I would like to thank Tomiya Itaru 冨谷至 for supporting this research in many ways, including answering questions, making his personal materials available to me, and reading and commenting on a draft of the translation. I am also grateful to: William Boltz, Lothar von Falkenhausen, Enno Giele, Yuri Pines, Mark Pitner, Christian Schwermann, and an anonymous reviewer, who read the paper and provided valuable corrections and suggestions for improvement; Lai Hsiu-yi 賴秀宜, who helped me obtain some of the materials I cite; and Miyake Kiyoshi 宮宅潔, who provided a number of pieces of information. I would also like to thank Zhang Defang 張德芳 and the Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 甘肅省考古文物研究所 for welcoming me and allowing me access to the “Sishi yueling” inscription. Finally, I am indebted to Robin D. S. Yates for sharing his expertise in both Chinese law and editorial matters. Financial support was provided by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Institut fur Sinologie und Ostasienkunde, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.

1. yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, “Gansu Dunhuang Han dai Xuanquanzhi yizhi fajue jianbao” 甘肅敦煌漢代懸泉置遺址發掘簡報, Wenwu 文物 2000.5, 15 (hereafter “Jianbao”)Google Scholar. On the difficulty inherent in working with separated writing strips, see remarks in the seminal study by Loewe, Michael, Records of Han Administration (London: Cambridge University Press, 1967), 1.18Google Scholar.

2. Appendix 2 contains a table of parallels and their page references in these three texts. Throughout this paper, I refer to the texts of “Sishi yueling” and its parallels by reference to the relevant line of “Sishi yueling”; see Appendix 2 for page citations.

3. The following summarizes “Jianbao,” 4–20; and Shengfang, Chai 柴生芳, “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki” 敦煌漢晉懸泉遺址, trans. Noriyuki, Fujii 藤井律之, in Henkyō shutsudo mokkan no kenkyū 邊境出土木簡の研究, ed. Itaru, Tomiya (Kyoto: Hōyū, 2003), 161–203Google Scholar, which is an expanded version of Shengfang, Chai, “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki hakkutsu ki” 敦煌漢晉懸泉遺址發掘記, trans. Noriyuki, Fujii, Nihon Shin-Kanshi gakkai kaihō 日本秦漢史學會會報 2 (2001), 17–28Google Scholar; previously, Chai had published a very short summary description of the site, “Xuanquan yizhi fajue you huo xin chengguo” 懸泉遺址發掘又獲新成果, in Jianbo yanjiu 簡帛研究, 1, ed. Xueqin, Li 李學勤 (Beijing: Falü, 1993), 287–89Google Scholar. My discussion of the paleographic materials draws from yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, “Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian neirong gaishu” 敦煌 懸泉漢簡內容概述, Wenwu 2000.5, 21–26Google Scholar; and yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, “Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shiwen xuan” 敦煌懸泉漢簡釋文選, Wenwu 2000.5, 27–45Google Scholar; see also Junmin, Zhang 張俊民, “Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi tanfang T0309 chutu jiandu gaishu” 敦煌縣泉置探方 T0309 出土簡牘概述, in Changsha Sanguo Wu jian ji bainian lai jianbo faxian yu yanjiu guoji yantaohui lunwen ji 長沙三國吳簡暨百年來簡帛 發現與研究國際研討會論文集, ed. yanjiusuo, Changsha shi wenwu kaogu 長沙市文 物考古研究所 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2005), 394–406Google Scholar. I also consulted Pingsheng, Hu 胡 平生, “Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi chutu ‘Sishi yueling zhaotiao’ yanjiu” 敦煌懸泉置出 土 “四時月令詔條” 研究, in Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao 敦煌懸泉月令詔 條 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2001), 38–48Google Scholar; Kiyoshi, Miyake, “Kensenchi-to sono shūhen— Tonkō–Ansei-no aida-no rekishi chiri” 懸泉置とその周邊–––敦煌間～安西の間の 歷史地理, Shirukurōdogaku kenkyū シルクロード学研究 22 (2005), 99–129Google Scholar, who pays particular attention to the natural and historical geography of the place; and Itaru, Tomiya, “Ansei–Tonkō aida-no sho iseki” 安西～敦煌間の諸遺跡, Shirukurōdogaku kenkyū 22 (2005), 43–49Google Scholar, which treats three sites in the area, including Xuanquanzhi, discussed pp. 44–45. Finally, I also referred to a photocopy of He Shuangquan's 何雙全 handwritten draft report on the Xuanquanzhi excavations, which Tomiya Itaru shared with me.

4. For a list of all dates (reign period and year) found in the recovered strips, see Chai, , “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki,” 178–203Google Scholar.

5. The site's location is somewhat variously given. Chai, , “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki,” 161Google Scholar, says the site is 56 km from Anxi but “Jianbao,” 4, says it is 60 km; they agree that it is 64 km from Dunhuang; Miyake, , “Kensenchi-to sono shūhen,” 100Google Scholar, says the straight-line distance is 47 km from Anxi and a bit less than 60 km from Dunhuang. According to Chai, , “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki,” 161Google Scholar, and “Jianbao,” 4, the site's coordinates are longitude 95° 20′ E and latitude 40° 20′ N (NB I correct “Jianbao,” which reverses longitude and latitude). Chai gives the altitude as altitude 1150 m, while “Jianbao” has 1700 m. I follow the coordinates and altitude given in Miyake, “Kensenchi-to sono shūhen,” 100, which were determined by making measurements on site (Miyake, private communication, 8 January 2008). Published accounts refer to Guazhou by its former name, Anxi; I thank Yuri Pines (personal communication, 31 August 2008) for calling my attention to its changed name, Guazhou, which restored the ancient name of the place.

6. Di, Li 李迪 (Qing), et al., Gansu tongzhi 甘肅通志 (Siku quanshu ed.), 5.29aGoogle Scholar. Elsewhere, the same book records that the spring had the miraculous property of responding to the number of horses and chariots that arrived, so a lot of water would appear for a large group, and less for a small one; see Gansu tongzhi, 6.97b–98aGoogle Scholar.

7. For the Dunhuang Han strips, see yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, Dunhuang Han jian 敦煌漢簡 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1991), 2.268 (nos. 1290, 1295A, 1297, 1301, 1312) and 2.269 (no. 1313)Google Scholar; for the Juyan strips, see Juyan Han jian: jia yi bian 居延 漢簡: 甲乙編, ed. yanjiusuo, Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu 中國社會科學院考 古研究所 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1980), 217 (no. 312.10B)Google Scholar. The name also occurs in strips recovered at the Xuanquanzhi site itself; see e.g., Defang, Zhang and Pingsheng, Hu, Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui 敦煌懸泉漢簡釋粹 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2001), 20, 72, 94, etcGoogle Scholar. The place is also named as a water source in later documents recovered at Dunhuang, e.g., in the “Shazhou dudufu tujing” 沙州都督府圖經; see Chunhui, Pan 潘春輝, “Tang qianqi Dunhuang nongye kaifa shulüe—yi P. 2005 ‘Shazhou dudufu tujing’ wei zhongxin” 唐前期敦煌農業開發數略–––以 P. 2005 “沙洲都督府圖經” 為中 心, Kaifa yanjiu 開發研究 6 (2006), 120Google Scholar, and Miyake, , “Kensenchi-to sono shūhen,” 100Google Scholar.

