唐天寳時代の河西道邊防軍に關する經濟史料

Abstract

In the course of the three hundred years of the T'ang (唐) Dynasty (A.D. 618--907), the military system changed three times. The first was the prefectural military system, called fu-ping-chih (府兵制). 634 prefectural armies with a total of 600, 000 soldiers guarded the interior of the Empire. Every frontier garrison was composed of corps, chün-t'uan (軍團), divisions, chün (軍), observation-posts, shou-cho (守捉), look-out men, ch'êng (城), etc. In the K'ai-yüan (開元) period (A.D. 713--741), the total frontier guards numbered 700, 000. Since General Ho-pa-yen-ssu (賀拔延嗣) was appointed chief commander, Liang-chou-tu-tu (涼州都督), of Liang-Chou (涼州) and commander-in-chief, Ho-hsi-chieh-to-shih (河西節度使), of Ho-hsi (河西), in the second year of Ching-Yün (A.D. 711 景雲), all the national defence of the T'ang (唐) Empire was in the hands of the commanders-in-chief (節度使). The archives of the T'ien-pao (天寶) period, which contain original historical material concerning the armies, and which are now in the possession of the National Library in Paris (Document No. 2657), show that the natives were in public service as members of the observation-post, or look-out men. Since the beginning of the T'ien-pao (天寶) period, the prefectral military system fell into decay. Therefore, when the disturbance of An-lu-Shan (安祿山) occurred, the T'ang Government (唐朝廷) barely maintained the Empire by levied troops, i-yung-ping (義勇兵). On the other hand, the defence of the frontier was rather strong. The government expense for clothing, rations, munitions, war-horses, and military preparations of defence was enormous. The expense only of rations in the tenth year of K'ai-yüan (開元) period, for 400, 000 to 500, 000 soldiers, was six million hu (斛) for a year. My research on the original document of the Tou-lu (豆盧) division (Archive No. 3348 in the National Library in Paris) in the fourth or sixth year of K'ai-yüan (A.D. 716 or 718 開元) of the T'ang dynasty, shows that the rations of each soldier on frontier defence cost 1, 770 wên (文), and the total 385, 000 Kuan-wên (貫文). One Kuan (貫) is one thousand wên (文). The Tou-lu (豆盧) division belongs to the jurisdiction of the commander-in-chief (節度使) of Ho-hsi (河西) and its fixed members were 4, 300 soldiers. Its headquarters was situated in the town of Sha-chou (沙州). Originally, the fixed number of the frontier guards of Ho-hsi (河西) was 73, 000. It was the second largest corps in defence of all the frontiers of the T'ang Empire in the K'ai-yüan (開元)-T'ien-pao (天寶) period. A detailed calculation of expenses which maintained the defence, both interior and frontier, is not given in the authentic histories of the T'ang dynasty, and therefore, we cannot tell what was its economic activity. We can understand the economic activities of that period through documents of the K'ai-yüan (開元) period, which are in the National Library in Paris (Documents No. 5529 and No. 2862). Document No. 2862 gives a calculation of the income of the public offices in the Toung-Houang (敦煌) district, and also an account of the domestic animals of the five fortresses, such as Kuang-Ming (廣明) etc., situated along the boundaries of Sha-chou (沙州) as far as the frontier of Kua chou (瓜州). These are described minutely in a geographical book called Sha-chyu-tu-tu-fu-t'u-ching (沙州都督府図經), belonging to the tou-lu (豆盧) division. In this original document, No. 2826 in Paris, we find all sorts of granted things, such as silk, wheat, Chinese millet, peas; domestic animals, such as cows, camels, asses, etc. --about thirty sorts of things. In addition, Document No. 2803 has an account of a calculation of expenditures on horse-rations, such as wheat, peas and Chinese millet in those fortresses. In Document No. 3664, we can find economic conditions of those five fortresses from the fifth to the twelfth year of the Tien-pao period (A.D. 746 753 天寶). The most interesting materials found in the documents is a list of forty members of the frontier garrison of Tou-lu (豆盧軍). Each member is allowed military clothing such as we cannot find mentioned in any other historical books in China. These clothes were made of silk and hemp. In that period, there was no cultivated cotton in China, and therefore we cannot find any clothes made of cotton mentioned in these documents. Cotton clothes are mentioned later in the T'ang dynasty, but they were imported goods and very expensive. In Document No. 3348, which contains an account-book of the Tou-lu (豆盧) division, we can find the current price of wheat, peas, and Chinese millet in the fifth or sixth year of the T'ien-pao (天寶) period (A.D. 746 or 747). Document No. 2862 also contains one paragraph relating to the current prices of grain in the same period. From these current prices, we can calculate the current price of silk, etc. in the T'ien-pao period. The total cost of clothing for 4, 300 soldiers of the Tou-lu (豆盧) division is 28, 382 Kuan-wên (貫文) for one year, and the total cost of clothing for 73, 000 members of the frontier garrison in the Ho-hsi (河西) prefecture is about 400, 000 Kuan-wên (貫文). These original materials for the economic history of national defence in the Ho-hsi (河西) prefecture are the most valuable documents for the study of Chinese history. In regard to this economic history, I have studied some new topics, for example, the interpretation of ts'ao-shih (草市). Ts'ao-shih (草市) means a new market in the T'ang (唐) and Sung (宋) dynasties which was held outside the city-wall (ch'êng-pi 城壁), but, until now, no investigators have yet been able to interpret the designation of ts'ao-shih (草市). Now, I have tried to explain the meaning of ts'ao-shih by means of the popular designation in the T'ang (唐) age. Ts'ao-shih (草市) is not a grass or fodder market; Ts'ao (草) is a popular designation for a pack-horse in the T'ang (唐) age, and ts'ao-shih (草市) is a market where a great many pack-horses assemble from all parts of the country, carrying products. I shall omit from this translated summary other topics which I have taken up in this treatise.