State and Local Society in Third Century South China: Excavated Administrative Documents from Zoumalou, Hunan (Sinica Leidensia, 159)

In 1996 archaeologists excavated over 70,000 inscribed pieces of wood from a well in Changsha, the largest such discovery ever made in China. They are local administrative records of the state of Wu in the 230s and provide remarkable detail on the society, governance, and economy of third century central China.Although Wu was one of the famous Three Kingdoms, its administrative history was poorly known until these documents were found, so we have written this book to explain the context and content of these document to help researchers use these valuable texts to rewrite the history of South China. Contents Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Illustrations 9 Conventions Used in Transcriptions 10 Introduction 12 Chapter 1 The World of the Zoumalou Documents 21 1 Ecology and Economy of Changsha 21 2 Political History of Changsha 28 3 The Time 31 4 The People 34 5 Households 41 6 Official Ranks and Hierarchies 43 7 The State Apparatus 49 8 Taxation 55 9 The Xu Di Embezzlement Case and the Limits of State Control 63 10 The Story of Xia Long 66 11 Zoumalou in Chinese History 69 Chapter 2 The Excavation and Collation of the Wu Slips 72 1 Excavation 73 2 The Indoor Phase: Cleaning, Sorting and Publishing 78 Chapter 3 Reconstructions of the Various Kinds of Documents 83 1 Conventions 87 2 The Tianjia Certificates Jiahe limin tianjia bie 嘉禾吏民田家莂 88 2.1 The Taxation System 90 2.2 Examples of the Tianjia Certificates 96 3 Records of Households 105 3.1 Official Household Registers limin hushu, koushi, renming, nianji bu 吏民戶數、口食、人名、年紀簿 106 3.2 Household Register Records huji bu 戶籍簿 107 3.3 Registers of the Numbers of Upper, Middle and Lower Grade Householdsshang, zhong, xiapin hushu bu 上中下品戶數簿 115 4 Name Registers renming bu 人名簿 119 4.1 Registers of Inspections of Newly Registered People yinhe xinzhanmin bu 隱核新占民簿 119 4.2 Registers of the Transfer of Artisans bingcao xi zuobu gongshi ji qizi bu 兵曹徙作部工師及妻子簿 123 4.3 Name Registers of Coin Payments of Households by Grade hupin chuqian renming bu 户品出錢人名簿 126 4.4 Registers of Farmer Households Working on Quota Fields xiandian renhu koushi renming bu 限佃人户口食、人名簿 132 4.5 Registers of Recommended Privately Educated Men ju sixue bu 舉私學簿 134 4.6 Registers of Male Relatives of Provincial and Army Officials yinhe zhou jun li fuxiong zidi bu 隱核州、軍吏父兄子弟簿 141 4.7 Registers of the Male Relatives of Officials Who Fled Jun xian li xiongdi panzou bu 郡縣吏兄弟叛走簿 145 5 Treasury Account Registers 147 5.1 Treasury Coin Account Registers ku qian zhangbu 庫錢賬簿 148 5.2 Register of Personal Names and Land Rent Coins dijiu qian renming bu 地僦錢人名簿 160 5.3 Registers of Market Taxes on Slaves shengkou gushui renming bu 生口估税人名簿 163 5.4 Treasury Cloth Account Registers ku bu zhangbu 庫布賬簿 165 5.5 Registers of Skins Entered and Received ku pu zhangbu 庫皮賬簿 174 5.6 Registers of the Receipt of Requisitioned Hemp diaoma rushou bu 調麻入受簿 176 6 Granary Account Registerscangmi zhangbu 倉米帳簿 178 6.1 Registers of Various Rice Collected in Taxes zami rushou bu 襍米入受簿 178 6.2 Registers of Grain Distributed and Lent 186 7 Other Account Registers 188 7.1 Registers of Inspection of Irrigated Fields yinhe beitian bu 隱核波田簿 188 7.2 Field Area Type Registers tianmu lei bushu 田畝類簿書 195 7.3 Registers of State-Owned Cattle guan niu bu 官牛簿 204 7.4 Registers of the Skin and Hooves of Sacrificial Cattle cisi niupi tijia bu 祠祀牛皮蹄甲簿 209 8 Files on the Case of Xu Di Xu Di an juanzong 許迪案卷宗 210 9 Ancheng County Documents Ancheng xian bushu 安成縣簿書 212 9.1 Jiahe 2nd Year Ancheng Registers of Area of Zu Tax Fields of Provincial, Commandery and County Officials Jiahe er nian Ancheng xian zhou, jun, xian li zutian qing mu bu 嘉禾二年安成縣州、郡、縣吏租田頃畝簿 212 9.2 Overall Registers of Cloth Purchased by Ancheng County Officials Ancheng xian guan shi bu zhu bu 安成縣官市布諸簿 217 10 Conclusion 221 Appendix Contents of Each Published Zoumalou Volume 223 Glossary 229 Bibliography 237 Index 251 This book presents an overview of the historical context and the content of the largest cache of documents ever excavated in China, which provide a wealth of new materials on the history of South China.