西漢長安武庫職官建置與兵器管理制度

The Establishment of Officials and Weapons Administration of the Changan Armory in the Western Han Dynasty

The officials and institutions of the Changan Armory（Wu-ku；武庫）that full of excellent weapons and closely related to imperial security are undoubtedly considered as important topics of the Western Han Dynasty. Therefore, this essay will focus on the Changan Armory officials and weapons administration through the unearthed texts. First, the administrative agency of the Changan Armory was established following the Chin, and was probably subordinated to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues （Shao-fu；少府）in Early Han. Later, during the Ching to Wu Emperor Periods, it was subordinated to the Chamberlain for the Imperial Insignia (Zhong-wei（中尉）, which was later renamed Zhi-Jin-Wu（執金吾）) after the reforms of civil service system. Secondly, there were multiple origins of the weapons stored at the Changan Armory such as the offices of State Laborers （Gong-guan；工官）located at Commanderies（chun；郡） or Princedoms（wang-kuo；王國）, and some certain central officials mainly subordinated to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues. On the other hand, no matter weapons producing or storing administration, all agencies managed weapons both for imperial and official utilization. It is illustrated that the clear-cut distinction between imperial and official administration could be still not thoroughly drawn. Thirdly, large amounts of various weapons produced from workshops of multiple officials were stored in the Changan Armory with some certain acceptability and storage criteria. Moreover, there were legal articles concerned with access controlling and security safeguarding of the Changan Armory, such as official sealing, access registration, and the duty system. In conclusion, the Changan Armory Agency with stable establishment was primarily charged with the weapons storage management of the Changan Armory. On the basis of the above discussion, it is worth to be considered further that whether the Luoyang Armory was subordinated to the central government, how it related to Henan Commandery administratively, and whether the Changan Armory Agency had duties of producing weapons.