The documents collected here derive from the day-to-day work of governing the Han empire (202 BCE to 221 CE) and illustrate the process involved in the major administrative tasks such as the implementation of the laws, the collection of tax, and the maintenance of security. As parts of an archive they supplement the standard histories of the Han period which concentrate on dynastic destinies, the activities of senior officials and the major decisions of state. Found first in 1900 and in more extensive caches of the 1930s and 1970s, the documents are the surviving fragments of orders and reports written on narrow strips of wood which were bound together to form a complete text. The present work assembles some 700 strips seen as the constituent parts of 43 original documents, whose form, content and date may be reconstructed with some confidence. Originating from the defence forces posted in the north-west, these strips reveal details of the organisation of military units, the establishment of junior official posts and procedures for the delivery of official mail to named destinations. Their subject matter concerns the duties and living conditions of conscript servicemen and the maintenance of military buildings. They show how officials and clerks drew up routine returns of supplies, inspection reports or signal's logs. Photographs illustrate the uses of different sizes and shapes of wood for these purposes and demonstrate the validity of grouping the fragments together. The reconstruction of these documents bears an immediate influence on the bibliographic and textual problems both of received literary texts and of manuscripts found subsequently to those considered here. The book is of value to all students of Chinese administrative procedures and Chinese manuscripts.

鲁惟一，英国著名汉学家。1922年生，1962年获伦敦大学文学博士学位。先后执教于伦敦大学和剑桥大学，对中国秦汉史和汉代简牍有独到而深入的研究，他把从古文书学的角度研究汉简的方法推向新的境界。代表性著作有《汉代行政记绿》（博士学位论文）、《汉代的中华帝国初期的日常生活》、《漠代中国的危机与冲突》、《通往仙境之路中国人对长生的追求》、《中国人的生死观：汉代的信仰、神话和理性》、《汉代的谶讳、神话与君主政治》等，主编并撰写《中国古代典籍导读》、《剑桥中国秦汉史》、《剑桥中国古代史》等。