Collating and Interpreting the Medical Bamboo Slips Excavated from the Han Tombs in Tianhui Town

Abstract

Abstract In July 2012 through August 2013, four earthen shaft pit tombs with timber chambers were excavated in a cemetery located in Tianhui Town, Jinniu District, Chengdu City. The tombs, which had been looted, were of similar size and aligned in the same south–north orientation. Tomb M3 contained 951 bamboo slips distributed across two compartments of its lower chambers: North II and South II. Most of the texts they contain are of medical interest, though twenty fragments appear to be from legal documents. Based on the content of the discovered slips, it has been suggested that the tomb’s occupant was a physician or medical official. Six of the M3–121 manuscripts found in North II concern medical theory, the causes and symptoms of disease, the nature of the channels of the body (mai 脈), diagnosis, acupuncture, and possibly moxibustion therapy. The dates the texts were transcribed fall within the period when Empress Lü 呂后 (187–181 BCE) was effectively in power and the reign of Emperor Wendi (r. 180–157 BCE) of the Western Han dynasty. The M3–137 manuscripts found in South II include two texts entitled the Book of Treating Horses and the Book of the Classic Channels. The dates the texts were copied were earlier than those assigned to the M3–121 manuscripts.