Manyi and Zhen as Seen from the Hujia Caochang Han Manuscripts

The Hujia caochang Western Han slip-and-tablet manuscripts include statutes on the manyi 蠻夷 and zhen 真 , which contain unprecedented but significant information. From the Qin to the early Han periods, foreign tribes were divided into two categories: the wai manyi 外蠻夷 and the jiaozhong manyi 徼中蠻夷 . Delineating them was the “boundary” called jiao 徼 and sai 塞 , and the management of these tribes also differed. The Han dynasty ruled the foreign tribes within its border by such means as household registration by dao 道 -march officials, provision of farmlands based on their registers, imposition of land tax and corvée service, recognition of the original status of the ruling classes, and control by Han law. However, the jiaozhong manyi maintained their original residential form, which were different from the ordinary junxian 郡縣 residents. The manyi were under the rule of the manyi zhang 蠻夷長 and others, but were also controlled by the law of the Han dynasty. In addition, the Han inherited the Qin legal notion of zhen as the label for naturalized people from abroad. Zhen refers to the “pure” people born abroad, that is, the first generation of naturalized foreigners. Nonetheless, their children born on the land of Han were no longer regarded as zhen , but as complete Han people. As for naturalized zhen , the dynasty partially recognized their original status or identity.