PT 1087 — A Dunhuang Administrative Document
PT 1087 is a serf assignment document from the Pelliot tibetain collection of the Bibliotheque nationale de France. Written in Old Tibetan on paper, it records the assignment of twelve named bonded persons to military-administrative service under the authority of thousand-chiefs, five-hundred-chiefs, and district commanders. The document specifies that the bonded persons shall not flee and shall appear at the assembly until death, with named guarantors and right-hand finger-measure seals.
The document dates to the Monkey Year, during the Tibetan imperial period at Dunhuang (c. 786-848 CE). The opening is damaged, but the intact portions preserve the names of all twelve assigned persons — predominantly Chinese names in Tibetan script, with one from the Dri-bo district. The "finger-measure" (mdzub chad) at the end is a form of biometric authentication: the width of the right hand's fingers was impressed into the document as a personal mark, used by those who could not write.
This is a primary source for the labor administration of the Tibetan Empire at Dunhuang, showing how bonded populations were managed through a system of assignment, surety, and biometric identification.
[---] [---]
[---] to the thousand-chief major and minor, and the five-hundred-chief of the five companies —
[---] the official procedure is at the assembly. Hereafter, having voluntarily presented themselves —
[---] by authority and decree. In the Monkey Year, from the summer, the first month, until death:
The Shan-shan people shall not flee, and by the decree of attendance at the assembly —
The guarantors shall escort the Shan-shan people and submit their hand-prints to the district chieftains, the thousand-chief major and minor, and the five-hundred-chief of the five companies, and they shall serve.
Twelve bonded persons were assigned to the Shan-shan. The names of the bonded ones:
Ban-de Cang Phab-sung, Cang The'u-cung, Sin Hva He'u, Bang Hva-tse, Sin Tsin-thong, Mdo Khyi-tro of the Dri-bo district, Cang Bstan-legs, 'Ba' The-tsheng, Cang Zhen-'do, Bang Shing-'do, Kvag Dze-shen-yang, 'Bye Sam-sam, and others.
Their guarantor-seals, and the Shan-shan people's right-hand finger-measure, were stamped.
(Inverted lines with a finger-measure impression.)
Colophon
PT 1087 (Pelliot tibetain 1087). Old Tibetan serf assignment 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: The opening lines are heavily damaged, with significant lacunae. "Shan-shan" (shan shan) may refer to the oasis kingdom of Shanshan (鄯善) along the southern Silk Road in present-day Xinjiang, which was under Tibetan imperial administration. The twelve names are predominantly Chinese: Cang (張 Zhang?), Sin (新 Xin?), Bang (龐 Pang?), 'Ba' (巴 Ba?), Kvag, 'Bye. "Ban-de" before the first name is a Tibetan rendering of the Chinese Buddhist title "pan-de" (般的, possibly bandhe/monk), suggesting this person had religious status. "Mdo Khyi-tro of the Dri-bo district" identifies one person by both name and district, suggesting a different origin from the others. "Stong-pon stong-chung" (thousand-chief major and minor) and "brgye'u rje lnga rkang" (five-hundred-chief of the five companies) are Tibetan military-administrative ranks. "Mdzub chad" (finger-measure) is a form of biometric authentication: the width or imprint of fingers was used as a personal seal by those who could not sign their names. The term "gnya'" (oath/bond) and "gnya' myi" (bonded person) indicate a system of serfdom or bonded labor within the Tibetan imperial administration. The phrase "ma gum tshun chad" (until death) specifies that the bond was lifelong.
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. The damaged opening lines required significant reconstruction; uncertain readings are indicated by [---].
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: PT 1087
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) [-]u [---] / [---]
(2) [---] [-]n chad stong pon stong chung dang brgye'u rje lnga rkang la
(3) [---] [ring?] lugs ni 'dun sar mchis / / slad kyis / rang zhugs
(4) [-]ug [-]' / bla lung / dang / cha skad / spre'u 'i lo'i dbyar sla ra ba ma guM tshun
(5) chad / mchis gyi bar du / shan shan myi 'bros shing / 'dun sar mchi ba'i
(6) lung mchis nas / gnya' bo rnams kyis shan shan khrid de / sde'i dpon sna /
(7) stong pon stong chung dang brgye'u rje lnga rkang gi sug par 'bul zhing gnyer dguM
(8) bar / shan shan gnya' myi bcu gnyisu stsal pa pa'i / gnya' bo'i mying rus la
(9) ban de cang phab sung / cang the'u cung / sin hva he'u / bang hva tse / sin tsin thong / drI bo 'i sde mdo khyi tro /
(10) / / cang bstan legs / / 'ba' the tsheng / / cang zhen 'do
(11) bang shIng 'do / kvag dze she[n?] yang / 'bye sam sam / lastsogspa'I gnya'
(12) rgya dang / shan shan gyi sug pa g.yas pha 'i mdzub chad btab bo / (inverted lines with a finger-measure)
(13) (inverted)
Source Colophon
Old Tibetan source text from the Old Tibetan Documents Online (OTDO), https://otdo.aa-ken.jp/archives?p=Pt_1087, maintained by Osaka University. The original manuscript is held by the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
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