8. Jifu, Li, Yuanhe junxian zhi (Siku quanshu 四庫全書 ed.), 40.13b–14aGoogle Scholar; Hong, Cui, Shiliuguo chunqiu (Siku quanshu ed.), 81.3aGoogle Scholar.

9. Miyake, , “Kensenchi-to sono shūhen,” 103Google Scholar.

10. Chai says that the first stage lasted until November 1991; Chai, , “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki,” 162Google Scholar. Obviously this would overlap with subsequent periods and so presumably is an error. Xuan Quan 玄權 gives a simpler timeline, which divides the work into just three stages, the first of which ended in January 1991; see Quan, Xuan, “Xuanquanzhi fajue jieshu jiandu zhengli jijiang jinxing” 懸泉置發掘結束簡牘整理即 將進行, in Jianbo yanjiu, 1, 290Google Scholar. I follow this dating for the first period (and suspect the mistake in Chai is a typographical error).

11. The authors of the report do not mention that these strips were used as prototoilet paper, but it can be assumed. This practice has been observed at other sites, and such use of strips continued into later times and is mentioned in transmitted texts; see Pingsheng, Hu, “Maquanwan mujian yu cejian” 馬圈灣木簡與廁簡, in Hu Pingsheng jiandu wenwu lunji 胡平生簡牘文物論集 (Taipei: Lantai, 2000), 96–98Google Scholar; and Hailie, Huang 黃海烈, “Liye Qin jian yu Qin difang guanzhi” 里耶秦簡與秦地方官制, Beifang luncong 北方論叢 6 (2005), 7Google Scholar.

12. Note that the designations “Korean” and “Chinese” are common names and have no relation to the origins of the wood in this case.

13. Hu and Zhang, Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui; this information derives from their introduction, 3.

14. For a review of scholarship, see Hua, Han 韓華, “1995–2005-nian Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian yanjiu zongshu” 1995–2005 年敦煌懸泉漢簡研究綜述, Zhongguo shi yanjiu dongtai 中國史研究動態 2 (2007), 2–7Google Scholar. For a recent study of the site, the documents recovered there, and their implications, as well as numerous additional transcriptions, see Shusheng, Hao 郝樹聲 and Defang, Zhang, Xuanquan Han jian yanjiu 懸泉漢簡研究 (Lanzhou: Gansu wenhua, 2009)Google Scholar.

15. The following draws from descriptions in Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 39 and passim; Chai, , “Tonkō Kan-Shin Kensen iseki,” 165–66Google Scholar; and “Jianbao,” 15, as well as my observation of the original piece on 4 March 2008 and conversation with Zhang Defang the previous day.

16. Junmin, Zhang, “Jianshu Xuanquanzhi Yuanshi wunian zhaoshu ‘Sishi yueling wushitiao’” 簡述懸泉置元始五年詔書 “四時月令五十條,” in Dunhuang xue yu Zhongguo shi yanjiu lunji: jinian Sun Xiushen xiansheng shishi yizhounian 敦煌學與中國史研究論 集–––紀念孫修身先生逝世一週年, ed. Wenjie, Duan 段文傑 and Masahiro, Mogi 茂木 雅博 (Lanzhou: Gansu renmin, 2001), 183–84Google Scholar, considers “Sishi yueling” in conjunction with three edicts recovered at Juyan, and estimates it took about eighty days for “Sishi yueling” to reach Xuanquan; on the transmission of the edict, see also Ren'er, Huang 黃 人二, Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi zhaoshu Sishi yueling wushitiao shixi 敦煌懸泉置詔書四時 月令五十條試析 (Taipei: Gaowen, 2002), 27–30Google Scholar. However, if the dates in the text and the conversion by Shiming, Fang 方詩銘 and Xiaofen, Fang 方小芬, Zhongguo shi liri he Zhongxi liri duizhao biao 中國史曆日和中西曆日對照表 (Shanghai: Shanghai cishu, 1987)Google Scholar are correct, the actual time must have been somewhat longer. “Sishi yueling” was first distributed to the bureaucracy on June 9, 5 C.E. (line 6), and soon sent off to the next level, and then to the commandery level on June 13 (95); it was passed along in Dunhuang Commandery on September 28 (97), at which point some three and a half months had already passed.

17. The exceptions are lines 64 and 71, which have no parallels I or others have located, and line 32.

18. These labels are located in lines 20, 28, 33, 43, 49, 51, 57, 62, 65, 72, 78 (damaged), and 81.

19. As noted by a number of scholars, e.g., Loewe, Michael, The Men Who Governed Han China: Companion to A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (Leiden: Brill, 2004), 465Google Scholar.

20. For some similar examples of bullet point use in Han times, including examples from Juyan 居延 documents and elsewhere, see Xihua, Guan 管錫華, Zhongguo gudai biaodian fuhao fazhan shi 中國古代標點符號發展史 (Chengdu: Ba-Shu, 2002), 69–70, 77–79, 84–86, 96Google Scholar.

21. Qipeng, Wei 魏啟鵬, “Dunhuang Xuanquan ‘Zhaoshu sishi yueling wushitiao’ jiaojian” 敦煌懸泉 “詔書四時月令五十條” 校箋, in Changsha Sanguo Wu jian ji bainian lai jianbo faxian yu yanjiu guoji yantaohui lunwen ji, 392Google Scholar, says the commentaries draw on the “Hongfan wuxing zhuan” 鴻範五行傳 chapter of Shang shu dazhuan 尚書大 傳. However, although he points to some similar and thus potentially related content, there is no parallel text.

22. Xiaohong, Ma 馬小紅, Li yu fa: fa de lishi lianjie 禮與法: 法的歷史連接 (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 2004), 282–93Google Scholar.

23. Zhenbo, Yu 于振波, “Cong Xuanquanzhi bishu kan ‘Yueling’ dui Han dai falü de yingxiang” 從懸泉置壁書看 “月令” 對漢代法律的影響, Hunan daxue xuebao (shehui kexue ban) 湖南大學學報 (社會科學版) 16.5 (2002), 25Google Scholar.

24. See also Zhenbo, Yu, “Cong Xuanquanzhi bishu kan ‘Yueling,’” 25Google Scholar.

25. See Rappaport, Roy A., Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 169–215 and passimCrossRefGoogle Scholar; the quote is from page 177 (emphasis in original).

26. As noted by, for example, Zhenbo, Yu, “Cong Xuanquanzhi bishu kan ‘Yueling,’” 23 and passimGoogle Scholar.

27. Sterckx, Roel, “The Economics of Religion in Warring States and Early Imperial China,” in Early Chinese Religion, Part One: Shang through Han (1250 BC–220 AD), ed. Lagerwey, John and Kalinowski, Marc (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 845–46Google Scholar; Loewe, , Men Who Governed, 465Google Scholar.

28. Aihe, Wang, Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)Google Scholar, examines the relationships between Wuxing cosmology in its various forms (including texts like the rishu 日書 recovered at Shuihudi 睡虎地), seasonal governance, etc.

