EVOLUCIÓN Y DISTRIBUCIÓN DE LOS INGRESOS OPERACIONALES

Throughout the Baoshan slips, we find evidence of the way districts dealt with disorderly conduct; they used their authority to order lower local units to investigate and to detain suspects. A noteworthy example of the way this justice system worked is shown in slips 120-123, a case related to theft and murder. The case opens with an accusation made by Xu Wei, a resident of Xiacai district, to Yang Shi, the Yangcheng district chief,

on day yimao 乙卯 in the sixth month of 319 B.C.E.:

Wei said, “Fu Quan stole a horse in Xiacai and sold it in Yangcheng district. He possibly killed Xiacai resident Yu Gao. [I], a humble man, request that you secretly observe him and detain him. Yangcheng district chief Yang Gao ordered Liang Fu

and Jie Gou142 to detain Fu Quan (or “tattoo Fu Quan and open the fetters [meaning

“remend him”]. Transmit Fu Quan”).143

犭胃言謂: 邞亻拳竊馬於下蔡而儥之於陽城, 或殺下蔡人余睪, 小人命為X以傳之。

陽城公漾睪命倞邞解句, 傳邞亻拳得之。

On day dingji 丁己 in the sixth month, Fu Quan, a resident of Shanyang hamlet of

Xiacai district, told Yangcheng district chief Yang Gao, and other officials, saying,

“I, the humble one, by myself144 did not steal the horse. I, the humble, know that

Gu Nüfan, Chang Jia, and Jing Buke, killed Xu Shi at Jing Buke’s place and put his body on the main road, [but] Jing Buke was not there [when we disposed of the body].”145

享月丁己之日, 下蔡山陽里人邞亻拳言於陽城公漾睪、大魚攵尹屈 X、郫陽莫囂

臧獻、余牶。亻拳言謂: 小人不信竊馬。小人信卡[辯146]馬下蔡關里人雇女返、

東邗里人場賈、荑里人競不害並殺余睪於競不害之官, 而相播棄之於大路。 The above account displays quite clearly the first steps in what we can call the Chu legal process, which include receiving a complaint and conducting an investigation (or interrogation). On slip 120, we see the district court take note of the plaintiff’s accusation

142 _{Interpreting “倞 解句” has sparked debates. According to Liu Xinfang, liang 倞 reads as jing 黥 [to}

tattoo], fu indicates Fu Quan, and gou 句 reads as ji 拘 [to cuff]; thus, it should be translated as “tattoo Fu Quan and open the cuffs (meaning “cuff him”). Transmit Fu Quan.” However, Chen Wei argued that Fu Quan had not received a legal judgment yet and, thus, could not be punished. And he suggested that we read liangfu and jiegou as personal names. Liu Xinfang, Baoshan Chujian jiegu, 111; Chen Wei, Chu di chutu zhanguo jian ce [shisi zhong], 59, n7.

143 _{Baoshan, 357, slip 120.}

144 _{Reading xin 信 as shen 身 according to the editor’s note. Baoshan, 379, n200.} 145 _{Baoshan, 357, slip 121.}

146 _{I read this graph as bian 辯, following Li Shoukui. Li Shoukui 李守奎, “Baoshan Chu jian 120-123 hao}

jian bushi 包山楚簡 120-123 號簡補釋,” Fudan daxue chutu wenxian yu guwenzi yanjiu zhongxin 復旦 大學出土文獻與古文字研究中心, http://www.gwz.fudan.edu.cn/srcshow.asp?src_id=861.

and the date it was received. Interestingly, the plaintiff was sure about larceny but

appeared uncertain about the murder, for the record contains the word “possibly (huo).”

Two days after the original complaint, district officers captured the accused and heard the accused claim that he did not steal the horse but did participate in a murder along with three other men, a confession made during interrogation.

A handful of Baoshan slips disclose to us that there were numerous accounts of complaints brought to the court followed by an investigation. One example is a bundle of

slips (19-79) labeled shouqi 受期, or “Receiving dates”:

On day jisi 己巳 in the eighth month, a Legal Officer (sibai 司敗147) of Supervisor

of Rites (sili 司禮) received a date (shouqi). On day xinwei 辛未, Managers of

Sacrificial Animals (jishou 集 獸148), Huang Ru and Huang Chu, were not

prosecuted in court. They were interrogated [to determine whether] harm had been

done.149

八月己巳之日, 司禮司敗鄝佳目受期。辛未之日, 不將集獸黃辱、黃出/虫虫以廷,

升門又敗。

According to Peng Hao’s interpretation of the shouqi slips, the local government dealt

with accusation by first receiving an assigned date, which is the day a certain official received a complaint. The second recorded date notes that there was no need to go to

147 _{Susan Weld, “Grave Matters: Warring States Law and Philosophy,” 178, n96.}

148 _{The nature and function of a jishou is unknown. Considering its context, a jishou, along with}

niuzhongshou 牛中獸 and niuzhong 牛中, could have been an official who managed sacrificial animals. In the Zhouli, an official known as a shouren 獸人 was entitled to capture wild animals and discriminate one from the other for the right seasonal rituals, and a niuren 牛人 was one who would raise government cattle for rituals. Zhouli zhushu, “Tianguan 天官, Yuren 漁人,” 4/663b-c; “Diguan 地官, Muren 牧人,” 13/723c-24a.

trial.150 The reason no trial was held is left unexplained in the slips, but as Peng Hao

suggested, based on the Zhouli 周禮, the reason might be that if someone allegedly

committed a crime out of “ignorance, negligence, or loss,” the crime might have been

pardoned.151 But if there was a reason for the official to continue an investigation or

interrogation, as shown in the first example, they would try to open a court and gather statements from the accuser and the accused. Using this method, the officials learned that Fu Quan was innocent of larceny but guilty of murder. Of course, the plaintiff had a right to appeal to the court up to four times if he or she could not accept the court’s decision to

dismiss a case: The shouqi slips show six cases were appealed twice: slips 27 and 32,

slips 31 and 50, slips 34 and 39, slips 38 and 60, slips 41 and 48, slips 45 and 57. Two cases were appealed three or four times: slips 22, 24, and 30 and slips 46, 52, 55, and 64.