居延漢簡に見える官吏の處罰

Abstract

Han-era wooden slips excavated at Juyan 居延 in 1973 include a variety of previously unknown documents. This article examines the documents among these that concern the penalties inflicted upon military officers and the penal administration system as a whole. Military officers serving at the Juyan front inevitably made errors during the course of their daily routine, and such errors occasionally called for severe penalties and punishments according to ling 令. These penalties included transmission of military supplies as punitive labor, dismissal in light of periodic efficiency ratings (chimian 斥免), etc. In cases of serious violation of military discipline--desertion or crime, for example--an official prosecutor (hezhuang 劾狀) was sent to the court in Juyan prefecture, and he was responsible for bringing the accused to a trial in which the proceedings were similar to that of ordinary lawsuits. This indicates that the Han military had no specific system of court-martial provided for in its organizational structure. Officers dismissed from duty through these punishments remained qualified to be listed among candidates for official posts, and they often retained opportunities to be promoted again. This indicates that the Han bureaucracy provided a system for the recycling of experienced talent which existed alongside its severe system of rating and punishment of government and military officials.