UDC 903.2

In 2006, a Russian-Mongolian expedition excavated Mound No. 20 in the Noin-Ula Mountains and found a lacquered cup. The article suggests reading and translating the hieroglyphic inscription consisting of 46 hieroglyphs carved on the bottom of the product. According to the inscription, the date of manufacture, the basis of the product, the workshop in which the cup was restored (improved?), as well as the positions and surnames of officials who managed and controlled the production of the cup are determined. The cup, a classic product of the Han era, was made in the capital's Kaogong workshop (Chang'an), which supplied lacquer items to the Chinese imperial court.

Keywords: Han Dynasty, Noin-Ula, mound No. 20, lacquered cup, hieroglyphic inscription, Caogong Workshop, Chang'an, Xigong workshop, Shu County, Gongguan Workshop, Guanghan County.

Introduction

In 2006, a Russian-Mongolian expedition to the Sutsukte Paddy in the Noin-Ula Mountains excavated a noble Xiongnu mound and found three lacquer cups (Polosmak, Bogdanov, and Tseveendorj, 2006; Polosmak et al., 2008; Polosmak, Tseveendordj, and Bogdanov, 2007). They are the same shape, oval, with two ears-handles, flat bottom. In the bottom part of one cup, an inscription of 46 hieroglyphs is carved in a circle. On the outside of the body of the cup, pairs of phoenixes and clouds are depicted in cinnabar.

The lacquer cup with the inscription was located at the bottom of a wooden burial chamber at a depth of 18.35 m. It was lying upside down (with broken handles) on a copper disk (probably a mirror). The oval-shaped bottom is very well preserved. The maximum diameter is 92.5 mm, the minimum is 51.2 mm; the height is 4 mm. The average thickness of the cup walls is 4 mm. Since the walls of the product are damaged, it is difficult to determine the exact height. The cup has been restored and preserved (Fig. 1). The restoration work was carried out by V. G. Simonov, an employee of the Grabar All-Russian Art Research and Restoration Center, and L. P. Kundo, an employee of the IAET SB RAS.

Inscriptions on lacquer products are an important source of information about the place and time, the manufacturing process itself, as well as about craftsmen and officials. The purpose of this paper is to translate the inscription and determine the cultural, temporal, and functional identity of the cup.

Characteristics of the find

In China, during the Zhanguo, Qin, and Han periods, one of the most common lacquerware items was the so-called bei  cups. They are oval in shape, with a flat bottom and a pair of handle ears. Most researchers call such products erbei  In the inscriptions on lacquer cups from the Zhanguo period to the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the characters noy (bei)  are found, which correlate with the modern character bei  - "cup". According to experts, such cups were intended for wine. This is confirmed by the inscriptions on them:  jun seung-ju - "Happy wine to you". However, on some cups

We express our gratitude to S. V. Alkin and S. A. Komissarov for the recommendations made during the preparation of the article.

1. Lacquer cup from mound No. 20 in Noin-Ul after restoration.

2. Fragment of the ornament "opposing phoenixes" on a cup from mound No. 20 in Noin-Ul.

there are inscriptions  xing shi bei - "cups for happy food",  Jun xing shi - "You have a happy meal". They could be used for both wine and food [Hong Shi, 2006, pp. 23-25].

The cup found in mound No. 20 of Noin-Ula is decorated with images of four pairs of opposing phoenixes and clouds (Fig. 2). Cups with similar ornaments are typical of burials of the Han period. One such cup was found in China in prov. Guizhou [Xihan...Another cup, which is currently kept in the State Museum of the History of Mongolia [L'Asie des steppes..., 2001, p. 147, pict. 128], was discovered in Mongolia in the Tsurumte Paddy (Noin-Ula Mountains). Chinese researchers call the  - "phoenixes and thunder" or yunfengwen  - "clouds and phoenixes". This story became widespread already in the Zhanguo period. It is quite common on products of the Han era. Such images of clouds in the works of Chinese experts are most often called baoyun  or ruiyun,  which translates as "precious clouds", "clouds of happiness". Clouds are a connecting element of the ornament, they unite the figures of birds. We can say that the clouds are the tails of phoenixes. This is a benevolent symbolism.

