PT 1098 — A Dunhuang Corvee Substitution
PT 1098 is a labor-substitution contract from the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan on paper with ten round vermilion seals, it records how Li G.yu-legs of the Stong-sar district was assigned the autumn relay messenger duty but was absent from his post, and how 'Bu Eng-tse was hired in his place. The document details the payment terms, penalty clauses, and guarantor arrangements.
The relay system (lo thang skyel) was the backbone of the Tibetan imperial communications network. Each district was required to provide messengers on a rotational basis to carry tribute and official correspondence between Dunhuang and the Tibetan heartland. When an assigned person was absent, a substitute could be hired — but the contract had to be formalized with witnesses, guarantors, and seals.
Li G.yu-legs, the absent assignee, also appears in PT 1094, where he purchased a mottled red ox for three dmar-srang at the Pe'u-mun marketplace. His appearances across multiple documents suggest a Chinese resident of some means in the Stong-sar district during the Tibetan imperial period (c. 786-848 CE).
On the seventeenth day of the middle autumn month of the [---] year:
The autumn-rotation relay messenger duty fell to Li G.yu-legs. [---] G.yu-legs was absent from his post, and so 'Bu Eng-tse of the Stong-sar district was hired.
The hiring fee: in black and white grain and cloth — [---] fourteen units in total.
Immediately granted: five khal of barley and one khal of millet. Under the barley [---], one bolt of cloth is owed.
The remaining hire — five and a half khal of barley and four and a half khal of millet — shall be granted when Eng-tse himself returns from the labor assignment.
If, when Eng-tse goes on the relay transport, the steward or commissioner is not satisfied, or if any of the relay's penalties should arise: whatever penalties from above or below, Eng-tse himself shall bear them by his word.
Moreover, should Eng-tse not satisfy the steward and commissioner, or be unable to fulfill the duty, or be absent from his post, or should any mishap occur: in accordance with the oath sworn above, the guarantors — Eng-tse's elder brother 'Bu Lyang-dze and Yi'u Sta-gu, both — shall bear it by their word.
The remaining hire: when Eng-tse returns from the lord's service, it shall be granted in the presence of Yi'u Sta-gu and Zhi-sum.
Under this sealed agreement: should anyone seek to reverse the contract, seven khal of barley shall be deducted. Whoever does not fulfill their obligation shall pay immediately.
Witnesses: Wang Sta-gu, and Lu Dze-sheng, and Leng Ho Pe'u-tshvon, and Yun An-tse, and Cang I-tse, and Je'u Brtan-kong, and the rest — their witness-seals, and the finger-measure seals of Eng-tse and the acknowledging parties, were affixed.
(Ten round vermilion seals.)
Colophon
PT 1098 (Pelliot tibetain 1098). Old Tibetan corvee substitution 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: The relay system (lo thang skyel, literally "year-road transport") was the Tibetan Empire's postal and tribute-carrying network. Each district was assigned rotations; the "autumn rotation" (ston res) was one of the seasonal corvee duties. When the assignee was absent, a formal contract was required to hire a substitute — this document is that contract.
Li G.yu-legs, the absent assignee, also appears in PT 1094 as the buyer of a mottled red ox for three dmar-srang. His ability to purchase livestock and hire a substitute for corvee labor suggests a person of some means in the Chinese community of Stong-sar district. The fact that he was "absent from his post" (gzhi la ma mchis) rather than simply unable to serve suggests he may have been away on business — perhaps the very transaction recorded in PT 1094.
'Bu Eng-tse bears a Chinese surname ('Bu, possibly 卜 or 步). His elder brother 'Bu Lyang-dze serves as his guarantor — family bonds functioning as legal bonds, the same pattern seen throughout the Dunhuang administrative corpus. All witnesses bear Chinese names: Wang, Lu, Leng, Yun, Cang, Je'u — this is an entirely Chinese community operating within the Tibetan legal framework.
The payment structure reveals the economics of corvee substitution: a total of about 14 units of grain and cloth, split between an immediate installment and a deferred payment upon completion. "Khal" is a unit of dry measure (approximately 25-30 lbs). "Khre" is millet, "nas" is barley — the two staple grains of the Dunhuang oasis. "Ras" (cloth) was also used as a medium of exchange.
The ten vermilion seals — the highest number in the Dunhuang administrative corpus yet translated — reflect the seriousness of corvee obligations. Failure to complete the relay service could result in penalties from both superiors and subordinates ("above and below"), and the contract's guarantor clause ensures the obligation cannot escape through absence.
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 1098
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) [---]'i lo'i ston sla 'bring po tshes bcu bdun la / / ston res lo thang skyel ba'I pho nya / / lI g.yu legs la bab
(2) [---] / g.yu legs gzhi la ma mchis nas / / stong sar gyi sde / 'bu ^eng tse glaste / / gla thang nI dkar nag dang / ras su
(3) [---] bcu bzhi thang du bgyi bar bgyis / / 'phral du nas khal lnga dang / khre khal gcig stsald pa'I nang na / / nas
(4) [---] gyi 'og du ras yug cig 'tshal / / gla slad ma nas khal phyed dang lnga dang / khre khal phyed dang bzhi lus pa ni / ^eng
(5) ts[e] dng[o]s sug las khor nas stsald par bgyis / / lo thang skyel du mchI ba la rje blas gnyer myi kums sam lo thang gI
(6) rnams chad pa zhig du gyur na / / bla 'og gi chad ci byung ba / ^eng tse dngos mchid kyis 'tshal bar bgyis / brgya' la
(7) ^eng tses rje blas gnyer myi kuMs saM myi 'byor raM / gzhi la ma mchis sam phan phun zhig du gyur na / / dam gong nas
(8) [byung] ba bzhin 'jal gnya' khas len / ^eng tse'i phu bo 'bu lyang dze yi'u stagu gnyis mchid kyis
(9) 'tshal bar bgyis / / gla thang lus pa ^eng tse rje blas 'khor nas / / yi'u stagu dang / zhi sum du mchis nas stsald
(10) par bgyis / 'dI ltar tham lags pa'I 'og du / sngar lo ba zhig mchIs na / / nas khal bdun phabste / / gang myi
(11) lo ba la 'phral du stsald par bgyis pa'I dpang la / wang stagu dang / lu dze sheng dang / leng ho pe'u tshvon dang / yun ^an tse
(12) [dang ca]ng ^i tse dang / je'u brtan kong dang / *** la stsogs pa'I dpang rgya dang ^eng tse dang khas len rnams
(13) gyi sug rgyas btab pa' / / (ten round vermilion seals)
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), archives?p=Pt_1098, maintained by Osaka University. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
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