PT 1086 — A Dunhuang Property Document
PT 1086 is a brief property transaction document from the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan on paper, it records the sale of a house in the Li division of Dar-pa between two Chinese families — the The'i-tsheng clan (sellers) and the Gvang-hing clan (buyers) — with payment in grain and millet, named witnesses, and affixed seals.
The document dates to the summer of the Pig Year, during the Tibetan imperial period at Dunhuang (c. 786-848 CE). The language is administrative Old Tibetan, but the personal names and clan names are Chinese rendered in Tibetan script. The property sale follows a clear legal formula: parties, price, payment confirmation, witnesses, and seals. The involvement of a third party, Shi Kog-ne, who also signed a receipt, suggests either a property chain or a guarantor arrangement.
This is a primary source for the economics of daily life in Dunhuang under Tibetan rule — showing how ordinary people bought and sold houses, what currency was used (grain, not coin), and how transactions were witnessed and authenticated.
In the summer of the Pig Year:
Regarding the house and land of The'i-tsheng clan, in the Li division of Dar-pa, and its boundary with Gvang-hing —
From The'i-tsheng clan, the price at which Gvang-hing clan purchased it: two bushels of grain and two bushels of millet — in total, four bushels. As previously agreed, paid in full to The'i-tsheng. The'i-tsheng's receipt-seal was affixed.
Witnesses: Beg Shun-tshe, Lyang Zhen-tshe, Li'u Hing-'do, Song Beng-'do, and others — their witness-seals were affixed.
The price of the house purchase: furthermore, Shi Kog-ne requested it, and Kog-ne's receipt-seal was affixed.
Colophon
PT 1086 (Pelliot tibetain 1086). Old Tibetan property transaction document 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: "Dar-pa" is a district or settlement name. "Li" is a subdivision (possibly Chinese li, a community unit). The clan names are Chinese: The'i-tsheng (possibly Dai-cheng 戴成 or similar), Gvang-hing (possibly Guang-xing 光興), Beg Shun-tshe (Bai Shun-ce?), Lyang Zhen-tshe (Liang Zhen-ce?), Li'u Hing-'do (Liu Xing-de?), Song Beng-'do (Song Peng-de?), Shi Kog-ne (Shi X?). "Rgya sheg" (bushel of grain) and "khre rgya sheg" (bushel of millet) are units of measurement — payment in kind was standard in the Dunhuang oasis economy. "Bul rgya" (receipt-seal) and "dpang rgya" (witness-seal) indicate a formal legal authentication system. "Sa wang" may mean "land lord/owner" or simply "land boundary."
The involvement of named Chinese witnesses, Chinese clan names, and payment in grain rather than silver suggests this was an intra-Chinese transaction conducted under the legal framework of Tibetan imperial administration. The document demonstrates that the Tibetan authorities at Dunhuang maintained a functioning property law system for their Chinese subjects.
This is a Good Works Translation. The English is independently derived from the Old Tibetan source text. No prior English translation was available for consultation.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: PT 1086
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO) database, Osaka University. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
(1) /:/ phag gI lo'i dbyar / dar pa'I sde lI the'I tsheng spun gyI khang pa 'I sa wang kvang
(2) hing dang mu 'brel ba / / the tsheng spun las / gvang hing spun gyis mjal ba'I
(3) rin nas rgya sheg gnyis dang / khre rgya sheg gnyis te / spyis rgya shig bzhi / sngar
(4) 'tham pa bzhin / tshang bar the'I tsheng la phul te / the'I tsheng gi bul rgya dang
(5) dpang pho / beg shun tshe / lyang zhen tshe / lI'u hing 'do / song beng 'do la stsogs pa
(6) 'I dpang rgyas btab pa' / khang pa mjal pa'i rin / nubu shi kog ne 'tshal te / kog
(7) ne gi bul rgyas btab pa / /
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), archives?p=Pt_1086, maintained by Osaka University. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
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