The arrangement of images of birds on the cup of the Chinese corresponds to their understanding of space. There are several plots: a pair of opposing phoenixes; pairs of phoenixes located in a circle (on the four cardinal directions) in the wu-xing  - "five elements". The arrangement of compositions in a circle is connected with the perception of space as a five-term model of building the world: the four cardinal directions and the center. In our opinion, the image of a pair of opposing birds reflects the dual perception of the world and the perception of space in the yin-yang  system. The version of the composition "a pair of phoenixes and clouds" in the Han Dynasty-a pair of phoenixes and an object between them. On the find from Noin-Ula, there are crossed lines between the figures of phoenixes. V. V. Evsyukov considers such compositions as birds (animals) at the World Tree [1988, p. 48].

Under the Han Dynasty, the phoenix was an imperial symbol. In Ling Xuan's novel "Unofficial Biography of Zhao-the Flying Swallow", the emperor himself is called a phoenix: "The signs of the Han dynasty are fire and virtue, so the sovereign is a Red Dragon or Red Phoenix" [Purple Jasper..., 1980, p. 37]. In written sources, the character feng  - "phoenix" begins to be used in the sense of "empress" or " a woman related to the emperor." Items belonging to the Empress or concubines were always depicted with a phoenix, or the name of these items included the word "phoenix".

In addition, the phoenix was considered the guardian of the entrance to the land of immortals. In" Chu chi " - a literary monument of the Southern tradition - Qu Yuan makes the journey of Yu on the four dragons and phoenixes. The same motif can be traced in the final text of the cycle "Zuo bian" by Song Yu: "on the right - the magnificent luxury of a Purple bird, and on the left-the curves of the rings of a Turquoise serpent". M. E. Kravtsova suggests that Yu's journey is not a journey of a living person, but of the soul of the deceased [1994, p. 142, 171]. Perhaps this is why the cups with such ornaments were an accompanying inventory in burials.

Such a variety of interpretations is not accidental: in the image of the phoenix - "the head of all birds" - images of many birds are combined. As a result of" mixing", semantics overlap. The image of the phoenix can simultaneously symbolize the "guardian in the land of the immortals", "empress" and"emperor". In the Han era, the phoenix symbol finally took shape as a state symbol. Therefore, his images are present on objects made for the imperial court. As noted above, the cup from mound No. 20 had not only an ornament, but also a hieroglyphic inscription. Most Han lacquerware has no inscriptions on it. If the product was made in the imperial workshops or for the imperial court, then it must have a brand or inscription on it.

Sources and methods of research

Translating an inscription involves developing a translation hypothesis, interpreting the language code, and verifying the translation.

When creating the translation hypothesis, we used published materials representing several types of sources. Archaeological sources-lacquer products with inscriptions of the Western Han Dynasty, found in China, Mongolia and Korea (pref. Lolan), as well as other categories of products with inscriptions. Written sources - "Hanynu" ("History of the Han Dynasty") and " Houhangynu "("History of the Late Han Dynasty"), explanatory dictionaries in Chinese: "Kangxi zidian "[2006]; "Wenbai duizhao" Shoven jie zi "yishu" [2000]; "Qihai" [1999]. The Japanese researcher S. Umehara was the first to collect, publish and analyze Chinese lacquer products with inscriptions. His work "Shina Kandai kinemmei shikki zusetsu", published in 1943, is a bibliographic rarity, so we, unfortunately, could not refer to it. However, some provisions concerning lacquer products and inscriptions on them are set out in another work of S. Umehara - " Mo:ko Noin-ura hakken ibupu " [1960]. It contains two inscriptions on cups from Noin-Ula mounds; the comments say that the inscriptions indicate the names and positions of officials who controlled production, as well as the name of the master who made the products. S. Umehara notes that cups with similar inscriptions are found in Pref. Lolan [Ibid., pp. 30, 31]. The study of inscriptions on lacquer products was continued by the Chinese researcher Hong Shi [2005, 2006]. He compiled a summary table of lacquer objects with inscriptions. However, most of the table and the description of workshops are materials from S. Umehara. The translation of the inscription on a wooden lacquer box from the Xiongnu burial ground in Padi Tsaram (excavations of S. S. Minyaev) was carried out by Professor M. Pirazzoli-Serstevens. She translated based on the research of S. Umehara and Hong Shi [Pirazzoli-t ' Serstevens, 2007, p. 56-58; Pirazzoli-Serstevens, 2008, p.71-74].

