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596   THE TUN-HUANG OASIS AND ITS NORTHERN LIMES [Chap. XV

learning and critical acumen secured from the mass of very interesting but often exceptionally

   obscure records, I must refer to Chapter xx. Even that synopsis need be attempted only in so   40

far as it may help to throw light on the history and general organization of the Limes and the daily

life led along it.   y

Hsun-wei   Among the records found at T. xxvii particular archaeological interest attaches to No. 569

ig

and Yang- (Doc., Plate XvII), a neatly written wooden label with the string still attached, which had evidently wei com-

panies of   been taken from a bundle containing a soldier's outfit. From M. Chavannes' translation we now know   SI

Wan-sui.   that it mentions ' a cuirass and a pair of shoes in leather belonging to the Hsien-wei company of

ti

Wan-sui   '. That the latter name was that of a locality, and in all probability of the part of the

   Limes comprising, among others, the watch-station at which the label was found, is proved by two other   i

records, also from this ruin, which mention the Yang-wei company quartered at Wan-sui (Doc., No. 568, Plate Xvi) and the appointment of a certain officer ' under the orders of the commander of the

   post of Wan-sui ' (Doc., No. 574, Plate xvI). That the Yang-wei company guarded the neighbour-   3i

ing watch-station T. xxviii in A. D. 75 is seen from No. 614. Three documents found at T. xxvii

   supply us with the names of other companies garrisoning this section of the Limes. In A. D. 35   ',

   it was the An-t`ien company (No. 562), in A. D. 5o the An-han company (Doc., Nos. 563, 564 ;   i

   Plate Xvi) ; in A. D. 53 the company called Kao-wang had succeeded (ibid. No. 565 ;). Wan-sui   #

   seems to have been connected in some way with ' the Yi-hog * barrier ' ; but no exact indication   it

   of the position of the latter is furnished by the three records from this station (Nos. 567, 568, 572)   i

   which mention it.4 Nor can the ' eastern section ', of which No. 57o names a certain post corn-   is

mandant, be located at present.   a

Blank   That the room by the side of the tower T. xxvii had seen a good deal of clerical activity was   ii

stationery, also proved by over a dozen blank slips of wood, T. xxvii. 0014, found here. Those that were pottery, &c.

   at T. xxvii. complete were of the regulation size ; many had become very thin, obviously by repeated paring   1

   after use. They, no doubt, belonged to the stock of wooden stationery kept ready at this little   i1

   office. Finds of small miscellaneous objects, mostly fragmentary, were plentiful among the refuse   it

   lying within the room and strewing the slope outside. They are mentioned separately in the   e

   Descriptive List at the end of Chapter xX below. Apart from a small fragment of coloured   1

   porcelain, T. xxv11. 2 (Plate Iv), which is likely to have been brought here in Tang times or later,   1

   I may mention pieces of stoneware bowls, T. xxvii. 1. 5, 0024, which, on account of their brownish   t

   or greyish glaze corresponding to that also found on pieces from other portions of the Limes line,   i

   may safely be ascribed to the Later Han period. But here, as at all stations of the line, potsherds   ,l

of the dark-grey, mat-marked type were found in far greater abundance, though owing to their very

Pottery   commonness the specimens that I brought away were few.5 Very frequently the rims had holes

repaired.drilled in them for fastening up broken jars, etc., which, though no longer fit to hold liquids, would

Î

   serve for keeping cereals and the like. The very coarseness of the fabric invests this practice with   1

   a special significance. Together with so many other indications, it helps to bring home to us the   t

humble and penurious conditions in which the rank and file, if not the petty officers also, must have

passed their days on this dreariest of desert borders.   ,

Ink-seals   Among several wooden ink-seals (T. xxvii. 003, 005-006) of a type also found at other stations

and mis-   I   may mention one, T. xxvii. 15 (Plate LIII as still retaining engraved on its bottom a Chinese

cellaneous   y   5 (   )~   tg en g

finds.   character of ancient form, but as yet undetermined. Besides two wooden dice or counters, also

Regarding a military district of the Yi ho to wei in the   good by the numerous specimens of the common pottery   I

Tun-huang command, also mentioned in the Former Han   types which I collected in 1914 along the whole Limes line

Annals, cf. M. Chavannes' note on No. 6r, Documents, p. 26.   from its western end to the Etsin-gol.
5 This shortcoming of my first exploration has been made