论汉代漆器的价格及其生产和贸易——从刘贺墓漆笥、漆盾铭文谈起

The Price,Production,and Trade of Han Dynasty Lacquerware:A Discussion on Inscriptions on Lacquered Hamper and Shield Unearthed from Liu He’s Tomb

本文在分析刘贺墓漆笥、漆盾所书铭文的基础上,结合相关简牍资料与考古发现的漆器实物,探讨了汉代漆器的价格及生产、消费、贸易等问题。汉代漆器主要存在两大定价体系,即中央及诸侯国工官体系与市场体系,前者漆器生产基本不考虑市场因素,产品也极少投放市场,对汉代漆器的市场贸易影响很小;后者以民营漆工作坊为主力军,也包括部分郡县官办漆工场,其生产以市场为导向,产品定价合理,是消费和贸易的主体。漆器是汉代大宗日用消费品,社会需求旺盛,生产规模可观,在当时商品经济发展特别是对外贸易中占有特殊而重要的地位。

In this paper,we discussed the price,production,and trade of Han dynasty lacquerware,with the combined use of inscriptions on the lacquered hamper and shield unearthed from Liu He’s tomb,bamboo slips,and archaeological discoveries of other Han lacquerware.We argue that there were two main pricing systems for lacquerware during the Han dynasty,one controlled by the central and vassal state governments while the other by the market itself.In the former system,the production of lacquerware took no account of the market and the lacquerware barely entered the market,which therefore had little impact on the trade of the Han lacquerware.The latter system,however,relied heavily on private lacquer workshops(although some govemment-run lacquer workshops were also important at the time).The production of lacquerware,in this second scenario,was determined by the market and the price of lacquerware tended to be reasonable and acceptable to many consumers.Lacquerware was consumed in large amounts as everyday utensils in the Han dynasty.The market demand for lacquerware was high and so was the scale of production.It is not surprising if we argue for the important role of lacquerware in the commodity economies of the Han Dynasty.