According to the" Treatise on the Pattern of the Earth "in the Han Dynasty, the production of lacquer objects was managed in eight counties under the Han Dynasty:  Jun-Shu, Guanghan, Henei, Henan, Yingshu, Nanyang, Jinan, and Taishan 

Among them, the most famous were Shu and Guanghan counties in Chengdu in the territory of the modern Prov. Sichuan. They were considered centers for the production of lacquer products [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 170, 174]. Workshop in the ROC. Guanghan was called Gongguan  in the roc. Shu-Shigong  "Under Han, there were three state-owned factories in the capital, the production of which was put at the service of the imperial family exclusively. Kaogun-shi* produced furniture" [Eliseeff V., Eliseeff D., 2007, p. 179]. The Hanynu says that the workshop was originally called Kaogunshi  under Emperor Wuqi in the First year of Taichu (104 BC), it was renamed Kaogun. The workshop was mainly engaged in casting bronze products, weapons, parts for chariots, etc., as well as making lacquer things. The total number of products produced there was more than in the imperial workshops, but the number of varnishes was much less. If the products were intended for the imperial court, then the characters  chengyu - "imperial carriage", peren. "emperor" was written at the very beginning of the inscription (Hong Shi, 2006, p. 190, 191, 193). Kaogun is the capital's workshop. During the Western Han Dynasty, the capital was Chang'an. Hence, it can be assumed that the Kaogong workshop was located in Chang'an.

The counties of Guanghan, Shu and the three workshops of Gongguan, Xigong and Caogong are marked not only in written sources, but also in inscriptions on lacquer products. According to some researchers, this is the name of the supplier of raw materials for workshops, others - a different hieroglyphic record of the Kaogun workshop . Since the inscriptions on lacquer products from the Gonggong and Kaogong workshops are identical in structure, it is possible that this is another workshop, also belonging to the Shaofu  department [Ibid., p. 191]. Under the Han Dynasty, the combination of Shaofu characters was used to mean "keeper of imperial robes and jewels, chamberlain" [Bolshoy Sino-Russian Dictionary (hereinafter BKRS), 1984, vol. 3, p. 356]. In the commentary to Shi ji, it is recorded that the word shaofu meant the tax department, the head of the tax department of the imperial court. The position of shaofu was established under Qin. Shaofu

* Kaogun-shi-a variant spelling of Kaogunshi.

He was one of the highest dignitaries in the Qin and Han periods [Vyatkin and Taskin, 1975, vol. 2, pp. 366, 446, 572].

Regarding the inscriptions on the products, M. Levet writes: "... in addition to private enterprises in the I-II centuries, there were at least three workshops funded by the government. Some products were exported outside the country, as evidenced by a wine glass. On the glass is indicated the year of manufacture of the product (55), the name of the workshop is indicated-Kuang Han* (it was located on the territory of the modern city of Chengdu). Based on the inscriptions on the products, you can create a list of artisans responsible for various processes related to priming, varnishing, gilding, painting, engraving or polishing. No less informative are the inscriptions found on items made in government factories, where the names of officials who controlled the activities of manufacturers are indicated " [2005, p. 208-209].

Some lacquer products, as noted by M. V. Vorobyov, are provided with inscriptions indicating the place and time of manufacture. These are usually imperial workshops in Shu and Guanghan Counties in the Prov. Sichuan [1997, p. 294]. The same thing is written by the joint venture. Fitzgerald: "... more than 200 lacquered objects, mostly painted, were recovered from the graves at Lachlan. Many inscriptions are dated to the period between 85 and 52 BC. The inscriptions indicate that they were made in China, in the west of Sichuan, not far from Chengdu" [1998, p.180]. Eight lacquerware items (he box, pan dish, and erbei cups) from the Sogamni Monument in Lolan also bear the inscription "4th year of the Yuan" [Hanguk...].

So, based on the available sources, we can build a hypothesis of the translation of Han inscriptions. We believe that the inscriptions on Han lacquer products should indicate the place (district, workshop), time (the motto of the emperor's reign), the manufacturing process, as well as the names of the craftsmen who performed this or that work, the positions and surnames of the officials who controlled the production. It is necessary to find out whether the inscriptions on all types of lacquer products are the same, or whether the structure of the inscription depends on the workshop.

