敦煌汉简
敦煌汉简，主要指在汉代敦煌郡境内发现的简牍文书。其发现始于斯坦因1906—1908年的第二次中亚探险，止于2019年阿克塞县双墩子北烽隧遗址发掘。其中，除简牍文书之外，也有少量帛书与纸文书；在时间上，最早始于西汉中期，个别晚至晋代；在地域上，敦煌之外兼有少量属于酒泉郡的文书。
敦煌汉简总数约4万枚，主要包括：1906—1908年斯坦因第二次中亚探险所获3100枚（包括未刊布部分），1913—1916年第三次中亚探险所获200枚；1979年马圈湾遗址发掘1217枚，1990—1992年悬泉置遗址发掘3.5万枚，1998年小方盘城遗址发掘380枚。
这些出土于汉代边塞烽隧和驿站遗址的简牍文书，属于边塞屯戍和驿站日常运作及其管理文书的档案部分，涉及汉代边 塞和邮驿系统组织形式、人员结构和具体的防御措施等，对于研究汉代边塞和邮驿的日常管理与社会生活具有非常重要的参考价值。作为汉代第一手的档案资料，敦煌汉简被誉为中国 “四大汉简”之一，留下了丝绸之路上“汉匈”“汉羌”“汉胡”等民族交往、交融、交流的重要记录。
Dunhuang Han-Dynasty Bamboo Slips
Dunhuang Han-dynasty bamboo slips primarily refer to the bamboo-slip documents discovered within the territory of Dunhuang Prefecture during the Han Dynasty. Their discovery began with Stein's second Central Asian expedition from 1906 to 1908 and continued until the excavation of the Shuangdunzi Northern Beacon Tunnel site in Aksay County in 2019. In addition to bamboo slips, a few silk and paper documents were also found. Chronologically, the earliest slips date back to the mid-Western Han Dynasty, with a few extending as late as the Jin Dynasty. Geographically, while most documents are from Dunhuang, a few belong to Jiuquan Prefecture.
The total number of the Han-dynasty bamboo slips in Dunhuang is approximately 40,000 pieces, including 3,100 pieces (including unpublished portions) obtained during Stein's second Central Asian expedition from 1906 to 1908, 200 pieces acquired during his third Central Asian expedition from 1913 to 1916, 1,217 pieces excavated from the Maquanwan Site in 1979, 35,000 pieces unearthed at the Xuanquan Posthouse Site from 1990 to 1992, and 380 pieces discovered at the Xiaofangpan Fort site in 1998.
The bamboo slips excavated from the ruins of the frontier beacon towers and post stations are part of the archival documents related to the daily operations and management of the garrison troops and post stations. They address various aspects such as the organizational structure of the postal relay system, personnel composition, and specific defensive measures of the frontiers at that time. These documents hold significant reference value for studying the daily management and social life at the Han-dynasty frontier. As primary archival materials from the Han Dynasty, the Dunhuang bamboo slips are regarded as one of China's "Four Great Han-dynasty Bamboo Slips", providing important evidence of interactions, integration, and exchanges along the Silk Road among various ethnic groups including the Han, Xiongnu, Qiang, and Hu.
