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An Early Judicial Document from Tibet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

H. E. Richardson
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Extract

Several of the manuscripts from Tunhuang in the invaluable Choix de Documents Tibétains conservés à la Bibliothèque Nationale (Paris, 1978 and 1979) record cases of civil litigation and administrative or judicial decisions on them in some instances. Fewer deal with criminal matters. Although students of Tibetan have referred to such documents in books and articles, published translations of any of them appear to be rare. In Journal Asiatique, 1955, Mlle Marcelle Lalou, a pioneer in studies of the Tunhuang material, translated Fonds Pelliot Tibétain (Pell. T.) 1089 concerning the appointment of a wide range of officials in the border region. The translation of orders on two short petitions from citizens of Shacu is included in Tsipon Shakabpa's Tibet, a Political History (1967). F. W. Thomas translated the “Law of theft in Chinese Kansu, a IXth–Xth century fragment from Tunhuang”, in Zeitschrift für Verglekhende Rechtswissenschaft, L (1936).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , July 1991 , pp. 383 - 388
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1991

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References

1 bran, bran-mo. Male and female bondservants attached to an estate who could be employed as cultivators, servants or craftsmen. They could be transferred together with the estate to another owner or lent individually (Thomas, F. W., “Tibetan literary texts and documents”, TLTD, II, pp. 143–4, 222–3).Google Scholar In early times Tibetan nobles conquered by more powerful neighbours could be made bran (Bacot, J., Thomas, F. W., ChToussaint, , “Documents de Touen-houang relatifs à l'Histoire du Tibet”, p. 105, ls 21–24);Google Scholar but in the manuscripts from Tunhuang the names of bran are non-Tibetan. In certain circumstances it seems possible that bran could be given possession of land (Pell, T., 1071 and TLTD, II, p. 362).Google Scholar)

2 mo reng, unmarried woman. Here apparently without a regular husband for some of those named had children.

3 The relationship of these women is not clear, mu-mo appears to be some sort of kinship – unrecorded, unless it is an error for nu-mo and I have taken it tentatively to mean younger sister. Lu lu appears to be the daughter of 'Bye'u tse. Tshe'i byin is said later to be of 'Bye'u tse's lineage, rgyud, but not specifically her daughter. There is a possibility below that she was Lu lu's daughter.

4 'khol-zhing. Lands with a complement of bran granted to nobles by the btsan-po, the ruler, whose permission was required for its transfer to anyone else.

5 Bde-blon. Principal ministers of the border region part of which was known as Bde-gams (Richardson, H. E., “The province of the Bde-blon of the Tibetan Empire, 8th to 9th centuries”, Indo-Sino-Tibetica, Studi in Onore di Luciano Petech, Rome, 1990Google Scholar).

6 Zhang, maternal uncle. Title of noblemen whose family was related to the btsan-po by marriage. They could be called blon zhang; zhang lon was a different term covering the general body of ministers.

7 khrom. A military and administrative headquarters (Uray, G., “Khrom: administrative units of the Tibetan Empire in the 7th–9th centuries”, Tibetan Studies in honour of Hugh Richardson, Warminster, 1980Google Scholar).

8 khab-so. Revenue officers in different spheres; here in charge of monastic property. For other contexts see Lhasa Zhol inscription E. l 10 (Richardson, H. E., A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions, London, 1985Google Scholar) and the Rkong-po Inscription, I 10 (ibid.). Their head was the mngan (Lhasa Treaty Inscription. M. 1 33, ibid.).

9 Shud-pu. A noble family connected with the A-zha kingdom (TLTD, II, p. 12).

10 ring-lugs. Designates, in a religious context, abbots who maintain and transmit the doctrine; and in a secular context a body with judicial functions, the maintainers and interpreters of established laws and traditions. I have translated, rather unsatisfactorily, as “commissioners” or “registrars”. The term survives, but rarely, in a religious context only.

11 Lu lu zhes brgyi' ba ma gumste. I think this must mean that Lu lu was Tshe'i byin's mother.

12 phyag-sbal. Copies of royal edicts at Zhwa'i Lha-khang and the Lhasa Treaty Inscription were deposited in the phyag-sbal, which I have translated as “ archives”. The office could also be used as a prison (Pell., T. 986, 1146Google Scholar) and that was understood to be its meaning by a Lama informant.

13 The last four words are damaged, the middle two being illegible. I reconstruct them askhu bo ma gum. If that is correct, I take it that the brothers 'Gi Dzven and Hwe'i kem were nephews of the dge-slong-Kim keng and that the dge-slong-ma Meng shun was his sister.

14 The three Rgya-sde appear to be districts of Chinese subjects necessitated by the expansion of Tibetan authority around Sha-cu and staffed predominantly by Chinese officials. In TLTD, II, p. 339 and Pell., T. 1083Google Scholar only two Rgya-sde are mentioned. The titles of Chinese officials in Chinese districts of Sha-cu are given in Pell. T. 1089 (Lalou, M., “Revendications des fonctionnaires du Grand Tibet au VIIIe siècle”, Journal Asiatique, 1955.Google Scholar)

15 dzir yang myi mchiste. The reading and meaning are uncertain. I very doubtfully connect it with rdzi to be subjected. Jaeschke also has dpe-rdzi, index, register. And there is the possibility of an error, perhaps for rjer.

16 dge-'dun rgan rabs, the older monks.

17 gnas-brtan, the sthavira: Elders.

18 mngan za 'og. za for zla, assistant, colleague.

19 'dul ba 'dzin d'ing. As there is no shad before the next name, this appears to be a title “Master of Discipline” but d'ing is obscure. It might be a name, and the shad might have been omitted inadvertently.

20 smad. “With family”, as in bu-smad?

21 rje bden mchis pa'i tshe. The exact meaning is not clear.

22 It is not clear whether gnas-brtan here signifies one representative Elder, or the whole body mentioned above.

23 che-bzhi. Elsewhere chen-po bzhi, the four great ones. Pelliot T. 1071 has zhang -lon bzhi. There is no indication what specific posts they may have held.

24 i.e. they shall remain as subjects of the Iha-ris.

25 The text is damaged and the translation in brackets is speculative.

26 bcad-rgya. “Decision-seal”.

27 sug-rgya. Personal seal.