Method of translating hieroglyphic inscriptions

A comparison of inscriptions on various Han-era lacquerware makes it possible to distinguish two types of structures. The first is typical of the inscriptions on the products of the Xigong and Gongguan workshops in Shu and Guanghan Counties, prov. Sichuan. Labels of this type include:

1) the board's motto, usually indicating the year. It consists of four hieroglyphs. It must end with the hieroglyph of nannies - "year";

2) names of the area and workshop. After the list, at the end there is the hieroglyph  tsao - "to make", "to produce" or  gong - "to work";

3) three hieroglyphs:  xiu - "to cover with varnish", - "to put an inscription",  hua - "to put an ornament";

4) information about the method of manufacturing the item;

5) volume indicator;

6) product name;

7) a list of, as a rule, eight stages of production, indicating the names of the masters. At the end - the hieroglyph  tsao - "to make", "to produce";

8) a list of the positions of five officials responsible for the manufacture of the product, indicating their surnames. At the end - the character  zhu - "master", "chief". Officials are listed in the order of demotion.

The hieroglyphic scheme looks like this:

  (last name of the master)[,] (master's last name)[,] (master's surname) [,] (master's surname) [,] (master's surname) [,] (master's surname) [,] (master's surname) [,] (master's surname) [,] (official's surname) [,] (official's surname) [,] (last name of the official) [,] (last name of the official) [,] (last name of the official) 

The second type of structure is typical for inscriptions on the products of the capital's workshops (in Chang'an) Kaogong and Gungong. Labels with this structure are shorter than those with the first type of structure, and include:

1) information that the product is intended for the imperial court: the characters  chenyu - "imperial carriage", peren. "the emperor";

2) three hieroglyphs:  xiu - "varnish", * * * * * - "apply an inscription",  hua - "apply an ornament";

3) information about the manufacturing method;

4) product name;

5) volume indicator;

6) the board's motto, usually indicating the year. It consists of four hieroglyphs. It must end with the hieroglyph of nannies - "year";

7) name of the workshop. Unlike the previous one, this structure contains only the names of two craftsmen: the one who made (restored) the product and the one who applied the inscription (or ornament in red);

* Most likely, it was referring to the Guanghan workshop.

** Lolane.

*** Reading of this character is unknown.

**** The sign indicates the characters that change in the inscription.

***** Reading of this character is unknown.

8) list of positions and surnames of officials who managed the production process. At the end - the character  zhu - "master", "chief" or  Chen - "official", "the dignitary";

9) list of positions and surnames of officials who controlled the manufacturing process. At the end - the character  sheng, less often- zhu. Officials are listed in order of promotion.

The hieroglyphic scheme of the inscription looks like this:

  (last name of the master) [,] (last name of the official)[,] (last name of the official)[,] (last name of the official) (last name of the official) [,] (last name of the official) 

It should be noted that with the introduction of new posts or a change in the status of the post, the label was adjusted: the name of a new position was entered or the order of enumeration was changed, which, if the inscription is incomplete (damaged), can help with the dating of the product.

On the cup from mound No. 20 in Noin-Ul, the inscription is practically intact - there is only one damage. When taking macro photos, the hieroglyphs are clearly visible and easy to read. An exception is the hieroglyph at the site of the break, but it is easy to restore it by its characteristic features: "folding left", "horizontal" and "vertical", and taking into account the structure of the inscription and the context, this is the hieroglyphof nannies - "year". Caption on

3. Hieroglyphic inscription (1) and its fragments (2) on a lacquer cup from mound No. 20 in Noin-Ul.

The cup has a second type of structure, which is as follows (Fig. 3):

Commentary on hieroglyphs and translation of the inscription

 chengyu - "imperial carriage", peren. "imperator" [BKRS, 1984, vol. 3, p. 783]. This is a direct indication that the product was made in the imperial workshop. Li Xueqing, referring to the opinion of Prof. Chen Zhi notes that in Han times, officials used the phrase chengyu when naming the emperor or items that were meant for him. However, it is not entirely clear why items intended for the emperor are found in the territory that was previously the periphery of the empire. Perhaps the products with this mark were awarded to officials, or they were surplus items from the workshop, which were sold by the local administration (Li Xueqing, 1998, p. 72). On many lacquer products, as Hong Shi notes, there are two characters- chengyu. In Cai Yong's Douduan Han records, chariots, horses, clothing, and all items belonging to the Son of Heaven were called chengyu. Consequently, products with these two characters in their inscriptions were delivered to the Emperor's court (Hong Shi, 2006, p. 174).

