略论走马楼吴简中的“四柱结算法”

On The‘Four-Pillar Accounting&Settlement’in the Wu Slips of Zoumalou

“四柱结算法”是中国古代一种较为先进的会计结算方法,其行用时间最早可追溯至秦代。在走马楼吴简所见大量孙吴时期临湘侯国籍帐文书中,可以发现“四柱结算法”的痕迹,通过梳理、汇总相关复原成果,确认了在仓库月度会计报告(即“月旦簿”)及物资细目帐中,已经普遍使用“四柱结算法”,县曹汇总结算时,甚至可能在形式上已经发展出“五柱结算法”。而户籍文书则仍循“三柱”之旧,这可能与当时特殊的行政需要有关。可见早在三国时期,官厅会计技术的发展已经颇为成熟。

The‘Four-Pillar Accounting&Settlement’(四柱结算法),dating back to the Qin dynasty,represents an advanced means of financial settlement in ancient China.The great deal of accounting files of the feudal enfeoffment of Marquis Linxiang of the SunWu period,documented in the Wu slips of Zoumalou,reveals the history of the method in practice,which already widely works in the accounting report of warehouse monthly called‘Yue Dan Bu’(月旦簿)and the detailed items.The format of‘Five-Pillar Accounting&Settlement’(五柱结算法)may come out into use in the summary report of accounting settlement of County Cao,whereas the‘Three-Pillar Accounting&Settlement’(三柱结算法)keeps working in the household registration files probably due to specific administrative requirements of that time.What is analyzed above suggests that official accounting practice has got well developed early in the Three Kingdoms period.