Calligraphy bamboo slips in Qin and Han Dynasties

1930, in Juyan area of Ejina Valley, Inner Mongolia, Swedish scholar F. Begemann, as a member of the northwest scientific investigation team, investigated and excavated more than 30 beacon towers in the Han Dynasty, and unearthed more than 1 10,000 bamboo slips, which were later called "Juyan Han Bamboo Slips" and were regarded as the "Four Great Discoveries" in China archival circles in the 20th century. These Han bamboo slips are now in the "Academia Sinica" in Taiwan Province Province. Most of them are garrison files on the frontier fortress in Han Dynasty, and a few are books, calendars and personal letters. Since then, in the archaeological discoveries over the years, bamboo slips have been unearthed from the sites of Han tombs. The unearthed Han bamboo slips are precious. For example, the Han bamboo slips unearthed at 198 1 Fengfeng site in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, have a special decree-rewarding the Huns for surrendering. It is interpreted from the side that one of the reasons for the fierceness of the Han army is reward, but the position of these Han bamboo slips is also worth pondering. As we all know, the so-called beacon tower is what we are familiar with. Often at the forefront, there are usually only a few people, and their status in the army is relatively low or extremely ordinary. More importantly, these should all be "lout" border guards. Then the question comes: Why are there Han bamboo slips in the frontier fortress? Can these soldiers read them? The answer is clear: it can be confirmed by archaeological discoveries that it is impossible to read 100%, but there are indeed many literates! In fact, don't talk about the frontier soldiers of the Han Dynasty. Even in the Ming and Qing dynasties, many generals were louts and illiterate, and there were many illiterate generals in the modern army. Was there a literate army in the Han Dynasty? If this conclusion holds, it obviously subverts our traditional impression, but it can explain the reason why the Han Dynasty was powerful from another unpopular angle. It can be seen from the contents of the bamboo slips in Juyan that the literacy rate of the border soldiers in Han Dynasty is indeed not low. There are 9 people in a small beacon tower on the border of Han Dynasty, maybe 2-3 people can understand it! First, there are records of the daily work of the garrison soldiers in Juyan bamboo slips, such as Daily Record Book, Weapons and Equipment Register Book, Food Distribution Record, Clothing Storage Record, etc. As you can see, in a small frontier fortress, at least one soldier holds a clerical position. Secondly, among these bamboo slips, there are primary school calligraphy books Cang Xie and Urgent Chapter. The existence of these bamboo slips shows that frontier soldiers have a learning atmosphere. There are signs that the Han Dynasty urged soldiers to take the initiative to read and write in order to better complete their jobs. Thirdly, on some bamboo slips, it can be clearly seen that they are practicing calligraphy. Scholars believe that these are the remains of study notes and writing practice. Judging from the unearthed situation, there are a large number of calligraphy slips, which shows that Fengxiang's soldiers not only study, but also want to improve their calligraphy. Fourthly, some personal debt records and personal letters were found in Juyan bamboo slips. Through analysis, scholars believe that it comes from ordinary soldiers. Obviously, there are not a few ordinary soldiers who can read. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, archaeologists found 9 1 Han bamboo slips in a beacon tower site in Huahai Township, Yumenguan City, Gansu Province ("Huahai beacon tower site"), which confirmed this judgment. Wooden slips record imperial edicts, books, jiazi lists, letters, etc. , especially the elementary school character book Cang Xie Pian. It is strange why the literacy rate of the Han army is so high. It's actually very simple. The Han dynasty inherited the system of the Qin dynasty, governing the country and the army with the system, and recording the expenses of marching and fighting on duty one by one. Therefore, if a soldier wants to be promoted, he must be educated, otherwise he can't handle military affairs, read many rules and regulations, and read all kinds of military letters. The unearthed Liye Qin bamboo slips confirmed that there were a large number of small officials' copying work in the Qin Dynasty. As far as the beacon tower mentioned above is concerned, how much food is put into storage every day, how much it is used, the equipment and the duty watch are all required to be recorded in the Qin and Han Dynasties (inferred from the unearthed bamboo slips), so the military attache of the beacon tower must be literate, although it may not be necessary to work hard on this matter (or manage it with documents), otherwise it will not be possible to manage the beacon tower at all. Looking at a leopard in a tube, through a small bonfire, we can see that the literacy rate of the entire Han army should be not low. It can't be said that the literacy of the Han army will be better than that of the Xiongnu, but a literate army, whether it is the organization of the army or the ability to learn and use equipment, is often better than an illiterate soldier, especially under the leadership of a combative lion (the emperor of the Han Dynasty is more combative). Therefore, from the point of view of the unpopular literacy rate, it is not accidental that the Han army can defeat the Huns, but it contains inevitable factors. This brings another interesting question: How high was the literacy rate in the Han Dynasty? There is definitely no direct answer in the history books, but there are some clues left. There is a saying in the four-person monthly order of the Han Dynasty that "poor children should study in winter". They are also "poor children" who do farm work during busy farming hours but study in their spare time in winter. Records of the Historian records a story about the legend of Dou Taihou, the wife of Wendi. Dou Taihou's younger brother's name is Dou Guangguo. "When he was four or five years old, his family was poor and he was sold a little by others. His family doesn't know where it is. " When he was four or five years old, he was abducted and became a slave. But when he was 20 years old, he survived and ran to Chang 'an. As soon as he heard that the queen was Dou Taihou, he thought it was his own sister and wrote that he was Dou Taihou's younger brother. Moreover, according to historical records, "although I was young when I went to Guangguo, I often used mulberry and sister as symbols." A poor family of four or five years old "knows its county name and surname", has been a slave for 10 years, and can also "write a letter to himself". In fact, through historical records, hanshu and so on. We can often see the record of little people writing letters. Although some of them may find someone to write for them, they may also write directly by themselves. Thus, although it is impossible to accurately count the literacy rate of the Han Dynasty, through historical records and archaeological discoveries, we can see that the literacy rate of the Han people may exceed our imagination! Therefore, the reason why the powerful Han army in the Han Dynasty was sharp was not only because of the advanced weapons and equipment, the firm will to fight and the proper tactics and strategies, but also because of the inherent quality of the people of the Han Empire. Regrettably, after the confrontation between civil and military officials in the Song Dynasty, it suddenly seemed to be a fashion for military commanders to be illiterate. If a military commander knows a little words, he will be "both civil and military." In fact, in the Qin and Han dynasties, this was just a very common thing. Men can fight on horses, and military commanders can write thousands of words. There is no clear boundary between civil and military affairs.