 xiu (there are several similar spellings). In "Showen", it means  qi - "lak". In the Qin and Han eras, the hieroglyph could be used in the meaning of both the noun "varnish" and the verb "to cover with varnish" (Li Xueqing, 1998, p.72). According to Kangxi zidian and Qihai, the  xiu character denotes black and red lacquer products with a predominance of red. In the "Hanynu" it is recorded that such lacquer products were made for the imperial court [Kangxi zidian, 2006, p. 1623; Caihai, 1999, p. 1914]. Hong Shi gives a different interpretation of the character from the dictionary "Showen": xiu - " the sap of a tree that can cover objects." He also notes that in Yang's commentary on Hanshu, things covered with varnish are called xiu. Probably, sy - "the primary coating of the product with varnish or the application of a varnish base". In contrast to chi  - "coating with varnish", xiu meant that the varnish layer is very thin [2006, p. 178-180].

 - the reading of this sign is unknown; researchers interpret and relate this hieroglyph to modern ones in different ways, in particular, it is believed that earlier the hieroglyph was necessarily written with the grapheme - "side water". According to most experts, this is the hieroglyph  diao, translated as "cut patterns". Today, there is no consensus among researchers about the interpretation of meaning. Some are convinced that the character means "put an inscription", others - "put a newly varnished cup in the dryer" (see: [Li Xueqing, 1998, p. 72]). Hong Shi gives several more versions of the interpretation of the hieroglyph related to the production process of lacquer items. Option one-polishing the product after applying the ornament; the second - the process of drying the varnish coating in a dark room; the third-polishing the product to a shine (after applying the inscription or ornament, the master was still polishing it); the fourth-coating with red cinnabar; the fifth-polishing the product during its manufacture. However, Hong Shi, comparing all the hieroglyphs, comes to the conclusion that the products are written with a sign closely related to the  dan hieroglyph - "cinnabar", "cinnabar", "red". In his opinion, the combination means the process of applying red varnish. It is characteristic that the products that do not indicate this type of work in the inscription do not have a red lacquer coating. Cinnabar was an expensive dye, and it was most likely used only for products intended for the imperial court, which were inscribed with Chengyu characters [2006, pp. 181-183, 185].

 hua - "paint", "picture", "drawing" [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 47]. In the Han era, it meant "to make an ornament", which is not very different in meaning from modern ones. The products that indicate this type of work in the inscription are not ornamented [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 184].

So, the three characters written together with   xiu  (a character whose reading is currently unknown), Hua denote, firstly, three types of work ("primary coating of the product with varnish or applying a varnish base", "applying an inscription or coating with red varnish", "applying an ornament"), and secondly, the sequence of their execution.

 mu - "wood", "wooden". Lacquer products were made mainly from papier-mache and wood [Pogrebenie N 2..., 2001, p. 61-62]. The character mu ("wood") in the inscription indicates that the lacquer cup had a wooden base.

 huang er - "yellow ears", "cover with gilding" [Li Xueqing, 1998, p. 73]. These hieroglyphs are present in inscriptions on products (in particular, cups) with bronze inserts-ears covered with gilding (Hong Shi, 2006, p. 185, 186).

 and sheng shiliu yue is a measure of volume in 1 sheng and 16 yue.  sheng is a measure of volume for liquid or bulk bodies, equal to 1.04 liters of  yue-measure per 1,200 millet grains, equal to 0.01 sheng [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 979; 1984, vol. 3, p. 240]. According to "Showen", sheng is a measure equal to 10 yue. The comments say that the sheng could be equal to 10 ge. In ancient times

the values of the unit of volume measurement could be different, for example, the sheng could be equal to 10 or 20 yue [Wenbai duizhao..., 2000, p. 1347]. In the Han era, 1 sheng was equal to 10 ge, 1 ge-2 yue, or 200 ml [Zhongguo...]. In the comments to the "Historical Notes: Shi ji" it is written: sheng is an ancient measure of capacity for bulk and liquid bodies. In the Zhanguo and Han eras, it was 340 g [Vyatkin R. V., Vyatkin A. R., Karpetyants, 2002, vol. 8, p. 503]. Judging by the inscription on the cup under discussion, its volume was approximately 360 ml. Most likely, this was the actual volume, but due to damage to the walls, it is impossible to accurately determine it.

 pou (bei) - "wooden product", " cup " [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 24].

