敦煌吐鲁番出土文献所见唐代城主新议

New Discussion on "Cheng Zhu"(城主) of the Tang Dynasty Seen in the Documents Unearthed from Turfan and Dunhuang

关于城主一词的含义,学术界众说纷纭。目前所知有关城主材料多见于唐西州。本文主要从吐鲁番地区旧有和新出的唐西州文书、墓志出发,考辨出唐西州存在着县以下、里以上,乡一级的城主。在此基础上结合对唐代乡里运作机制的考察,进一步讨论了城主的职掌。本文认为敦煌吐鲁番出土唐代文献所见城主并非传统认为的乡长,而主要是在乡城中负责守城、防御和城内治安等事务的下级官吏,具有一定的权力,又形同色役,是敦煌、西州两地特殊的历史地理条件与唐代乡里制度相交融的产物。

There are different opinions in the academic circles about the meaning of the word 'cheng zhu'.All records about 'cheng zhu' so far are seen in the documents from Xizhou of the Tang Dynasty.According to the documents and epitaphs of Xizhou previously or newly discovered in Turfan,this paper proves that in Xizhou region,'cheng' is an administrative unite between county and li(里)(a group of one hundred households),equaling to xiang(乡)(xiang consists of five li).The paper holds that cheng zhu seen in the Tang documents unearthed from Turfan and Dunhuang is not the township head as usually believed,but a petty official who was in charge of defense and public security in and around cheng.Cheng zhu has certain privileges but equals to runner.So cheng zhu system in Xizhou was affected by the special historical & geographical environment in Dunhuang and Xizhou as well as the xiang-li system of the Tang Dynasty.