29. On the Li ji “Yue ling” as directions for the emperor, see, for example, Wang Meng’ou 王夢鷗, “Li ji ‘Yue ling’ jiaodu houji” 禮記月令校讀後記, in Yuegang, Li 李 曰剛, et al., Sanli yanjiu lunji 三禮研究論集 (Taipei: Liming, 1981), 258 and passimGoogle Scholar.

30. See Hu's, essay, “‘Bianshu,’ ‘dabian shu’ kao”“扁書,” “大扁書” 考, in Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 48–54Google Scholar; Ren'er, Huang 黃人二, Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi zhaoshu, 3, 31–32Google Scholar; on bianshu generally, see Yi, Ma 馬怡, “Bianshu shitan” 扁書試探, in Jianbo 簡 帛 1 (2006), 415–28Google Scholar; Wangzong, Wu 吳旺宗, “Han jian suojian ‘bianshu’ tanxi” 漢簡所 見 “扁書” 探析, Lanzhou xuekan 蘭州學刊 7 (2006), 27–28Google Scholar; and Pan, Chen 陳盤, Han Jin yijian shixiao qizhong 漢晉遺簡識小七種 (Taipei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo, 1975), 95a–96aGoogle Scholar; on bianshu documents as a medium for communication between the central government and local populations, see Chunping, Huang 黃春平, “Cong chutu jiandu kan Han diguo zhongyang de xinxi fabu—jian ping Zhang Tao xiansheng de ‘fubao’ shuo” 從出土簡牘看漢帝國中央的信息發布–––兼評張濤先生的 “府報” 說, Xinwen yu chuanbo yanjiu 新聞與傳播研究 4 (2006), 2–11Google Scholar.

31. See, for example, Hidemasa, Nagata 永田英正, “Monjo gyōsei” 文書行政, in In Shū Shin-Kan jidaishi no kihon mondai 殷周秦漢時代史の基本問題, ed. In Shū henshūiinkai, Shin Kan jidaishi no kihon mondai 殷周秦漢時代の基本問題編輯委員會 (Tokyo: Kyūko, 2001), 286–87Google Scholar, suggests this was the case for the edict commonly referred to as “Yuankang wunian zhaoshu” 元康五年詔書.

32. See, for example, Loewe, , The Government of the Qin and Han Empires, 221 B.C.E.–220 C.E. (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2006), 135 and passimGoogle Scholar.

33. Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 45.

34. See, for example, Jia Sixie 賈思勰, Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術 (Siku quanshu ed.), 1.10ab.

35. See, for example, Qimin yaoshu, 1.10bGoogle Scholar.

36. Fangchi, Liu 劉芳池, “Dunhuang Xuanquan yizhi suojian zhaoshu guanyongyu lishi” 敦煌懸泉遺址所見詔書慣用語例釋, in Jianbo yuyan wenzi yanjiu 簡帛語言文字研 究, no. 2, ed. Xiancheng, Zhang 張顯成 (Chengdu: Ba-Shu, 2006), 546–47, etcGoogle Scholar.

37. I say “appears” because there is no explicit command in the remaining part of the grand empress dowager's preamble, although the context strongly suggests a command was present but has been been lost. See Shihong, Xu 徐世虹, “Han dai falü zaiti kaoshu” 漢代法律載體考述, in Zhongguo fazhishi kaozheng 中國法制史考證, ed. Yifan, Yang 楊一凡, part 1, vol. 3, Lidai fazhi kao, Liang Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao fazhi kao 歷代法制考–––兩漢魏晉南北朝法制考, ed. Gao Xuchen 高旭晨 (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue, 2003), 150–51Google Scholar; Ren'er, Huang, Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi zhaoshu, 25–26Google Scholar.

38. Yang, Lien-sheng, “Female Rulers in Imperial China,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 23 (1960–1961), 47–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For examples of edicts by female rulers during Han times, see Lin Fu 林虙 (jinshi 1097), Liang-Han zhaoling 兩漢詔令 (Siku quanshu ed.), including those from Empress Lü 呂 (d. 180 B.C.E.; see pp. 3.1a–3a) and others.

39. Loewe, , A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (221 BC–AD 24) (Leiden: Brill, 2000)Google Scholar. The following discussion draws from Bielenstein, Hans, “Wang Mang, the Restoration of the Han Dynasty, and Later Han,” in Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.–A.D. 220, ed. Twitchett, Denis and Loewe, Michael (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 223–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Loewe, , “The Former Han Dynasty,” in Cambridge History, 1.198–222Google Scholar; and Zhanru, Shen 沈展如, Xin Mang quanshi 新莽全史 (Taipei: Zhengzhong, 1977)Google Scholar; with additional notes as necessary. Well-known works on Wang Mang include Bielenstein, The Restoration of the Han Dynasty, 4 vols. (Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, 1953)Google Scholar, and Dubs, Homer H., “Wang Mang and His Economic Reforms,” T’oung Pao 35 (1940), 219–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Titles are generally translated following or with reference to Bielenstein, , The Bureaucracy of Han Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

40. Gu, Ban 班固 (32–92), Han shu 漢書 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1962), 67A.3935Google Scholar. This title is translated following Loewe, , Men Who Governed, 465Google Scholar.

41. See her biography in Han shu, 98.4013–37Google Scholar.

42. Han shu, 98.4033Google Scholar.

43. Han shu, 98.4017Google Scholar.

44. Han shu, 98.4030Google Scholar.

45. For Wang Mang's biography, see Han shu, 99A.4039–99C.4199Google Scholar.

46. Ren'er, Huang, Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi zhaoshu, 51–61Google Scholar; Zhanru, Shen, Xin Mang quanshi, 176 and passimGoogle Scholar.

47. Han shu, 99A.4069Google Scholar.

48. Ken'ichi, Yoshino 吉野賢一, “Zenkan matsu-ni okeru gika-no setchi-ni tsuite” 前 漢末における羲和の設置について, Kyūshū daigaku Tōyōshi ronshū 九州大學東洋史論 集 31 (2003), 58Google Scholar; Lewis, Mark Edward, The Construction of Space in Early China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006), 269–70Google Scholar; and Li ji zhushu 禮記注疏 (Shisan jing zhushu 十三經注疏 ed., 1815; rpt. Taipei: Yiwen, 2001), 31.1a–21a (“Mingtang wei” 明堂位)Google Scholar.

49. See Ying Shao's 應邵 (fl. 189–94) explanation, quoted at Han shu, 12.357Google Scholar; Ye, Fan 范曄 (398–445), Hou Han shu 後漢書 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1965), 3177–78Google Scholar; Shen, , Xin Mang quanshi, 88Google Scholar; Soothill, William Edward, The Hall of Light: A Study of Early Chinese Kingship, ed. Hosie, Lady and Hudson, G.F. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1952)Google Scholar; Yoshino, , “Zenkan matsu,” 55–56Google Scholar; see also Yong's, Cai 蔡邕 (32–92) discussion in “Mingtang yueling lun” 明堂月令論, in Cai Zhonglang ji 蔡中郎集 (Sibu beiyao 四部備要 ed.), 10.1a–8bGoogle Scholar.