 Yuanyang synyan is the board's motto: "The 4th year of Yuanyang". It corresponds to 9 BC. e. The years under the motto of the Yuanyang reign fall on 12-9 BC. e. [BKRS, 1983, vol. 1, p. 159].

 kaogong - "chief supervisor (inspector) of handicrafts" (a position in the Han Imperial Revenue Department) [Ibid., 1984, vol. 3, p. 499]. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, this was the official position at the court. In " Houhanyu "in the section "Officials" it is written that kaogong is an official of the imperial court, who managed various types of work. In addition, Kaogun is also the name of the workshop where weapons were mainly made. The workshop belonged to Official Shaofu's  department. During the Western Han Dynasty, officials in the position of  Hou also opened private workshops (storehouses) [Caihai, 1999, p. 1469].

After the inscription on the cup follows a character consisting of two horizontal lines If you follow the analogy with other inscriptions and grammar rules, then this is most likely the second character  gong - "work", "work".

 shan - "make a copy", "repair", "repair", "improve" [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 466]. In "Showen", shan is translated as "mending, mending clothes", "repairing", "restoring" [Wenbai duizhao..., 2000, p. 1228]. Based on the meaning of the shan character, it can be assumed that the cup was either repaired in the workshop, or an inscription was applied to it: it lists overseers and two craftsmen, other craftsmen are not indicated. In the summary table given by Hong Shi, only on the char zun from the Yaozilin burial in the inscription there is the character shan [2006, p. 165]. Therefore, the combination  gong Tong shan-can be translated as "restored by a master named Tong".

Unlike a product with an inscription that has a structure of the first type, only two craftsmen are indicated on the Noin-Ula find: one who restored the cup, and the second who made the inscription (or executed the red ornament), but this should not be considered evidence of a reduction in the production cycle of a lacquer product. According to Hong Shi, the cup in question does not contain the names of all the craftsmen, most likely because the workshop where it was made did not have such a clear division of labor as in the workshops of Guanghan and Shu counties. Perhaps," in terms of production volume "and the quality of lacquer products," our " workshop was inferior to the workshops of Guanghan and Shu counties. However, the products of both are the same in style and decoration: the cups, as a rule, depict red paired phoenixes. Products from the Kaogong workshop were imitated by products from the imperial workshops [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 193, 194].

After the combination on the cup, the responsible persons are listed in order. It should be noted that all positions were civilian, not military. In Han times, the lists of positions after the chief of the Ling  county (region) indicated zoguan  cheng  yuan  sefu , etc. In the inscriptions on products from the Caogong workshop, the positions of officials are named in order from highest to lowest, and on products from the Xigong and Gongguan imperial workshops - from lowest to highest. The list of posts themselves could be constructed in different ways (perhaps the status of the post changed or the recording method was not set). Another difference between the inscriptions on products from the Caogong workshop and those on products from Guanghan and Shu counties is that the hieroglyph  chen - "official" was added after the position name [Ibid., pp. 175, 191, 192].

In the inscription on the Noin-Ula cup, the positions of officials are listed in the following order::

 tso - "assistant", "official", "junior", "lower" [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 76]. This position was considered a basic (lower) one; as a rule, zuo was an assistant to sefu (Hong Shi, 2006, p. 175). In the inscription on the cup from mound No. 20, before the zuo character is the  shou character - "temporarily replace", "represent". This indicates that during the Zhanguo period, as well as during the Qin and Han dynasties, there was a system that provided for the possibility of temporary replacement of an official or the performance of duties by his representative [Ibid., p. 176]. Most likely, we are talking about the temporary performance of duties by another person. This character is a combination  of jiashou and means "temporarily hold a position". The official could retire from business for some time, for example, during the period of mourning for his parents. In this case, the combination  shouzuo is translated as "deputy assistant supervisor" or"representative of the assistant supervisor".

 sefu - "supervisor", the lowest position of an official until the fifth century AD [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 670]. Under the Qin and Han dynasties, he was a minor provincial official who was in charge of civil affairs and taxes (Qihai, 1999, p. 1443). He was the answer-

an official in the  zofu "department of Works" (Hong Shi, 2006, p. 175).

 yuan - "a minor official, assistant, clerk" [BKRS, 1984, vol. 3, p. 844]. The position was introduced in 82 BC during the Western Han Dynasty in the workshops of the ROC. Yingchuan. Its appearance was a reflection of increased control over workshops [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 175]. In" Showen", yuan is "assistant", "left assistant" (Wenbai duizhao, 2000, p. 1122).

