PT 1003 — A Dunhuang Trade Letter

PT 1003 is a diplomatic-administrative letter from the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan on paper, it records a petition from an official named Dpal-ldan — who holds the title Li-sing-je of Yi-cu — addressed to the Li-sing-je at Sha-cu (the Tibetan name for Dunhuang). The letter opens with seasonal greetings and Buddhist well-wishing, then details a complex web of trade transactions: gifts of grain and ironware, shipments of silk and paper, debts owed to named Chinese residents of Dunhuang, and the dispatch of forty cartloads of plain silk.

The text is a window into the economic life of Dunhuang during the Tibetan imperial period (c. 786-848 CE), when Tibetan administrators governed a predominantly Chinese populace. The letter's mix of Tibetan official language, Buddhist formulaic phrases, and Chinese personal names and place names reflects the multicultural reality of the Silk Road city. The Li-sing-je title appears to be a Tibetan rendering of a Chinese military or administrative rank — possibly a district military commissioner.

This is the twelfth genre identified in the Dunhuang Tibetan manuscript corpus: administrative trade correspondence.

Before the Li-sing-je of Sha-cu:

The Li-sing-je of Yi-cu, Dpal-ldan, presents this petition.

At the autumn season, when the grasses have changed color — for the sake of the staged journey of The'u-po'u and for the benefit of all sentient beings — though you sit enthroned there in weariness, though your body suffers no illness, in the manner of service I humbly report my ailment and send this communication.

Your humble servant's urgent gifts are as follows: one bre-measure of grain, as compensation for Lhad-dpal — please accept it. Whatever ironware is desired, I send one load as equipment.

If your humble servant can obtain good silk and paper, send four or five pieces. As for felt and copper vessels, if sent they cannot be transported — they are too heavy.

One horse and the ironware have been dispatched to Phvram Pag-shi-lag.

Concerning your humble servant's debts: to the Sha-cu man Rgya Se-ham-zhi, two ingots were arranged to be sent but have not arrived.

Also, between the Sha-cu man Kho'-yen-phu and Lung-bun-nye, five bolts of felt were carried, along with plain silk — of forty cartloads, one cartload that was insufficient was dispatched.

What has not arrived — send it to Kham-snyogs. If the hundred is paid without shortfall, the Sha-cu man Su-bong-na's son is the one going to deliver it.

Colophon

PT 1003 (Pelliot tibetain 1003). Old Tibetan administrative trade letter from the Dunhuang cave library. Translated from Old Tibetan by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026. First English translation.

The source text was accessed from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database maintained by Osaka University. The transliteration follows OTDO's conventions, which preserve the archaic Old Tibetan orthography (e.g., mchId for mchid, myI for mi, gIs for gis).

Translation notes: "Li-sing-je" (lI sIng je) appears to be a Tibetan rendering of a Chinese military or administrative title — the exact Chinese equivalent is uncertain but may relate to a district commissioner or military rank. "Sha-cu" is the standard Old Tibetan rendering of Shazhou (沙州), the Chinese name for Dunhuang. "Yi-cu" is another district. "Phvram Pag-shi-lag," "Rgya Se-ham-zhi," "Kho'-yen-phu," "Lung-bun-nye," "Su-bong-na," and "Lhad-dpal" are personal names — the first five appear to be Chinese names rendered in Tibetan script, while Lhad-dpal is Tibetan. "Yu stam" (rendered as "ingots") may refer to silver ingots or a unit of currency; the exact denomination is uncertain. "Bre" is a standard Tibetan dry measure, approximately one kilogram. "GI lam" (rendered as "felt") may refer to a type of textile; the identification is tentative.

This is a Good Works Translation. The English is independently derived from the Old Tibetan source text. The OTDO transliteration was the primary source. No prior English translation exists for comparison.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: PT 1003

Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database, Osaka University. Transliteration by OTDO. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

(1) $ /:/ sha cu na lI sIng je'I zha sngar // //
(2) ^yI cu'I lI sIng je dpal ldan gIs mchId gsol pa //
(3) ston tshIgs gI rtsI dog / mdog gyur ba'I skabs su / cher nI the'u po'u gI rIm 'gro dang /
(4) sem cen mtha dag gI don du 'o brgyal de gdan bzhugs na sku la snyung myI bnga' yang srI zhu 'I /
(5) tshul gIs snyung mchId yI gyI las gsol zhIng mchIs bka' sprIng bar gsol // ngan bu'I phral chod gI skyes nI /
(6) spong bre gang lhad dpal la rma ste bzhes par gsol // lcags bags cI 'dod pa yI gyI thong cIg sta gon bya la bskur la btang /
(7) ngan bu dar ma brI shog shog bzang po yod na thob bzhI lnga skur /
(8) kI lam dang zangs spyad bskur na bteg myI btub / rta gcIg dang lcags bags nI phvram pag shI lag du / bskur la btang //
(9) // rjes la ngan bu'I bu lon / sha cu pa rgya / se ham zhI la yu stam gnyIs bskur bar byas ma 'ongs //
(10) yang sha cu pa kho' yen phu dang / lung bun nye gnyIs gI bar na / gI lam lnga khyer nas dar rjen pa cheg bzhI bcu la cheg gang myI rangs pa cIg bskur bar byas /
(11) ma 'ongs kham snyogs la skur cIg //
(12) brgya la 'drul ba ma skungs na sha cu pa su bong na bu phyog pa yIn //

Source Colophon

Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), archives?p=Pt_1003, maintained by Osaka University's Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. The OTDO transliteration preserves archaic Old Tibetan orthography. Variant readings indicated by OTDO's tooltip annotations are shown in square brackets. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France as part of the Pelliot tibetain collection.

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