50. Han shu, 99A.4069Google Scholar.

51. Han shu, 12.357Google Scholar; 99A.4046–48, 99A.4068, 99B.4123.

52. Han shu, 12.348Google Scholar, 99A.4046, 99B.4123.

53. Han shu, 99A.4046–48, 99A.4068Google Scholar.

54. Bielenstein, , Bureaucracy, 5, 159Google Scholar.

55. See Han shu, 12.357Google Scholar, 99A.4066–67, 99A.4068, 99B.4123.

56. For an explanation of the title eheng, see Xuan's, Zheng note at Mao shi zhengyi 毛詩正義 (Shisan jing zhushu ed., 1815; rpt. Taipei: Yiwen, 2001), 20–4.8bGoogle Scholar.

57. Of whom he himself was still one.

58. Han shu, 97B.4010Google Scholar, 99A.4066–67.

59. See Bielenstein, , Bureaucracy, 10–12Google Scholar. Bielenstein says that the title dasima was held by the regent after 87 B.C.E., including during the time under discussion here. However, since Wang Mang later formally received the regency, I render this title according to its original sense, even though the position was bureaucratic and no longer military.

60. See also Han shu, 99A.4068.Google Scholar

61. Xin's, Liu biography is found in Han shu, 36.1967–73Google Scholar; on his name change, see Han shu, 36.1972Google Scholar; see also Loewe, Biographical Dictionary, s.v., “Liu Xin.”

62. See Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 41; Needham, Joseph and Ling, Wang, Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 3: Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959)Google Scholar.

63. Han shu, 18.716Google Scholar.

64. In lines 34, 52, 66, and 82. The title comes without Liu Xin's name in lines 3, 88, and 89. He is also named holding this title in Han shu, 12.359Google Scholar, 21A.955, and 99A.4090.

65. Han shu, 12.351Google Scholar.

66. Han shu, 74.3139Google Scholar.

67. Han shu, 74.3140Google Scholar says Emperor Xuan “accepted” (nayong 納用) Wei Xiang's proposal, and Wei Qipeng believes this means the plan was carried out, lamenting that there is no historical record of it; Wei Qipeng, “Dunhuang Xuanquan ‘Zhaoshu sishi,’” 391. But if we take Hsing I-t'ien's line of reasoning (see below) and apply it here, it seems unlikely this was institutionalized, as that would have made it unnecessary to establish the position in 1 C.E.

68. Hsing I-t'ien (Xing Yitian) 邢義田, “Yue ling yu Xi-Han zhengzhi zaiyi—dui Yinwan du ‘chun zhongshu’ he ‘yi chunling chenghu’ de zai xingsi” 月令與西漢政 治再議–––對尹灣牘「春種樹」和「以春令成戶」的再省思, Xin shixue 新史學 16.1 (2005), 169Google Scholar. See discussion of the title “four masters” below.

69. Loewe, Biographical Dictionary, s.v., “Xiang Zhang 襄章”; Han shu, 74.3139–40Google Scholar; I-t'ien, Hsing, “Yue ling yu Xi-Han zhengzhi—cong Yinwan Jibu zhong de ‘yi chunling chenghu’ shuoqi” 月令與西漢政治–––從尹灣集簿中的「以春令成戶」說起, Xin shixue 9 (1998), 15–16Google Scholar.

70. The editors of the Zhonghua edition of Han shu divide the title xihe into two words, and indeed there is good reason to do so, as my discussion of the title's origins shows. But in the Han context, a single official seems to be intended.

71. This is slightly different from the line found in the transmitted version of the “Yao dian” 堯典; cf. Shang shu zhengyi 尚書正義 (Shisan jing zhushu ed., 1815; rpt. Taipei: Yiwen, 2001), 2.8aGoogle Scholar. In his commentary on the Han shu version, Yan Shigu 顏師古 (581–645) says that both versions can be understood; my translation here follows the Han shu text and commentary.

72. Han shu, 10.312Google Scholar.

73. But cf. Zijin, Wang 王子今, “Han dai Juyan biansai shengtai baohu jilü dang’an” 漢代居延邊塞生態保護紀律檔案, Lishi dang'an 歷史檔案 4 (2005), 113Google Scholar, who treats it as a title.

74. Shang shu zhengyi, 2.9aGoogle Scholar; Han shu, 19A.721, 30.1734Google Scholar.

75. Han shu, 12.351Google Scholar. Yates, Robin D.S., “Purity and Pollution in Early China,” in Zhongguo kaoguxue yu lishixue zhi zhenghe yanjiu 中國考古學與歷史學之整合研究, ed. Zhenhua, Zang 臧振華 (Taipei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo, 1997), 496Google Scholar, says, “Sacrifices that were performed by someone other than the person authorized by ritual tradition to perform them were called ‘excessive … sacrifices [i.e., licentious sacrifices, yinsi 淫祀]”; Yates’ footnote adds, “Sacrifices in which inappropriate offerings were made or in which the volume of offerings exceeded what was called for were also labelled ‘excessive’ (yin [淫]).”

76. See Hao, Peng 彭浩, “Shuihudi Qin jian ‘Wangshi ci' yu ‘Ji lü' kaobian” 睡虎地 秦簡 “王室祠” 與 “齎律” 考辨, Jianbo 簡帛, 1, 239–40Google Scholar.

77. Yoshino, , “Zenkan matsu,” 44–66Google Scholar; Rieko, Baba 馬場理惠子, “‘Shu shiji’-to gatsuryō—Tonkō Kensenchi shutsudo ‘Siji gatsuryō shōjō’ o tegakari toshite” 主四 時” と月令–––敦煌懸泉置出土 “四時月令詔條” を手掛かりとして, Nihon Shin-Kan shi gakkai kaihō 7 (2006), 113–38Google Scholar.

78. See Han shu, 19A.731Google Scholar, 99B.4103; Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 45–46.

79. Shang shu zhengyi, 2.9a–10bGoogle Scholar; Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 11, 37.

80. Hu proposes identifications in his annotations to the text in Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 12, 21, 25, 33, 35–36.

81. Lu does not have a biography; for his life, see the “Waiqi Enzehou biao” 外戚 恩澤侯表, Han shu, 18.717–18Google Scholar; and Han shu, 84.3427Google Scholar, 99B.4125, 99B.4132, and 99B.4134. Hou Han shu, 29.1024Google Scholar says he was a grandee in Zuodui 左隊 before these events.

82. Han shu, 12.357Google Scholar, 12.359, 18.717–18, and 99A.4066.

83. See Bielenstein, , Bureaucracy, 80–82Google Scholar; Han shu, 84.3427Google Scholar.

84. Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 21; Junmin, Zhang, “Jianshu Xuanquanzhi,” 183Google Scholar.

85. Han shu, 99B.4126Google Scholar.

86. Han shu, 18.716Google Scholar.

87. Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 25; Han shu, 18.716Google Scholar.

88. Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 33. For Ping Yan's life, see also Han shu, 18.716Google Scholar, 19B.857, 71.3051, 81.3366, 99A.4045–46, 99B.4100, 99B.4134–35, 99C.4164; Loewe, Biographical Dictionary.

89. Han shu, 19B.856Google Scholar, 25B.1268, 67B.4010; Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 35.

90. Hu says this is not Wang Yun 王惲, associate of Wang Mang and one of the eight men sent to inspect local customs in 4 C.E. (see above). Yoshino, “Zenkan matsu,” 55, believes it may be Wang Yun, and suggests that Yun was concurrently clerk and grand coachman (taipu 太僕).

