PT 1096 — A Dunhuang Judicial Proceeding
PT 1096 is the most detailed judicial proceeding among the Dunhuang Tibetan documents: a stolen horse case spanning two animal years, with multiple testimonies, summons that go unanswered, sureties posted and missed, and a final decree setting a date for sworn statements. Written in Old Tibetan on paper, it is held in the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
The case concerns a horse belonging to An Btsan-zigs-tshan that was dispatched with Messenger Gzhams Khong-khri to the Par-kog station, where it was seized by the district overseer Tshugs-phon and his associates. The horse keeper Li 'Ab Sab-nyang was questioned but denied responsibility; a second man, Dze'u Hing-yir, claimed the horses had been ridden away; the owner Hing-tse testified that his horse had been at the station for three years and could not simply have vanished. The overseer was unable to account for the animal. A judicial hearing was convened, sureties were posted, and multiple parties were summoned — but key witnesses repeatedly failed to appear.
A separate postscript from the Rooster Year records an artisan commission for silver-adorned panels, connecting administrative and economic life at the frontier. The document dates to the Dragon Year, with proceedings continuing into winter, during the Tibetan imperial period at Dunhuang (c. 786-848 CE).
In the autumn of the Dragon Year, at the beginning of the last month:
One horse belonging to An Btsan-zigs-tshan. Messenger Gzhams Khong-khri was dispatched with it to the station at Par-kog. In the matter of returning it:
The district's overseer Tshugs-phon, Sna, and others seized the horse and placed it at the station. There was a complaint of loss, and the horse was not returned.
The district's horse keeper, Li 'Ab Sab-nyang, was seized and questioned. He said: "We did not place the horse at the district station." The matter was referred to Li Zhen-'do. The horse was spotted, and there was a complaint of loss.
'Ab Sab-nyang and Zhan-'do were summoned. They both swore: "This horse, which was placed at the station — it was not lost. Whether we trained it, or whether it was stolen — obtain proof through an oath of innocence. If you dare swear, produce the surety. If you dare not swear, it shall be decided according to law."
Against him, 'Ab Sab-nyang and others — an oath-trial was conducted.
On the eighth day of the first winter month of this year: until the fourteenth day, neither 'Ab Sab-nyang nor the guarantor Zhan-'do appeared. Tshugs-phon summoned Yo-gang G.yu-la-skyes to the court and questioned him.
His testimony: "Messenger Gzhams Khong-khri requested one horse of a Sha-cu person and came to the station at Par-kog. This horse — both the Messenger and the horse keeper 'Ab Sab-nyang were entrusted with the stallion's care. But many other horses were not present. Only a few messenger horses were there, and it was said that it did not match with the Sha-cu person's horse collateral. The Messenger and the horse keeper — I myself dealt with it. Where the horse was, I ordered it taken along the road and brought back, and I also ordered the horse keeper."
"The next day, Dze'u Hing-yir returned to the station, saying: 'Where is my horse?' When questioned, 'Ab Sab-nyang said: Both Sha-cu horses were at Slungs-phon's battleground, and Dze'u Hing-yir rode one and led the other and fled — this is what 'Ab-nyang heard."
"The horse — I myself have not seen it," he says.
One sworn statement from the horse's owner, Hing-tse: "My horse has been at the station enclosure for three years. Not a single other horse of the district was present. That this horse cannot be seen by Tshugs-phon — this is not right. Even if it were stolen, who would have the nerve? Where has it gone?" Thus he petitioned.
At that time, the district's steward claimed: "I have been stationed at the Thum-chu-ma outer post, managing from Ju-chang upward to Lug-lung downward." Thus he spoke.
The ruling was pronounced:
Regarding the lost horse of Hing-tse and others — the charge was made that Tshugs-phon and others stole it.
When Tshugs-phon was questioned, he said: "When this horse was at the station, I myself ordered the horse keeper 'Ab Sab-nyang to bring the horse back. At one point, both horses were at Slungs-phon's grounds, and Dze'u rode one and led the other and fled — this is what 'Ab Sab-nyang heard." Thus he said.
