Abstract
This paper demonstrates the following:
(1) In the Former Han _??__??_ Period the i _??_ which the common people engaged in as chêng-shuo _??__??_ consisted of the three kinds; kêng-shuo _??__??_ shu-pien _??__??_ and chêng_??_. Kêng-fu_??__??_ which is found in Han-shu Shih-huo-chi _??__??__??__??__??_ means the engagement in the three kinds of i _??_, the period of engagement in each of i _??_ being a month per annum. The people who did not engage in i _??_ paid the government san-pai-wên _??__??__??_ for each of i _??_.
(2) The i _??_ of shu-pien_??__??_ was actually imposed for a year in rotation, as the result of which many cheng-shuo _??__??_ paid san-pai-wen _??__??__??_ to the government without engaging in the i _??_. This i _??_ was also imposed upon male members of families of high-ranking officials.
(3) The chêng-shuo _??__??_ were supplied with living expenses by the government during the period of their engagement in i _??_.
(4) The i _??_ of chêng _??_ was imposed not only upon the common people but also upon low-ranking professional soldiers selected as such from among the common people, who engaged exclusively in the i _??_ of chêng_??_. The common people who engaged in this i _??_ were called wei-shuo _??__??_, while the low-ranking professional soldiers who engaged in this i _??_ were called wei-shih _??__??_, the duties of the latter i _??_ being a high-grade one in comparison with those of the former.
(5) The common people, upon completion of the period of the cheng-shuo's _??__??_ engagement, still engaged in easy i _??_ for some years as hsien-shuo _??__??_.
(6) Elimination of Shu-shuo-ling _??__??__??_ in 167 B. C., i.e. in the 13th year of Emperor Wên-ti _??__??_ in the Han _??_ Dynasty means the lessening of the i _??_ of shu-pien _??__??_ and Chêng_??_, which is related to the intention of moving the common people to the northern borders of territory of the Han _??_ Empire to make them take up garrison duties.