According to the inscription scheme, the position sign yuan is followed by the character  zhu, which means "management", "management of work" (Hong Shi, 2006, p. 192). He completes the list of officials who managed the work. However, the inscription on the cup from mound No. 20 uses the character  chen. Most likely, this is due to the fact that the cup in question was not made, but restored in the Kaogun workshop.

 cheng - "assistant to the head of an institution or county" [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 50]. During the Han Dynasty, Cheng served as an assistant county chief in the county (Caihai, 1999, p. 206). In the inscriptions on products from the Kaogun workshop, the position of yucheng is found  - "right assistant", or "right hand assistant". Given similar records, the Kaogong and Gonggong workshops had the positions of  zocheng - "left assistant" and yucheng  - "right assistant", which controlled each other. In the commentaries to "Houkhanyn" it is noted that the workshops were established in one position yucheng and zocheng [Hong Shi, 2006, p.190, 192]. Under the Han Dynasty, Yucheng was an official who was engaged in receiving petitions and issuing loans in money and grain [BKRS, 1983, vol. 2, p. 429]. In "Qihai", yucheng is the name of the official position; it also says that in "Shangshu" during the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were the positions of zocheng and yucheng (Qihai, 1999, pp. 2067, 2301).

 pin - "head of the office, secretary" [Ibid., p. 754], as a rule, at the county level.

 sheng - "province, provincial center" [Ibid., p. 627]. Since only lower-ranking officials are listed on the find in question, and the hieroglyph sheng - "region", "province" is at the end of the list, and not zhu - "main", it can be assumed that the cup was not made in the main (imperial) workshop. We know of two large imperial workshops: Sigun in the ROC. Shu and Gongguan in ocd. Guanghan. They were located in Chengdu (modern China). prov. Sichuan). The sheng character in the inscription, as Hong Shi notes, can mean "production control". It is believed that only officials prior to the position of yuan managed production, while higher-ranking officials, such as Lin and Yucheng, exercised control [2006, pp. 192-193]. In addition, judging by the "conciseness" of the inscription (it does not indicate the full production process), the cup was made in a workshop subordinate to shaofu [Burial No. 2..., 2001, pp. 61-62].

It should be noted that an inscription similar in structure is found not only on Erbei cups, but also on other Chinese lacquer products. For example, on the char zun  found in Yongzhou prov. Hunan, in the border. No. 2 [Ibid., p. 55]; on a plate of pan  from Yaozhuang, border N 102; on a plate of pan  from Shiyanli, border N 201 [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 165, 168]. The inscriptions on these finds differ only in the mottos of the board and the names of masters and officials.

The analysis of hieroglyphs allows translating the inscription on the lacquer cup from mound No. 20 in Noin-Ul as follows: "[For] the imperial court [made] a bey cup, covered with varnish, with an inscription and ornament. [Base] made of wood, with yellow ears. Volume 1 sheng and 16 yue. In the 4th year of Yuan-yang in the Kaogong workshop [master] Thun restored it. Made an inscription (or applied an ornament with red varnish) [master] Xian. They were led by Deputy [assistant supervisor] zocheng Wen, [supervisor] sefu Xun. Controlled by [assistant] Yuan Wen, [right assistant to the county chief] Yucheng Guang, [chief of the county chancellery] ling Tan."

A cup with a similar inscription was found in mound No. 62 of the Mozuizi Han burial ground, located near the city of Qiliangnan in the area of the Tsamuhe River, 15 km southwest of the city of Wuwei in the prov. Gansu [Ibid., p. 165]. Unlike Noin-ula, it was made, and not restored in the Kaogun workshop (the inscription contains the hieroglyph tsao - "to make"). It contains other names the motto of the board and the names of the master and officials:

"[For] the imperial court [made] a cup-bay, covered with varnish, with an inscription and an ornament. [Base] made of wood, with yellow ears. Volume 1 sheng and 16 yue. In the 1st year of Suihe, [master] Bin was made in the Kaogun workshop. Made an inscription (or applied an ornament with red varnish) [master] Feng. They were led by [scribe] Hu Peng, [assistant supervisor] zocheng Yi, and [supervisor] sefu Xiao. Controlled by the representative of [right assistant county chief] Yucheng Zhong, the representative of [county Chief of Chancery] Lin Feng."

