PT 1092 — A Dunhuang Personal Letter

PT 1092 is a private letter from the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan on paper, it is a personal communication from Meng Phug-wen to Shi-shug, Shug-shug, I-neng, Shim-shim, and others. The letter opens with a standard health inquiry, reports on a donkey that was dispatched to Sha-cur but not properly replaced, asks for provisions after a poor grain harvest, and expresses the writer's desire to travel as soon as a donkey arrives.

Unlike the legal contracts and court cases that make up most of the Dunhuang administrative corpus, this is a private letter — one person writing to friends or colleagues about practical concerns. The tone is polite, formulaic in places (the health inquiry, the petition formulas), but also reveals genuine anxiety about grain supplies and relay transport. The verso carries the address: "To be delivered to Shi-shug. The dispatch letter of Meng Phug-wen."

The document dates to the Tibetan imperial period at Dunhuang (c. 786-848 CE). The Chinese personal names written in Tibetan script reflect the bilingual administration of the region. "Sha-cur" is likely Shazhou, the Tibetan name for the Dunhuang area.

To Shi-shug and Shug-shug both, and I-neng and Shim-shim, and the rest — before your faces:

The petition of Phug-wen.

In your region — are you well or unwell? If through the illness-petition letter you are requesting sickness leave and it is so, may a messenger be dispatched and the matter be granted.

Cin-shi-shi's donkey was sent off to Sha-cur, but those intended to be dispatched were not dispatched. Now, for the earlier messenger, I petition that a donkey be dispatched.

This time, even this year's harvest has barely gathered to fifteen khal of grain. From that, I petition that you take as much as can be managed.

As for my travel provisions and supplies: if new ones can be obtained — good. If new ones cannot be obtained, I petition that old supplies be dispatched.

As for me, apart from submitting this letter, there is no unwellness.

I also wish to go straightaway to Sha-cur as soon as the donkey arrives here.

(Verso, inverted:) To be delivered to Shi-shug. The dispatch letter of Meng Phug-wen.

Colophon

PT 1092 (Pelliot tibetain 1092). Old Tibetan private 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.

Translation notes: "Meng Phug-wen" bears a Chinese surname (Meng, possibly 孟) with a mixed Chinese-Tibetan personal name, reflecting the bilingual naming practices of Dunhuang's Chinese population under Tibetan rule. "Shi-shug" and "Shug-shug" are personal names, likely Chinese. The recipients are addressed with the respectful formula "zha sngar" (before your faces). The document uses "mchid gsol" (petition/request) repeatedly — a formal register, but the content is personal and practical. "Bong bu" (donkey) refers to the relay animals used for the Tibetan imperial postal system; the request for a donkey is a request for transport. "Khal" is a unit of dry measure, approximately 25-30 lbs. Fifteen khal would be a meagre harvest. "Sha-cur" is likely Shazhou (沙州), the Chinese name for the Dunhuang area, rendered in Tibetan. "Sbying po" (provisions/supplies) indicates Phug-wen is requesting material support, not just grain. The letter's structure — health inquiry, practical request, reassurance of one's own health, forward plans — follows a pattern found in other Dunhuang letters. The verso address confirms this was a letter intended for physical delivery, not an administrative filing.

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 1092

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.

(r1) $ /:/ shi shug dang shug shug gnyis dang ^I neng dang shim shim las bstsogs pa'i zha sngar /
(r2) ### phug wen gyi mchid gsol ba'
(r3) pyogsu thugs bde 'aM myi bde / / snyun mchid yi ge las snyun gsol zhing mchIs na' / / 'drul [---] stsald
(r4) [bar] [-]i [---] gnang / / cIn shi shis bong bu sha cur 'byerte pyin ma dag brdzangs bar bgyis nI' / / da
(r5) ltar 'drul snga ba la bong bu brdzangs du gsol / / do cig 'dI 'i lo thog kyang gsang khal bco
(r6) lnga tshun chad tsham 'dus te / / de las tshugs tshod du bzhe su gsol / / bdagi 'don tsa dang sbying po
(r7) gsar pa zhig thob na' / / legs gsar pa ma thob na sbying po rnying pa brdzangs du gsol / / bdag kyang
(r8) sug yig gsol pa tsham na' / / myI bde ba ma mchis / / bdag kyang bong bu 'dIr phyin ma thag
(r9) sha cur tsheg cIg mchi' bar 'tshal / /
(v1) (inverted) shI shug la 'bul ba' / meng phug wen gyi sgyo yig

Source Colophon

Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), archives?p=Pt_1092, maintained by Osaka University. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France.

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