Dunhuang Han-Dynasty Bamboo Slips

Dunhuang Han-dynasty bamboo slips primarily refer to the bamboo-slip documents discovered within the territory of Dunhuang Prefecture during the Han Dynasty. Their discovery began with Stein's second Central Asian expedition from 1906 to 1908 and continued until the excavation of the Shuangdunzi Northern Beacon Tunnel site in Aksay County in 2019. In addition to bamboo slips, a few silk and paper documents were also found. Chronologically, the earliest slips date back to the mid-Western Han Dynasty, with a few extending as late as the Jin Dynasty. Geographically, while most documents are from Dunhuang, a few belong to Jiuquan Prefecture.

The total number of the Han-dynasty bamboo slips in Dunhuang is approximately 40,000 pieces, including 3,100 pieces (including unpublished portions) obtained during Stein's second Central Asian expedition from 1906 to 1908, 200 pieces acquired during his third Central Asian expedition from 1913 to 1916, 1,217 pieces excavated from the Maquanwan Site in 1979, 35,000 pieces unearthed at the Xuanquan Posthouse Site from 1990 to 1992, and 380 pieces discovered at the Xiaofangpan Fort site in 1998.

The bamboo slips excavated from the ruins of the frontier beacon towers and post stations are part of the archival documents related to the daily operations and management of the garrison troops and post stations. They address various aspects such as the organizational structure of the postal relay system, personnel composition, and specific defensive measures of the frontiers at that time. These documents hold significant reference value for studying the daily management and social life at the Han-dynasty frontier. As primary archival materials from the Han Dynasty, the Dunhuang bamboo slips are regarded as one of China's "Four Great Han-dynasty Bamboo Slips", providing important evidence of interactions, integration, and exchanges along the Silk Road among various ethnic groups including the Han, Xiongnu, Qiang, and Hu.

敦煌漢簡

敦煌漢簡，主要指在漢代敦煌郡境內發現的簡牘文書。其發現始于斯坦因1906—1908年的第二次中亞探險，止于2019年阿克塞縣雙墩子北烽隧遺址發掘。其中，除簡牘文書之外，也有少量帛書與紙文書；在時間上，最早始于西漢中期，個別晚至晉代；在地域上，敦煌之外兼有少量屬于酒泉郡的文書。

敦煌漢簡總數約4萬枚，主要包括：1906—1908年斯坦因第二次中亞探險所獲3100枚（包括未刊布部分），1913—1916年第三次中亞探險所獲200枚；1979年馬圈灣遺址發掘1217枚，1990—1992年懸泉置遺址發掘3.5萬枚，1998年小方盤城遺址發掘380枚。

這些出土于漢代邊塞烽隧和驛站遺址的簡牘文書，屬于邊塞屯戍和驛站日常運作及其管理文書的檔案部分，涉及漢代邊 塞和郵驛系統組織形式、人員結構和具體的防御措施等，對于研究漢代邊塞和郵驛的日常管理與社會生活具有非常重要的參考價值。作為漢代第一手的檔案資料，敦煌漢簡被譽為中國 “四大漢簡”之一，留下了絲綢之路上“漢匈”“漢羌”“漢胡”等民族交往、交融、交流的重要記錄。