What was the life of a common soldier in Ancient China?
中国古代普通士兵的生活是怎样的？
In 1975, a letter on wood chips was unearthed in China. It was written by a Qin soldier for his big brother who stayed at home.
1975年，中国出土木渎上的字符。这是一位秦军士兵写给留在家里的大哥的。
The content of the letter could be roughly translated as the following,
这封信的内容大致可以翻译如下：
“Month 2, Day XY. Heifu and Jing (writers, who are serving in Qin’s military) are bowing twice toward Zhong (their big brother at home) and have questions for you. Is our mother well? Heifu and Jing are very well. Several days ago, Heifu left Jing but we have got together at present”
“第 2 个月，第 XY 天。黑孚和景向钟（他们家里的大哥）鞠了两躬，有问题要问你。我们的母亲还好吗？黑孚和景都很好。几天前，黑孚离开了景，但我们现在已经聚在一起了”
“Heifu still has to add, please send Heifu some money and summer clothes. When the letter arrives, please let our mother buy some cloth if it is cheap at home. Then let her make some clothes and send us the clothes along with the money. If the cloth at home is expensive, only send money to us. Heifu can make clothes here.”
“黑孚还要补充，请给黑孚送点钱和夏衣。当信到达时，如果家里便宜的话，请让我们的母亲买一些布料。然后让她做一些衣服，把衣服和钱一起寄给我们。如果家里的布很贵，就寄钱给我们。黑孚可以在这里做衣服。”
“Heifu is guarding Huaiyang (city name). We have been fighting besiegers for long and casualties are still unkown. We hope our mother send us enough things. … …”
“黑孚守着淮阳（城名）。我们作战已久，伤亡情况仍未确定。我们希望我们的母亲给我们寄来足够的东西。… …”
Something we could infer from the letter.
我们可以从这封信中推断出一些东西。
Qin’s government probably is not responsible for daily expenditures and clothing of average soldiers.
秦国政府可能不负责普通士兵的日常开支和衣着。
This family has three sons but two of them are serving in the military.
这个家庭有三个儿子，但其中两个在军队服役。