91. As argued by Sellmann, James D., Timing and Rulership in Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals (Lüshi chunqiu) (Albany: State University of New York, 2002), 18Google Scholar.

92. See, for example, Wang, E 王鍔, “‘Yue ling’ yu nongye shengchan de guanxi ji qi chengpian niandai” “月令” 與農業生產的關係及其成篇年代, Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan 古籍整理研究學刊 5 (2006), 5Google Scholar.

93. See, for example, Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 42 and passim. Tsengkuei, Liu, “Taboos: An Aspect of Belief in the Qin and Han,” in Early Chinese Religion, ed. Lagerwey, and Kalinowski, , 887Google Scholar, says of the laws contained in “Sishi yueling,” “They are by and large based on the ‘Twelve Annals’ 十二紀 chapters of the Annals of Sire Lü (Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋) and the ‘Monthly Ordinances’ of the Book of rites (Liji).” Riegel, Jeffrey K., “Li chi,” in Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, ed. Loewe, Michael (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China, 1993), 295Google Scholar, is more cautious, and writes, “The ‘Yüeh ling’ is an altered version of the ‘Annals of the monthly observances,’ which are seen in the Lü shih ch'un ch'iu and in the Huai nan zi.”

94. Li ji zhushu, 14.1aGoogle Scholar. Zheng's Sanli mulu is no longer extant. Note that, although understanding shishi 時事 as “seasonal matters” would also be a viable reading in this passage, I follow Kong Yingda's sub-commentary to understand two words, “calendar” 時 and “matters” 事.

95. See also Li ji zhushu, 15.19bGoogle Scholar, where Zheng repeats this claim in commentary on an instance of the title taiwei 太尉, saying that it was not part of the Zhou system.

96. Deming, Lu 陸德明, Jingdian shiwen 經典釋文 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1985), 11.27aGoogle Scholar. Yue, Shen 沈約 is quoted in Sui shu 隋書, ed. Zheng, Wei 魏徵 (580–643) (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1973), 13.288Google Scholar.

97. Nylan, Michael, The Five “Confucian” Classics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 174Google Scholar.

98. Zheng, Wei, Sui shu, 27.925–26Google Scholar. Even if this account is doubted, the fact that Zheng Xuan treated the “Yue ling” chapter as part of his commentary on the Li ji and wrote of in his Sanli mulu indicates “Yue ling” was a part of the Li ji during his life—i.e., no later than the 2nd C. C.E.

99. See Li ji zhushu, 15.20b–21aGoogle Scholar; and Guohan's, Ma 馬國翰 (1794–1857) collection of fragments from Rong's, MaLi ji Ma shi zhu 禮記馬氏注, 1b, in Yuhan shanfang jiyi shu 玉函山房輯佚書, ed. Guohan, Ma (1889; rpt. Taipei: Wenhai, 1967), 881Google Scholar.

100. See Yong, Cai, ‘Yueling zhangju,’ 1a, in Yuhan shanfang jiyi shu, ed. Guohan, Ma, 894Google Scholar.

101. See also Liji jijie 禮記集解, ed. Xidan, Sun 孫希旦 (1736–1784) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1989), 15.399–400Google Scholar; Zhenbo, Yu, “Cong Xuanquanzhi bishu kan,” 27Google Scholar.

102. Kuan, Yang 楊寬, “Yue ling kao” 月令考, Qi Lu xuebao 齊魯學報 2 (1941), 1–36Google Scholar.

103. Wang, E “‘Yue ling’ yu nongye shengchan,” Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan 5 (2006), 1–6Google Scholar.

104. Zhaozu, Rong 容肇祖, “Yueling de laiyuan kao” 月令的來源考, Yanjing xuebao 燕京學報 18 (1935), 97–105Google Scholar.

105. Wentao, Guo 郭文韜, “‘Yueling’ zhong de chuantong nongye zhexue lüelun” “月令” 中的傳統農業哲學略論, Zhongguo nongshi 中國農史 2 (1998), 15–20Google Scholar.

106. The preceding from Yuanzhi, Ding 丁原植, “Yue ling jiagou yu gudai tianwen de zhexue sisuo” 月令架構與古代天文的哲學思索, Xian-Qin Liang Han xueshu 先秦 兩漢學術 1 (2004), 79, 85–89, 98 and passimGoogle Scholar.

107. Fan Zhimin, 樊志民 and Hongbin, Zhu 朱宏斌, “Yue ling shu yu Zhongguo chuantong nongye guanli sixiang zhi shanbian” 月令書與中國傳統農業管理思想之 嬗變, Zhongguo nongshi 3 (2002), 96–103Google Scholar.

108. Meng'ou, Wang 王夢鷗, “Li ji Yue ling jiaodu houji” 禮記月令校讀後記, in Yuegang, Li 李曰剛, et al., Sanli yanjiu lunji 三禮研究論集 (Taipei: Liming, 1981), 251–65Google Scholar.

109. Jinyan, Cao 曹錦炎, “Chu boshu ‘Yue ling’ pian kaoshi” 楚帛書 “月令” 篇考釋, Jiang Han kaogu 江漢考古 1985.1, 63–67Google Scholar, referring to the “Si zhou” 四周 text; this corresponds to “Text C” in Barnard, Noel, The Ch'u Silk Manuscript: Translation and Commentary (Canberra: Department of Far Eastern History, Australian National University, 1973)Google Scholar.

110. I-t'ien, Hsing (Yitian, Xing), “Yue ling yu Xi-Han zhengzhi—cong Yinwan Jibu zhong de ‘yi chunling cheng hu’ shuoqi,” 4–6, 50Google Scholar, and passim; for the Fangmatan, Tianshui texts, see yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, Tianshui Fangmatan Qin jian 天 水放馬灘秦簡 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2009)Google Scholar.

111. Zhenhong, Yang 楊振紅, “Yue ling yu Qin Han zhengzhi zai tantao—jian lun yueling yuanliu” 月令與秦漢政治再探討–––兼論月令源流, Lishi yanjiu 歷史研究 2004.3, 25–26 and passimGoogle Scholar.

112. See discussion in Ren'er, Huang, Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi zhaoshu, 46–47Google Scholar. Kuan, Yang, “Yue ling kao,” 28–30Google Scholar, has a table and a discussion comparing parallels between the Lüshi chunqiu “Shier ji” and “Yin lü” with the Li ji “Yue ling,” which concentrates on the relationship between “Yin lü” and other texts; see also Guanzi jiaozhu 管子校注, ed. Xiangfeng, Li 黎翔鳯 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2004), 14.837–81, 24.1529–43Google Scholar; Li ji zhushu, 1.4a–5.27a, 11.1a–13.30aGoogle Scholar; Lüshi chunqiu xin jiaoshi, 6.328–37Google Scholar; Yi Zhou shu 逸周書 (Sibu beiyao ed.), 6.4b–17b and passim.

