PT 1297.1 — A Dunhuang Debt Contract
PT 1297.1 is a legal contract from the Pelliot tibétain collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan, it records a grain loan between a farmer named Hva-dze-dze and the Buddhist monastery Weng-shi’u-si (a Chinese temple name rendered in Tibetan script). The farmer, identified as belonging to the Snying-tshoms district, had neither seeds nor provisions and borrowed eight Chinese sheg of barley from the monastery’s stores.
The contract specifies repayment by mid-autumn, with delivery to the monastery steward (dge-skos), the monk Leng-hyen, at the storehouse of the Lha-ris district. Default triggers a double penalty: the debt is converted “from one to two.” If the debtor still cannot pay, all his property — indoor goods, outdoor livestock, clothing — may be seized by force, and he may not utter a single word of complaint. If the debtor himself is absent, his son Hva Khrom-legs assumes the obligation.
The document is witnessed by Wang Stag-gu, Li’u Lha-legs, and others, and sealed with thumb-prints from both the debtor and the guarantor. It provides extraordinary evidence of the economic relationship between Buddhist monasteries and the Chinese farming community at Dunhuang during the Tibetan imperial period — the monastery as lender, the farmer as borrower, imperial-era legal formulas governing the transaction.
This is the thirteenth genre identified in the Dunhuang Tibetan manuscript corpus: legal and economic contracts.
Of the Snying-tshoms district: Hva-dze-dze, having neither seeds nor provisions, and being in need —
From the Three Jewels of the monastery Weng-shi’u-si, and from the tenth-day stores, he borrowed eight Chinese sheg of barley as an advance loan.
The time of repayment: the middle month of this autumn, under the parasol of the empty sky.
He shall deliver it to the storehouse of the Lha-ris district, in the presence of the monastery steward of Weng-shi’u-si, the monk Leng-hyen, and present it there.
If at that time he is unable to deliver, or seeks to avoid his obligation, the debt shall be converted from one to two.
Furthermore: the debtor’s indoor goods, outdoor livestock, outer garments, clothing, and all useful possessions — whatever may be found — shall be collected and seized according to law. Even if taken by force, he shall not utter a single word of complaint.
If the debtor is not present, his son Hva Khrom-legs shall fulfill the pledge as stated above and make the payment.
Witnesses to this contract: Wang Stag-gu, Li’u Lha-legs, and others.
The witnesses’ seals, the debtor’s thumb-print seal, and the guarantor’s thumb-print seal were affixed in proper measure.
Colophon
PT 1297.1 (Pelliot tibétain 1297, text 1). Old Tibetan grain loan contract 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.
Translation notes: “Weng-shi’u-si” (weng shi’u si’i) is a Tibetan rendering of a Chinese temple name, likely 翁受寺 or similar. “Snying-tshoms” is a district (sde) within the Dunhuang administrative structure. “Sheg” (sheg) renders the Chinese 石 (shí), a standard measure of volume for grain. “The tenth-day stores” (bcu ca’i stsang) refers to the monastery’s reserves, likely accumulated through the “tenth-day” (bcu ca) collections — a regular donation system. “Dge-skos” is the monastery’s steward or disciplinarian. “Leng-hyen” and “Hva-dze-dze” are Chinese personal names rendered in Tibetan script. “Hva Khrom-legs” is the debtor’s son — “Hva” being the family name, “Khrom-legs” a Tibetan-style personal name, showing the mixed naming conventions of Dunhuang. “From one to two” (gchig las gnyis su bsgyur) is the standard double-penalty clause in Dunhuang loan contracts. “Under the parasol of the empty sky” (gnam stong gi gdugs la) is a dating formula, possibly referring to a specific year in the Tibetan calendar cycle.
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 1297.1
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) $ / / ### snying tshoms gyi sde / hva dze dzes sa bon dang brgyags ma mchis [st]e /
(2) phongs brel nas / / gtshug lag khang weng shi’u si’i dkon mchog dang / bcu ca’i stsang las
(3) gro nas rgya sheg brgyad snga skyin du blangs te / slar ’bul ba’i dus / lan ’di’i ston sla ’bring
(4) po gnam stong gi g[d]ugs la / / weng shi’u si’i dge skos / ban de leng hyen [ga] la
(5) mchis pa’i lha ris gyi bang sgor bskyal ching ’bul bar bgyis / dus der ’bul du
(6) ma btub bam / rang reng ’tshal na / gchig las gnyisu[gnyis su] bsgyur te / gyur dang bcas par / /
(7) dze dze’i sgor nang [n]or phyi phyugs dang / rgyab gos gos sug spyad chi la bab kyang sdud ste
(8) ring lugsu[lugs su] ’phrogs na yang zhal mchu tshig chig myi mchi bar bgyis / dze dze ma
(9) mchis na / kho na’i bu hva khrom legs dam gong nas smos pa bzhin mchid gyis ’tshal zhing
(10) ’bul bar bgyis pa’i dpang la / wang stagu[stag gu] dang / li’u lha legs dang ###
(11) ### lastsogs[la stsogs] pa’i dpang rgya dang / dze dze dang khas len gyi sug rgya
(12) sug yig tshad gyis btab pha’ / /
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), archives?p=Pt_1297_1, maintained by Osaka University’s Research Institute for Humanity and Nature. The OTDO transliteration preserves archaic Old Tibetan orthography. Variant readings are shown in square brackets. The “###” markers indicate damaged or illegible portions of the manuscript. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France as part of the Pelliot tibétain collection.
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