'Ab Sab-nyang, who had previously been set a surety date, did not appear on time. Zhan-'do also did not appear. Since the lost horse cannot be named and abandoned, Tshugs-phon shall also post surety. 'Ab Sab-nyang and Zhan-'do shall be summoned. On the fifteenth of the first winter month, sworn statements shall be sought. This was decreed.
G.yu-la-skyes's guarantors: An Hva-hva, Den Bun-'de, Cang Stag-bzher, Yo-gang Re'u-skyes, Gnyi-ba Lha-mthong, Shig-shing-shing, and others — their guarantor-seals were affixed. Khong-ta's hand-print was affixed. The elder officials and judges' witness-seals were stamped.
Postscript — The Silver Panels
On the seventeenth day of the first summer month of the Rooster Year:
Fifteen sections of silver-adorned panels, with engraved designs and bearing an upper inscription, were entrusted to the artisans Dze'u Syang-'do and Khang Tsin-beng. Their two hand-prints and Do Han-ku's witness-seal were affixed.
(A flower-shaped sign.) Tsam Do Han-ku.
Colophon
PT 1096 (Pelliot tibetain 1096). Old Tibetan judicial proceeding 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: This is the longest and most procedurally detailed judicial document among the translated Dunhuang Tibetan texts. Key vocabulary: "Pho nya" (messenger) refers to an official courier. "Tshugs" (station) is a military or administrative post. "Tshugs phon" (station overseer) is the official in charge. "Rta rdzi" (horse keeper) is the person responsible for horses at a station. "Dkar drus" (white assembly / oath-trial) is a formal judicial proceeding where oaths are taken. "Bro dkar gis thob shig" (obtain proof through an oath of innocence) and "bro phod na" (if you dare swear) indicate a legal system where sworn oaths carried juridical weight. "Gnya'" (surety/bond) is the system of guarantors who vouch for a party's appearance. "Mchid shags" (sworn statement) is formal testimony under oath. "Rmar gsol" (petitioned) indicates a formal legal petition. "Sha cu" is Shazhou (沙州, Dunhuang). "Par kog" is a station name. "G.yul thog" (battleground/grounds) refers to a location, possibly a military camp. "Slungs" appears to be a district or military unit. "Dze'u" is likely a Chinese surname (Zhou 周? or Zhao 趙?). The postscript about the silver panels is a separate transaction recorded on the same manuscript, connecting the judicial and economic activities of the frontier administration. "Bla'i dngul kyi 'ji ba can gyi pan" (silver-adorned panels with engraved designs bearing an upper inscription) suggests commissioning decorative metalwork, possibly for a temple or official building. "Ri mo mkhan" (artisan/painter) indicates craftspeople.
The case structure reveals a sophisticated legal system: initial complaint, investigation, summons, testimony, cross-examination, surety bonds, repeated non-appearance of key witnesses, and judicial decree setting a new hearing date. The overseer Tshugs-phon was accused of theft but deflected blame to the horse keeper 'Ab Sab-nyang, who in turn blamed Dze'u Hing-yir. The owner Hing-tse's testimony is the most compelling — his horse was at the station for three years, and he demands accountability. The case was unresolved at the time of this document; the sworn statement hearing was still pending.