113. Ebrey, Patricia, “Estate and Family Management in the Later Han as Seen in the Monthly Instructions for the Four Classes of People,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 17 (1974), 173–205CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

114. For a discussion of the role of time in Lüshi chunqiu, see Sellmann, Timing and Rulership.

115. See, for example, Junmin, Zhang, “Jianshu Xuanquanzhi,” 182–83Google Scholar.

116. These graphs were interchangeable; see Heng, Gao 高亨, Guzi tongjia huidian 古 字通假會典 (Ji'nan: Qi-Lu, 1989), 772–76Google Scholar. On 毋 as the normative form of the imperative, see Pulleyblank, Edwin G., Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 1995), 107Google Scholar; Schuessler, Axel, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007), s.v., “wu 毋.”Google Scholar

117. See, for example, Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 42.

118. In parallels to lines 56, 58, and 69; the exception is in the parallel to line 29.

119. See Heng, Gao, Guzi tongjia huidian, 552Google Scholar; Hui, Wang 王輝, Guwenzi tongjia shili 古文字通假釋例 (Taipei: Yiwen, 1993), 903Google Scholar.

120. Kern, Martin, “Methodological Reflections on the Analysis of Textual Variants and the Modes of Manuscript Production in Early China,” Journal of East Asian Archaeology 4 (2002), 164, 166CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

121. Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 46.

122. Zui 罪 has the basic sense of “crime,” when used verbally meaning, “to treat as a crime,” and some scholars prefer to stop there. However, it is my view that zui in this sort of context implies a concrete reaction, and so is best rendered not just as “to treat as a crime,” but as “to punish.” Thus, in his commentary on this line in Lüshi chunqiu, 8.427Google Scholar, Gao You 高誘 (fl. ca. 205–212) glosses zui with the word fa 罰, “to punish.” Cf. also Knoblock, John and Riegel, Jeffrey, trans, The Annals of Lü Buwei (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000), 191Google Scholar, who translate the line, “Anyone who offends in this regard is to be punished [zui] without hesitation.” It may also be noted that lexica including Hanyu da cidian, Ci yuan 辭源, Dai Kan-Wa jiten 大漢和辭 典, and Wang Li Guhanyu zidian 王力古漢語字典, s.v., “zui,” agree that zui can have the sense of “punish.”

123. See Qiyou, Chen 陳奇猷, Lüshi chunqiu xin jiaoshi 呂氏春秋新校釋 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2002), 8.432Google Scholar.

124. See Yinzhi, Wang 王引之 (1766–1834), Jingzhuan shici 經傳釋詞 (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji, 1985), 5.11aGoogle Scholar.

125. On the use of two short, horizontal lines as ditto marks in Qin paleographic texts from Shuihudi 睡虎地, see Xihua, Guan, Zhongguo gudai biaodian fuhao, 62–63Google Scholar; for Han examples, see 68, 72, 80, 93.

126. These transcriptions follow Ciyuan 辭源, s.v., “ci.” See Schuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, s.v., “zi 胔,” groups all three together, transcribes them as zi, and reconstructs a single set of archaic pronunciations. See also Heng, Gao, Guzi tongjia huidian, 584Google Scholar.

127. Yi li zhushu 儀禮注疏 (Shisan jing zhushu ed., 1815; rpt. Taipei: Yiwen, 2001), 27.13bGoogle Scholar. See a similar usage in Han shu, 25B.1254Google Scholar.

128. Shen, Xu 許慎, Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1963), 13B.13aGoogle Scholar.

129. However Er ya also says the term for a sacrifice to the earth is yimai 瘞薶; Er ya zhushu 爾雅注書 (Shisan jing zhushu ed., 1815; rpt. Taipei: Yiwen, 2001), 2.9b, 3.8b, 6.14aGoogle Scholar.

130. Han shu, 70.3015Google Scholar.

131. Carson, Michael and Loewe, Michael, “Lü shih ch’un ch’iu,” in Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, ed. Loewe, Michael (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China, 1993), 324Google Scholar.

132. See Hulsewé, A.F.P., “Han shu,” in Early Chinese Texts, ed. Loewe, , 129–30Google Scholar.

133. A critical preference for concision was Johann Jakob Griesbach's (1745–1812) first rule; see Planck, G.J., Introduction to Sacred Philology and Interpretation, trans. with notes by Turner, Samuel H. (Edinburgh: Thomas Clark, 1834), 251Google Scholar; Brooks, E. Bruce, “Philology: The Question of Rules,” (online at http://www.umass.edu/wsp/philology/front/rules.html, accessed 16 May 2008)Google Scholar.

Yinzhi, Wang, Jingyi shuwen 經義述聞 (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji, 1985), 14.49a–50aGoogle Scholar, refers to a variety of texts in this and related contexts, some of which have “wood-clappered bell” 木鐸 and some of which have just “bell” 鐸. He says the two terms are equivalent, and that texts with “wood-clappered bell” resulted from copyists who were accustomed to seeing that phrase in “vulgar editions” 俗本 and so emended “bell.” Although the question of later emendation is of course important, this does not address the issue of where alternate readings in these editions could arise and be preserved, much less become the accepted readings in those texts; nor does it consider other differences between the parallels.

134. It seems to me that perhaps ji 及 could be a copying error for wu 毋, as the two graphs were similar, although there is no way to prove this; the phrase would then match “Sishi yueling.”

135. Yinzhi, Wang, Jingyi shuwen, 14.50aGoogle Scholar, says that his father, Wang Niansun 王念孫 (1744–1832), pointed to zhi 之 in the Li ji “Yue ling” as superfluous.

136. Note that I adjust the grammar to fit a stand-alone context; cf. line 63 of the translation.

137. Pulleyblank, , Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar, 107Google Scholar.

138. See Heng, Gao, Guzi tongjia huidian, 370Google Scholar; Schuessler, ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, s.v., “you.”

139. Heng, Gao, Guzi tongjia huidian, 158–59Google Scholar.

140. See Hui, Wang, Guwenzi tongjia shili, 438–39Google Scholar, and Heng, Gao, Guzi tongjia huidian, 294–95Google Scholar.

141. See discussion by Yong, Cai 蔡邕 (133–92) and others in commentary at Sima Qian 司馬遷 (ca. 145-ca. 86 B.C.E.), Shi ji 史記 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1959), 6.228Google Scholar.

142. The context, as represented in “Sishi yueling” lines 68–69, is one of patrolling to ensure security, including walls and locks, along with checking other features related to border security: defense preparations at the border, strategic points, and passes. In such a context, “border” also makes sense—perhaps better sense than “seals.” Thus, according to lectio difficilior the Lüshi chunqiu and “Sishi yueling” would represent the better text, while that of the Li ji “Yue ling” might represent a corruption. Wang Yinzhi, Jingyi shuwen, 14.61b. argues on the basis of sense that “seal(s)” is the preferable reading.

143. In his commentary on the Li ji, Zheng Xuan explains the Nine Gates as the Son of Heaven's gates.

144. Han shu, 8.258Google Scholar.

145. Yates, Robin D. S., “The Yin-Yang Texts from Yinqueshan: An Introduction and Partial Reconstruction, with Notes on Their Significance in Relation to Huang-Lao Daoism,” Early China 19 (1994), 78CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and see 98–106 for translation of “Sanshi shi” 三十 時, one example of such a text. For this and other examples, see Han mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu, Yinqueshan 銀雀山漢墓竹簡整理小組, eds., Yinqueshan Han mu zhujian 銀 雀山漢墓竹簡, vol. 2 (Beijing: Wenwu, 2010), 203–25Google Scholar.

