Journey to the Next World by Wang Fengshi(王奉世), a Man from Guangling Shili(廣陵石里), during the Reign of Emperor Xuan(宣帝) of the Western Han Dynasty

Abstract

Official documents sent by government officials of the real world to government officials of the underworld are sometimes excavated from the ancient tombs of the Han Dynasty, and these documents are referred to as “Gaodice(告地策).” “Wengaodu(文告牘),” which was found in Huchang (胡場) in Hanjiang District (邗江) of Jiangsu Province (江蘇省), is a typical example of such documents. Meanwhile, the meaning of “事” in “事已” which is mentioned in the incident that takes place in the beginning, is somewhat different in “Wengaodu(文告牘).” In “獄事,” which is the incident that takes place in the beginning of “Wengaodu(文告牘),” the imprisonment is deemed to have “事已,” in other words, to have come to an end. From this viewpoint, the point in time of the outbreak of the incident in the beginning of “Wengaodu(文告牘)” contradicts with the details about the incident that took place after that. In fact, in light of the details stated therein, the former can be considered as “傳,” a pass indicating the return of Wang Fengshi to his hometown, and the latter can be regarded as “Gaodice(告地策)” a document required for family census registration. Additionally, based on the words and phrases and specific expressions, the numerous gods that were mentioned in “神靈名位牘,” which was also excavated from the same ancient tomb, are somewhat different from “趙長夫所擣(禱)” and “宮春姬石之君擣(禱).” “趙長夫” and “宮春姬石” are the names of the persons who give prayers, and the names of the other gods are the names of the deities to whom these people offer their prayers. When listing the names of gods in “神靈名位牘,” the author does so in accordance with the principle of “二禱一塞,” of which “二禱” refers to “趙長夫” and “宮春姬石,” who gave devout prayers by offering worship twice. The reason thereof is related to the disease that was suffered at that time by the owner of the tomb, and all of the 15 gods listed in “塞” are the objects of “報賽.”