for illicit profit resulting from robberies. By analyzing recently published legal manuscripts discovered in Tomb No. 12 at Hujia caochang, Hubei, this study reveals that the reform introduced a more structured and coherent grading system for illicit profit, aligning it with the newly-established hierarchy of fixed-term hard labor punishments. By placing this reform in the context of the early Han dynasty, this research offers an alternative perspective that challenges the prevailing assumption that “Han continued the institutions of the Qin.”

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

This paper studies two Cao Mie zhi zhen manuscripts in the Shanghai Museum and Anhui University Warring States bamboo strip collections, examining their modes of production, scribal hands, errors, and punctuation. I show that both manuscripts’ production was based on written models and involved multiple scribes, one of whom was responsible for writing the main text, whereas others made corrections and inscribed personal remarks on the manuscripts.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

The political importance of the Southern Man peoples (Nan Man 南蠻) and the process of their integration into the Sinitic empire are usually dated back to the Early Medieval period. However, the past thirty years have witnessed numerous excavations of sites containing manuscripts in the Middle Yangtze area, more specifically in Zhangjiashan, Zoumalou, and recently in Hujia caochang. These documents reveal a more complex picture of the Man and attest to their presence and importance as early as the Western Han, and most certainly earlier. The aim of this article is to identify the Man’s place in the sources, and to analyze the range of measures – administrative, fiscal, judicial, social – put in place to control them and/or negotiate their presence. Here, I propose to analyze the dual importance, of the Man, and of their control by the local administration. First, we will review what both medieval history and modern historiography have to say about the Man. We will then look at the potential but still limited contribution of material culture, by mentioning a few burials and insignia attributed to the Man. We will eventually analyze what the Zoumalou and Hujia caochang manuscripts tell us about the practices implemented by the regional administration to manage the problems, real or supposed, posed by the Man.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk

Abstract

As the early Chinese empires conquered the Yangzi Valley, they came to govern people who relied on engineered water-control systems to irrigate their fields and prevent the flooding of their settlements. Recently excavated documents reflect the growth of legislation on water management at the dawn of the imperial era, leading up to the composition of the first statute specially devoted to hydraulic administration during the reign of Emperor Wen. These texts reveal the scope of official involvement in water management. This paper argues that the Qin and Han states relied on local communities for much of the decision-making and labor organization needed for infrastructural maintenance. At the same time, the early Chinese empires pioneered transregional hydraulic projects that made water a vital tool of imperial politics. As a hydraulic actor, the early Chinese empires transformed the lives of their subjects not by making them dependent on state-managed irrigation, but by facilitating migration, providing producers and consumers access to larger markets, encouraging economic intensification, and enhancing the circulation of information, ideas, and lifestyles.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk
In: Bamboo and Silk
Author:

Abstract

This article proposes a set of function-based criteria for identifying paratextual elements in manuscript texts. With *Tang zai Chimen and *Tang chu yu Tangqiu as examples, I show how their narrative frames perform functions akin to titles, authors’ names, and prefaces. This approach offers a new explanation for the prevalence of the anecdote genre as well as a renewed understanding of the functions of the paratext.

Open Access
In: Bamboo and Silk