146. Hou Han shu, 5.229Google Scholar. The text Emperor An quoted is in “Sishi yueling” line 21, and its parallels.

147. There is a single, minor exception in the case of the Huainanzi parallel to lines 25–27, in that the specific clauses of that section are in a different order than in “Sishi yueling.” Nevertheless, the section still comes in the same place in the overall sequence. On the significance of this, cf. Kern, Martin, “The Odes in Excavated Manuscripts,” in Text and Ritual in Early China, ed. Kern, Martin (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005), 177–78Google Scholar.

148. Han shu, 99A.4069Google Scholar.

149. See Boltz, William, “The Composite Nature of Early Chinese Texts,” in Text and Ritual, ed. Kern, , 50–78Google Scholar; on “archival versions,” see 71–72; Kern, , “Methodological Reflections,” 143–81, particularly 167–68Google Scholar; and Kern, , “The Odes in Excavated Manuscripts,” 149–93Google Scholar.

150. Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian 睡虎地秦墓竹簡, ed. Qin mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu, Shuihudi 睡虎地秦墓竹簡整理小組 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1990)Google Scholar; Ernian lüling yu Zouyanshu: Zhangjiashan ersiqi hao Han mu chutu falü wenxian shidu 二年律令與奏讞書: 張家山二 四七號漢墓出土法律文獻釋讀, ed. Hao, Peng, Wei, Chen 陳偉, and Motoo, Kud ō 工藤 元男 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2007)Google Scholar; Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian: (Ersiqi hao mu) 張家 山漢墓竹簡 (二四七號墓), ed. Han mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu, Zhangjiashan ersiqihao 張家山二四七號漢墓竹簡整理小組 (Beijing: Wenwu, 2001)Google Scholar.

151. This graph is difficult to explain and the Shuihudi editors and Hulsewé do so differently, although agreeing that the point of the line is a rule against “burning.” Hulsewé, , Ch'in Law, 22Google Scholar, suggests it could be a borrowing for shao 燒 or a copyist's mistake.

152. The word shengli 生荔 here is difficult to understand. Hulsewé, , Ch'in Law, 22–23Google Scholar, is surely correct to dismiss the Shuihudi editors’ suggestion, which uses unlikely and unattested borrowings to argue for a reading of “newly sprouted plants.” Hulsewé looks to similar content in the Li ji “Yue ling” (the parallel to line 44) to understand “indigo” (lan 藍), but gives no other evidence for his view. However, it seems to me that in the absence of other evidence, the best approach is to read the text as it appears. Like other readers, I take sheng 生 as “new.” Li 荔 occurs in a number of different plant names, but alone it is equivalent to malin 馬藺, a kind of “iris” (Iris pallasii, syn. Iris ensata). I have not been able to determine what the significance of the iris here may have been—but then I know of no reason to not pick indigo at this time, either. However, the flower of this iris and that of indigo are of similar colors; perhaps the difference between regulations represents a confusion about species, or preserves traces of former practice or belief concerning flowers of a certain color. The absence of corresponding regulations in either the Zhangjiashan or Xuanquanzhi materials suggests this taboo observance may have died out by Han times. See Smith, F. Porter, Chinese Materia Medica: Vegetable Kingdom, revised by Stuart, G.A., 2nd revised edition by Wei, Ph. Daven (Taipei: Ku T’ing Book House: 1969), 220Google Scholar, and Fèvre, Francine and Métailié, Georges, Dictionnaire Ricci des plantes de Chine (Paris: Association Ricci, 2005), s.v., “li” and “malinGoogle Scholar.” Zhu Xiangrong 朱湘蓉 reaches the same conclusion that I do concerning the identification of li, although by a different path; she does not explain what the purpose of the law might have been, either; see Xiangrong, Zhu, “Cong ‘Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian' kan ‘Shuihudi Qin mu zhujian’ ‘li’ zi de tongjia wenti” 從 “敦煌 懸泉漢簡” 看 “睡虎地秦墓竹簡” “荔” 字的通假問題, Dunhuang xue jikan 敦煌學輯 刊 2 (2004), 113–15Google Scholar.

153. Shuihudi, 20, “Tian lü” nos. 4–7; cf. trans. Hulsewé, , Ch'in Law, 22–23Google Scholar.

154. Jin 進 appears to be an error for yong 壅; see Kōryo Chōkasan nihyakuyonjūnanagō bo shutsudo Kan ritsuryō no kenkyū 江陵張家山二四七號墓出土漢律令の研究, trans. and annotation volume, ed. Itaru, Tomiya (Kyoto: Hōyū, 2006), 164Google Scholar.

155. “Ernian lüling,” strip no. 249; Hao, Peng, et al., Ernian lüling yu Zouyanshu, 190–91Google Scholar. I have converted mi 麛, kou 鷇, and yun 孕 in this section to standard modern graphs; see the cited transcriptions for originals. On the dating of “Ernian lüling,” see Kōryo Chōkasan, ed. Tomiya, , 163–65Google Scholar, translates and discusses “Ernian lüling,” strip no. 249.

156. Juyan xinjian 居延新簡, ed. yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, et al. (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1994), 124, no. EPT.53:70AGoogle Scholar.

157. Discussed in Hongtao, Liu 劉洪濤, “Shi Qingchuan mudu ‘Tian lü’ de ‘li jin guan’” 釋青川木牘 “田律” 的 “利津關,” online at http:.//www.bsm.org.cn/show_article?id=810 (article posted 29 March 2008, accessed 26 April 2008)Google Scholar. The strip was first reported in bowuguan, Sichuan sheng and wenhuaguan, Qingchuan xian, “Qingchuan xian chutu Qin gengxiu tian lü mudu—Sichuan Qingchuan xian Zhanguo mu fajue jianbao” 青川縣出土秦更修田律木牘–––四川青川縣戰國墓發掘簡報, Wenwu 1982.1, 1–21Google Scholar; and discussed in Haoliang, Yu 于豪亮, “Shi Qingchuan Qin mu mudu” 釋青川秦墓木牘, Wenwu 1982.1, 22–23Google Scholar, and Zhaohe, Li 李昭和, “Qingchuan chutu mudu wenzi jiankao” 青川出土文字簡考, Wenwu 1982.1, 24–27Google Scholar (dating argued p. 25). Note that the reverse side of the strip dates to 307 B.C.E.; Xueqin, Li 李學勤, “Qingchuan Haojiaping mudu yanjiu” 青川郝家坪木牘研究, Wenwu 1982.10, 68–72Google Scholar; also in Junming, Li 李均明 and Shuangquan, He, Sanjian jiandu heji 散見簡牘合輯 (Beijing: Wenwu, 1990), 51 (no. 604)Google Scholar.

158. Graph liang 梁 in the original transcription is emended to guan 關 following Liu Hongtao, “Shi Qingchuan mudu.”

159. Emended following Liu Hongtao, “Shi Qingchuan mudu,” who refers to the lines from “Ernian lüling” below.

160. Transcription follows Haoliang, Yu, “Shi Qingchuan Qin mu mudu,” 22Google Scholar, with adjustments following Liu Hongtao, “Shi Qingchuan mudu”; translated with reference to notes in Yu Haoliang, “Shi Qingchuan Qin mu mudu”; and Xu Zhongshu 徐 中舒 and Wu Shiqian 伍仕謙, “Qingchuan mudu jianlun” 青川木牘簡論, Guwenzi yanjiu 古文字研究, 19, 282–89. Note that although I translate zhe 輒 here and below as “immediately,” Kōryo Chōkasan, ed. Tomiya, , 161Google Scholar, explains it as “every time,” which is also viable. Cf. the translation in Hulsewé, , Ch'in Law, 211–15Google Scholar.

