长沙走马楼吴简所见奴婢杂议

Some Thoughts on the Slave Data in the Wu Slips of Zouma Tower in Changsha

吴简中有关奴婢的简牍显示,资产不丰的“民户”和身份地位类同官府依附民的“师佐”往往拥有奴婢,说明吴国畜奴之风甚盛。官奴婢用于屯田,证明吴国的奴婢是从事生产的。更重要的是“户下奴”、“户下婢”之类名称,证实此时奴婢已载入户籍,其源头应在西汉。

The slave data in the Wu slips show that the people whose assets were not rich and the shizuo whose status was similar to the people clinging to the feudal office generally held slaves. This indicates that slavery prevailed in the Wu State. The fact that the feudal official slaves were used in opening up wasteland by the garrison troops also shows that slaves of the Wu State took part in labour. More importantly, designations such as ＂huxia nu＂ and＂huxia bi＂ prove that the slaves were registered as permanent residents at the time. This may originate from the West Han Dynasty.