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 1096
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) $ / / 'brug gi lo 'i ston sla ba cungs gyi ngo la / / ^an btsan zigs tshan gyi rta gcig / / pho nya gzhams
(2) khong khri 'tsal cing / par kog gi tshugsu mcis nas / / slar zlogs pa'i rigs pa las / / slungs gyi dphon
(3) sna tshugs phon la stsogs pa / / rta phrogste / / tshugsu bzhag pa las / / stor ches mciste / / rta slar ma
(4) stsal nas / / slungs gyi rta rdzi li ^ab sab nyang / bzungste rmas pa las / / slungs tshugsu rta bdag chag
(5) gis bzhag pa yang mad / / li zhen 'do la gthad pa las / / rta snar mo stor ches mciste /
(6) ^ab sab nyang / zhan 'do yang khug la / / rmos te / rta 'di tshugsu bzhag pa las / stor pa ma lags
(7) re / / bdag chag gis sbyangs re brkus re shes bro dkar gis / thob shig / bro phod na skyin ba phob
(8) shig / bro ma phod na / / khrims bzhin gchad par bgyis te / / kho na ^ab sab nyang la
(9) stsogs pa / / dkar drus / lan 'di'i dgun sla ra ba tshes brgyad la bgyis pa las / tshes bcu bzhi'i
(10) bar du ^ab sab nyang dang / khungs po zhan 'do yang ma mchis nas / / tshugs phon / yo gang
(11) g.yu la skyes grar bkugste rmas pa las / / pho nya gzhams khong khri / sha cu pa 'i rta gchig
(12) 'tsal te / / par kog gi tshugsu mchis pa las / / rta 'di pho nya dang / rta rdzi ^ab sab nyang gnyis gyis rta / pho
(13) skyon bar bgyis pa las / / pho nyang mang po ni ma mchis / / pho nya rkya 'ga' mchis pa la / / sha cu pa'i rta bya bsdas
(14) pa la ma thug shes / / pho nya dang rta rdzi la bdag gis bgyis / / rta ga la mcis pa / long la skyal
(15) slar skris shig par rta rdzi la yang bdag gis bsgos pa las / / phyi de nang par dze'u hing yir slar tshugsu
(16) mchis te / nga'i rta ga re zhes rmas pa las / / ^ab sab nyang gi mchid nas / sha cu pa'i rta gnyi ga slungs phon
(17) g.yul thog na mchis pa las / dze'u hing yir gis gcig zhon gcig khrid de bros shes / ^ab nyang
(18) la thos / / rta ni bdagis ma thong zhes mchi' / / rta bdag hing tse mchid shags rnam gchig la / bdag gi rta tshugs
(19) khor na dgung gsum mchis pa / slungs gyi rta gzhan gchig kyang ma mchis la / rta 'di tshugs phon gyis myi mthong
(20) du yang myi rung na / rku su yang glo ba chung na / / khong ta gar mchis zhes rmar gsol zhes mchi / / de 'i tshe slungs gyi bu gnyer chags / /
(21) thum chu ma phyi la chagste / / ju chang yan chad dang / lug lung man cad du gnyer du mchi zhes mchi nas / / dbyangs
(22) te bchad pa / / hing tshe la stsogs pa'i rta stor pa / / tshugs phon la stsogs pa la / brkusu yang dog shes
(23) gsol / / tshugs phon rmas pa las / rta 'di tshugsu mchis pa las / bdag gis rta slar
(24) skri shig par rta rdzi ^ab sab nyang la bsgos / rnam chig la rta gnyi ga slungs phon gyi g.yul thog
(25) mchis pa las / / dze'u gis gchig zhon gchig khrid de bro ste [s]ong zhes / / ^ab sab nyang la thos /
(26) shes mchi' / ^ab sab nyang sngar gnya' dus btab pa las kyang / dus su ma mchis / zhan 'do
(27) yang ma mchis / / rta stor pa tha snyad 'dogs shing bsgyang du myi rung gis / / tshugs phon yang gnya'
(28) stsol la / ^ab sab nyang dang / zhan 'do khug la / / dgun sla ra ba nya la mchid shags 'tshol chig
(29) par bcade / / g.yu la skyes gyi gnya' la / / ^an hva hva dang / den bun 'de dang / cang stag bzher dang / yo
(30) gang re'u skyes dang / gnyi ba lha mthong dang / shig shing shing la stsogs pa'i gnya' rgya dang / khong ta'i
(31) sug rgya dang / / zhang lon zhal che pa'i dpang rgyas bthab pha / /
(32) $ /:/ bya gag lo'i dbyar sla ra ba tshes bcu bdun la / bla'i dngul kyi 'ji ba can gyi pan bris pa'I ceng
(33) bco lnga / ri mo mkhan dze'u syang 'do dang khang tsin beng la gthade / / kho na gnyis kyi sug rgya dang
(34) do han ku'i dpang rgyas btab pa / / (a flower-shaped sign) tsam do han ku /
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), archives?p=Pt_1096, maintained by Osaka University. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
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