161. Xu, and Wu, , “Qingchuan mudu,” 287Google Scholar; discussed in Liu Hongtao, “Shi Qingchuan mudu”; see also “Zhouyu zhong” 周語中, in Yuangao, Xu 徐元誥, Guo yu jijie 國語集解 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2002), 2.67Google Scholar. Cheng 成 means “to complete,” here with the sense, “to make whole,” thus my “fix”; see also Hanyu dacidian, s.v., “chengliang 成梁.”

162. Mengzi zhushu 孟子注疏 (Shisan jing zhushu ed., 1815; rpt. Taipei: Yiwen, 2001), 8A.3aGoogle Scholar.

163. “Tian lü,” nos. 246–48; Hao, Peng, et al.Ernian lüling yu Zouyanshu, 189Google Scholar; Han mu zhujian zhengli xiaozu, Zhangjiashan ersiqihao, Zhangjiashan Han mu zhujian: (Ershiqihao mu), rev. ed., 42Google Scholar.

164. Liu Hongtao, “Shi Qingchuan mudu”; Liu also refers to lines 68–69 and its parallels, the content of which generally matches that of the 309 B.C.E. Qin slat.

165. Kaiyu, Luo 羅開玉, “Qingchuan Qin du ‘Wei tian lü’ yanjiu” 青川秦牘 “為田 律” 研究, Jianduxue yanjiu 簡牘學研究 2, ed. yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu and lishixi, Xibei shifan daxue (Lanzhou: Gansu renmin, 1997), 26–27Google Scholar, noted the differences of season between regulations represented on the Qingchuan slat and those in other sources (Li ji “Yue ling” and its transmitted analogues), hypothesizing that these differences resulted from systems adjusted to local climates.

166. See Liye fajue baogao 里耶發掘報告, ed. yanjiusuo, Hunan sheng wenwu kaogu 湖南省文物考古研究所 (Changsha: Yuelu, 2006), 192, nos. (16) 5 and (16) 6Google Scholar.

167. Han shu, 69A.4077–78Google Scholar. Scholars accepting this include, among others, Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, 46; Sterckx, , “The Economics of Religion,” 845–46Google Scholar; Yoshino, , “Zenkan matsu,” 46Google Scholar; Junmin, Zhang, “Jianshu Xuanquanzhi,” 182Google Scholar.

168. I-t'ien, Hsing, “Yue ling yu Xi-Han zhengzhi,” 13Google Scholar; Jinguang, Zhang 張金光, Qin zhi yanjiu 秦制研究 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2004), 374–80, especially 377–78Google Scholar.

169. Shūzō, Shiga 滋賀秀三, Chūgoku hōseishi ronshū: hōten to keibatsu 中国法制史論 集: 法典と刑罰 (Tokyo: Sōbunsha, 2003), 31–42Google Scholar.

170. See, for example, Han shu, 9.284, 9.290, 47.3251Google Scholar.

171. See, for example, I-t'ien, Hsing, “Yue ling yu Xi-Han zhengzhi,” 33–34Google Scholar, who discusses a quotation from “spring ordinances” 春令 in the Yinwan strips.

172. For another example, see Sanft, Charles, “Rituals that Don't Reach, Punishments that Don't Impugn: Jia Yi on the Exclusions from Punishment and Ritual,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 125 (2005), 31–44Google Scholar.

173. Han shu, 5.148, 5.150, 23.1106Google Scholar; cf. the translation in Hulsewé, A.F.P., Remnants of Han Law, Volume 1: Introductory Studies and an Annotated Translation of Chapters 22 and 23 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1955), 343–44Google Scholar; Wanjin, Cai 蔡萬進, Zhangjiashan Han jian “Zouyan shu” yanjiu 張家山漢簡 “奏讞書” 研究 (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue, 2006), 32–35, 56–66Google Scholar; for recovered examples from Zhangjiashan, , see Ernian lüling yu Zouyanshu, 331–82Google Scholar.

174. See Songchang, Chen 陳松長, “Yuelu shuyuan suocang Qin jian zongshu” 岳 麓書院所藏秦簡綜述, Wenwu 2009.3, 85–86Google Scholar.

175. Junmin, Zhang, “Longshan Liye Qin jian erti” 龍山里耶秦簡二題, Kaogu yu wenwu 考古與文物 2004.4, 47Google Scholar; Han shu, 5.146Google Scholar.

176. This refers to Dunhuang Xuanquan Yue ling zhaotiao, ed. suo, Zhongguo wenwu yan jiu and yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2001), 4–8, annotations 9–37Google Scholar; note that according to the preface, all text, commentary, and accom- panying essays were completed by Hu Pingsheng of the Zhongguo wenwu yanjiusuo, while the Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, which now holds the “Sishi yueling” inscription, supported his work and provided the pictures included in the volume. As such, I refer to the text as Hu Pingsheng's work. Additional texts with annotations include Qipeng, Wei, “Dunhuang Xuanquan ‘Zhaoshu sishi yueling wushitiao’ jiaojian,” in Changsha Sanguo Wu jian ji bainian lai jianbo faxian yu yanjiu guoji yantaohui lunwen ji, 380–93Google Scholar; Ren'er, Huang, Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi zhaoshu, 3–8Google Scholar, and Shuangquan, He, “Xin chutu Yuanshi wunian ‘Zhaoshu sishi yueling wushitiao’ kaoshu” 辛出土元始五年 “ 詔書四時月令五十條” 考述, in Guoji jiandu xuehui huikan: disan hao 國際簡牘學會會 刊: 第三號 (Taipei: Lantai, 2001), 17–25Google Scholar. Since these works all follow the sequence of the text, I will not give additional page citations in the annotations to the translation, but will refer to the authors by name. The transcription of the “Sishi yueling” alone is found in yanjiusuo, Gansu sheng wenwu kaogu, “Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shiwen xuan” 敦煌懸泉漢簡釋文選, Wenwu 2000.5, 34–36Google Scholar; and Pingsheng, Hu and Defang, Zhang, Dunhuang Xuanquan Han jian shicui 敦煌懸泉漢簡釋粹 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2001), 192–99Google Scholar. I have also referred to the emendations suggested in Jizhong, Xie 謝繼忠, “Dunhuang Xuanquanzhi ‘Sishi yueling zhaotiao’ shiwen buzheng” 敦煌懸泉置 《四時月令詔條》釋文補證, Hexi xueyuan xuebao 河西學院學報 4 (2006), 36–38Google Scholar. For an unannotated translation of a modern Chinese paraphrase of lines 9–81, in which neither the accompanying modern Chinese text nor the English translation represent the original content of “Zhaoshu sishi yueling wushitiao,” see Tsengkuei, Liu, “Taboos: An Aspect of Belief in the Qin and Han,” in Early Chinese Religion, ed. Lagerwey, and Kalinowski, , 886–87Google Scholar.