Clarification of the Meaning of Field Hut in Pre-Qin Period

Since Han and Tang Dynasty,scholars,who have been influenced by the article Shi Huo zhi in the Han Records,have tried to recover from the Pre-Qin documents the dwelling form of the farmers under the nine square system. That is,they stay in the field huts from spring to autumn and then move to their community region when winter comes. The work Farming by CHEN Fu in Song Dynasty further elaborates this life style in a systematic way. The present author makes a survey of those explanations and analyzes the texts in the Qin bamboo slips. He finds that the farmers before Qin live in their community,rather than stay in two separate places. Even if they do have huts on the farms,the latter are not used for dwelling. It is unusual for one to stay there for night;and even so,it has many constraints. Such should be the true meaning of field huts in the Pre-Qin Period that is recorded in Shi Huo zhi of the Han Records.