西域文书所见晋唐时期的棉花与棉布——以叠茸、叠布、緤花、緤布、疊毛布为中心

Jin⁃Tang dynasty cotton fabrics and cotton cloth in the Xiyu documents--A die⁃rong(叠茸),die⁃bu(叠布),xie⁃hua(緤花),xie⁃bu(緤布),and die⁃bu(疊毛布)⁃centred perspective

棉花种植与棉织品的使用在西域有着非常悠久的历史,晋唐时期便有大量文书予以记载。作为外来物品,棉布最初音译为“叠”,不同时期所用汉字和称谓则略有不同。十六国时期,桑蚕业繁荣,地方官府计口税丝,计户纳献丝,棉花种植即便存在,也微不足道。一百余年后的高昌王国时期,棉花在吐鲁番盆地普遍种植。棉布在寺院文书及民间契约中已较为常见。这一时期棉花称为“叠茸”,棉布则称作“叠”,其下有细叠、中行叠、行叠等种类。唐王朝平定高昌后,棉花种植取代传统的桑蚕业,居于主导地位。唐前期棉布被视为一种丝织品,借音字“叠”写法变为形声结构的“緤”,棉花的称谓也由“叠茸”变为“緤花”。棉布是唐代西州的正税,庸调在官文书中径称庸緤。当时緤布主要有细緤、次緤、粗緤三种。细緤、次緤价格昂贵,价格与绫罗等高档丝绸相当,粗緤则数量充裕,价格低廉,与练、绢等一般等价物相当。晚唐五代时期,棉布东传至敦煌一带。棉布不再被视同“丝”类,而是视为“毛”类,“緤”的写法也随之改变,多作“■”字。宋代传世文献及佛经中“■”字已占主流地位,唐代文书中常见的“緤”字则渐至绝迹。归义军时期敦煌的棉布有立机緤、官布等种类。西域所种棉花属非洲棉,受气候、水土、技术等局限,东传较为缓慢,直至元代仅推广至甘肃一带,与宋元以后遍布内地的亚洲棉别是一途,但对推动中国西部地区的社会发展起到重要的历史作用。

Cotton cultivation and the use of cotton fabrics have a long history in Xiyu,and had been extensively recorded by the ancient texts of Jin⁃Tang dynasty.As the exotic goods,at the beginning the cotton cloth was homophonically translated into"die",which had been represented by various Chi⁃nese characters and names in different periods.During the Sixteen Kingdoms era,silk⁃worm farming was a booming industry;the local government levied on silk⁃worm farmer for silks as the tax item.Even if the cotton cultivation existed,its impact would be minimal.By the Gaochang Kingdom period a hundred years later,cotton was widely cultivated in the Turfan Basin;cotton cloth became a common term in ci⁃vilian contracts and temple documents.Cotton was called"die⁃rong(叠茸)"during this period,while the cotton cloth was called"die(叠)",which can be further divided into"xi⁃die(细叠)","zhongx⁃ing⁃die(中形叠)",and"xing⁃die(行叠)".After Tang's annexation of Gaochang,cotton cultivation replaced the traditional silk⁃worm farming to be the leading industry.In the early Tang period,cotton cloth was considered as a form of brocade;its writing form transformed from a homophone"叠"to a pho⁃no⁃semantic compound"緤",and its name changed from"die⁃rong(叠茸)"to"xie⁃hua(緤花)".Cotton cloth was a formal tax item in Xizhou(西州)during the Tang dynasty,and"yong⁃diao(庸调)"was called"Yong⁃xie(庸緤)"in government documents.There were three types of xie⁃bu(緤布)at the time:fine"xie(緤)",mid⁃standard"xie(緤)",and crude"xie(緤)".Fine"xie(緤)"and mid⁃standard"xie(緤)"were very expensive,having prices comparable to high⁃grade silks.Crude"xie(緤)"was abundant in quantity and low in price,with values equivalent to"lian(练)"and"juan(绢)".During the late Tang⁃Five Kingdom period,cotton cloth spread to the Dun⁃huang area and no longer considered as the equivalent of silk,but as"mao(毛)".The writing form of"xie(緤)"also changed to"die(疊毛)".疊毛was the main character seen in the Buddhist texts and re⁃maining documents from the Song dynasty,while the character"xie(緤)"which can be commonly found in the texts of Tang dynasty gradually died off.By the time of Guiyi Circuit,cotton cloth in Dun⁃huang include types such as"Lijixie(立机緤)"and"Guanbu(官布)".The cotton cultivated in Xiyu belonged to African cotton.Due to limitations such as climate,physical environment,and technology,the process of its eastward dissemination was very slow.It only reached Gansu region by the Yuan dynas⁃ty,drastically differing from the Asian cotton which was widespread in the inland after the Song and Yuan Dynasty.However,it played a significant role in promoting the social development in western China throughout history.