An Investigation of Juyan Bamboo Slips of Xuan's Letter to You-sun and Shao-fu——The Frontier Officials' Personal Correspondence in the Han Dynasty

Among the bamboo slips unearthed in Juyan,Xuan's Letter to You-sun and is worth recognizing and researching.Some researchers argue that this is a letter between a husband and his wife in the Western Han Dynasty.Other researchers hold that this is not private,but actually a letter written by one soldier named Xuan to another named You-sun,and Shao-fu was the latter's style name.Both views are wrong,however.By analyzing and investigating this letter's interpretation,style,address form,protocol,and content,this paper argues that this letter is the personal correspondence and contact between frontier officials in the Han Dynasty but not a business letter.The writer,Xuan was a Du-Li,while the receivers,were You-sun,a Hou-Zhang,and his wife.