In the Noin-Ula burial mounds, in addition to the cup described above, two similar lacquer cups with hieroglyphic inscriptions were found in the" royal " burials of the Xiongnu. One of them, found by P. K. Kozlov in 1924-1925 in mound No. 6, is kept in the State Hermitage Museum. The inscription was read and published by S. Umakhara [1960, p. 30]:

S. Umehara does not translate the inscription, but explains that the motto of the Jianping government falls on

4. Fragments of a lacquer cup from the State Museum of the History of Mongolia.

end of the reign of Emperor Aidi of the Early (Western) Han Dynasty. The researcher draws attention to the fact that the 5th year of Qianping actually did not exist, since under this motto the government was only four years old [Ibid., p. 30]. Indeed, the period of rule under the Jianping motto corresponds to 6 - 3 years BC, followed by the time under the Yuanyinou rule motto - 2-1 years BC [BKRS, 1983, vol. 1, pp. 158-159]. S. Umehara suggests that the 5th year of Jianyin should be considered as the 1st year of Yuanyin and date it to 2 BC [1960, p. 30]. Hong Shi, when considering the date on lacquer products - "the 5th year of Jianping"-holds the same opinion and dates them to 2 BC [2006, p. 167].

We offer the following translation of the inscription: "In the 5th year of Jianping, in the 9th month, Master Wang Tanjing completed the work, Master Hohu drew the drawing, and controlled Tianwu."

Translation of the inscription from Noin-ulin mound No. 6 to Umehara Village was made by A. N. Bernshtam: "September of the 5th year of Qian Ping; manufacturer Wang Tan Chin, painter Huo, manufacturer Yi, supreme observation of Bian-Wu". A. N. Bernshtam also states that the date is " 5th Jianping City " corresponds to 2 BC [1937, p. 955]. However, he does not cite the label itself.

Comparing the translations of the inscription revealed differences in the interpretation of hieroglyphs by researchers. It is important to note that the label structure does not correspond to any of the specified types. At the moment, it has no analogues, so it is difficult to determine in which workshop and for whom the cup was made from the Noin-Ula burial mound No. 6. We translated the inscription from the inscription published by S. Umekhara, but in our opinion, it is not given in full or with distortion.

Another cup with the inscription was found by A. D. Simukov in 1927 during the excavation of one of the large mounds in Tsurumte Padi in the Noin-Ula mountains. In 2008, we managed to get acquainted with this find and copy the hieroglyphs preserved on it (Fig. 4). The inscription has a structure of the first type:

In an inscription with the first type of structure, the hieroglyph "drawing" should be followed by hieroglyphs indicating the types of work and the names of their performers. We cannot restore only the names of the masters (two hieroglyphs). The label restored according to the scheme looks like this:

"In the 5th year of Jianping, the Shu County Sigun Workshop [produced] a bei cup for the imperial court. It is covered with varnish, with an inscription and an ornament. [Base] made of wood, with yellow ears. Volume 1 sheng and 16 yue. The foundation was made by [Master] Zun. Applied a lacquer base [master] Pou, secondary varnish coating - [master] Shou, put in yellow ears and covered with [gilding] [master] Zong, applied a drawing Made an inscription (or applied an ornament with red varnish) [master]  Washed the lacquer product [master] Bai, ran the Fu workshop. Following the work were [scribe] zushi Xun, [county chief's] representative Zhang Ke, [assistant county chief] cheng Jun, [assistant] Yuan Li, and [Chief of Chancery's] representative lingshi Yan."

As for inscriptions in general, in our opinion, during the Han Dynasty they were universal and served as a kind of tags for recording products. Basic information that should be contained in them (without following the sequence): board motto (date of manufacture) + workshop or place of manufacture + product characteristics (e.g. volume, dimensions, weight, power, etc.) + manufacturers + supervisors. We believe that with the help of these hieroglyphic schemes, it is possible to translate inscriptions on other products of the Han Era.

* The symbol indicates the part of the inscription that was lost at the time of reading.

Conclusions

To date, three cups with hieroglyphic inscriptions are known, found in the" royal " mounds of the Xiongnu in the Noin-Ula mountains. All these cups probably belonged to the regular offerings that the imperial court used to buy off the Xiongnu [Hong Shi, 2006, p. 219]. It is safe to say that they are made in different workshops. The cup from mound No. 20 was restored (improved) in the Kaogun workshop, subordinate to Shaofu and located in the capital Chang'an, and the cup found by A. D. Simukov was made in the Sigun workshop in the Shu district. All of them are identical in shape and ornamentation (images of phoenixes) and date from the same time - Western Han.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 31.10.2008.

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