Bamboo slips reveal an ancient world
Details of official's career help researchers build a picture of life 2,000 years ago
竹简揭示古代世界：汉代官员职业细节帮助研究人员描绘出两千年前的生活画面
《中国日报》Fang Aiqing and Liu Kun report
More than 2,000 years ago, a low-ranking official recorded details of his work and life spanning 14 years on bamboo slips. These journals were buried in his tomb in what is today, Shuihudi village, Yunmeng county in Central China's Hubei province. They were meant to accompany him into the afterlife.
两千多年前，一位地位较低的官员在竹简上记录了他14年的工作和生活细节。这些日志，被埋在位于现今的
中国湖北省云梦县城关西部的睡虎路
，在他的墓穴里陪伴着他进入来世。
An accidental discovery and the resulting excavation in 2006 brought these relics to light. Years of study into these records has formed a vivid impression of this Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) official, Yueren, as well as increased knowledge of the calendar system, grassroots governance and household tax at the time.
2006年的意外发现和随之展开的发掘工作，将这些文物带入了人们的视野。多年来对这些记录的研究，形成了对西汉时期（公元前206年至公元24年）这位名为
“越人”
的官员的生动印象，同时也增加了对当时历法系统、基层治理和家庭税收的了解。
For example, Yueren had beautiful handwriting. He was literate — an essential requirement for grassroots officials — and seemed particularly good at accounting.
例如，
“越人”的书法非常漂亮
。他的识字能力很强——这是对基层官员的基本要求——而且似乎在会计方面特别擅长。
He had story books buried with him that could possibly have been his favorites, as well as two volumes of law codes. His work largely involved measuring land, checking the registered population and reporting on economic and social data. He had to travel a lot for work.
埋藏在他墓中的书籍可能是他的最爱，其中包括故事书，还有两卷法典。他的工作主要涉及土地测量、核实登记人口以及汇报经济和社会数据。他的工作需要经常外出旅行。
From 170 to 157 BC, during the reign of Emperor Wendi of the Western Han Dynasty, Yueren wrote zhiri, a diary form that's similar to today's calendar, marked with the dates and a small space to fill in daily schedules. One volume of the diary covers the time span of a year.
在公元前170年至公元前157年的汉文帝在位期间，“越人”写下了
《质日》
，这是一种类似于今天人们在日历上记事，通常以一年的历表为基础，上面标注着日期，并留有空间填写每天的日程安排。
This form of record-keeping was once popular during the Qin (221-206 BC) and Western Han dynasties but is rare in literature passed down through history, according to Chen Wei, director of Wuhan University's Center of Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts.
据武汉大学人文社科资深教授、简帛研究中心主任陈伟介绍，这种记录方式曾经在秦朝（公元前221年至公元前206年）和西汉时期很流行，但在历史文献中传世的却很少见。
It is via this type of unearthed bamboo slip that archaeologists and historians are able to learn about zhiri, which in the old days, was also used as a reference in assessing the performance of officials, he adds.
陈伟说，正是通过出土的这种竹简，考古学家和历史学家才能了解《质日》这种记录方式。在古代，《质日》也被用作评估官员表现的参考资料。
Wang Zijin, an expert on the history of Qin and Han (206 BC-AD 220) dynasties, says the use of zhiri embodied ancient people's understanding of time, and their awareness and skills of time management.
中国人民大学荣誉一级教授、中国秦汉史研究会顾问王子今说，《质日》的使用体现了古人对时间的理解，以及他们对时间管理的意识和技巧。
It reflected social order and was seen as being related to administrative efficiency, he says.
他说，这反映了社会秩序，并被视为与行政效率有关。
The experts were addressing an academic symposium on zhiri at Wuhan University in early January, during which paper copies of these zhiri items were launched as the first volume of Bamboo Slips and Tablets of Shuihudi Western Han Tomb.
一月初，专家们在武汉大学举办的学术研讨会上讨论了《质日》，将《质日》作为
《睡虎地西汉简牍》
的首卷发布。
Over the past 50 years, dozens of Qin and Han dynasties tombs have been discovered in Shuihudi. From Yueren's tomb alone — archaeologists have labeled it Shuihudi Tomb M77 — more than 2,000 bamboo slips and wooden tablets written from 175 to 157 BC have been unearthed.
在过去的50年中，睡虎地地区已经发现了
数十座秦汉墓葬
。仅从“越人”的墓葬中（考古学家将其标记为睡虎地M77号墓），就出土了超过2000块竹简和木简，书写时间从公元前175年到公元前157年。
Apart from zhiri, the manuscripts also include content regarding math and law, as well as judicial documents on grain transport along the Yellow River.
除了《质日》的内容外，这些手稿还包括了有关数学和法律的内容，以及关于黄河沿岸粮食运输的司法文件。
The center intends to publish eight volumes of Bamboo Slips and Tablets of Shuihudi Western Han Tomb altogether to provide comprehensive information about the relics.
武汉大学简帛研究中心打算出版总共八卷的《睡虎地西汉简牍》，以提供有关这些文物的全面信息。
Qin Zhihua, head of the Zhongxi Book Co, the publisher of the series, says hopefully two more volumes will be released this year.
出版商中西书局社长秦志华表示，今年有望再出版两卷。
Experts estimate that Yueren's zhiri documents should have comprised around 900 slips, yet only about 700 have been discovered, apart from some that are damaged.
专家估计，“越人”的《质日》文件应该有大约900片竹简，但目前只发现了700片左右，还有一些已经损坏了。
Chen says identifying these damaged pieces and putting them back in their original order was really a challenging but crucial step toward restoring and interpreting the texts. He says seven batches of zhiri slips have been unearthed at multiple archaeological sites across the country, making 23 volumes of zhiri altogether, among which 14 were found at Shuihudi.
陈伟表示，识别这些损坏的竹简并将它们按原来的顺序重新排列是非常具有挑战性但又至关重要的一步，这有助于恢复和解释这些文本。他说，在全国范围内的多个考古遗址上已经发掘出了七批《质日》竹简，总共有23卷《质日》，
其中有14卷出土于睡虎地
。
Yueren's zhiri slips were woven together with three threads and read from right to left. For each year the dates started from lunar October, as it was then seen as the start of a year. There were extra slips for leap months.
“越人”的《质日》竹简是用三根线编织在一起的，从右向左阅读。每年的日期从农历十月开始，因为那时被视为一年的开始。还有额外的竹简用于闰月。
The dates were pre-labeled, and Yueren only marked a small portion of the days with brief content.
这些日期是预先标记的，“越人”只在少数日期上标注了简短的内容。
During his career, Yueren served in various local departments in Anlu county and later Yangwu township, including the government, the military, and the judicial department, as well as the sector in charge of farming, land sales and agricultural tax.
在“越人”的职业生涯中，他曾先后在安陆县、阳武乡的政府、军事、司法部门履职，也负责过农业、土地销售和农业税收部门。
He was also involved in the building of public facilities, collecting pearls, and grain transportation.
他还参与了公共设施的建设、珍珠的收集以及粮食运输等工作。
Yueren was hardworking. Several slips from April 170 BC show that he went back home upon his father's passing amid pressing affairs, and hastened back to work the day after the funeral.
“越人”工作勤奋，公元前170年4月的几份记录显示，他在父亲去世之际匆忙回家处理家务，葬礼过后第二天便匆匆返回工作岗位。
"On average, he traveled 141 days for work per year. It seems common for grassroots officials at that time to spend one-third of a year taking business trips," says Kim Byungjoon, professor at the Department of Asian History at Seoul National University.
