Bronze Pass for Night Use Issued by Frontier Administration Department

Excavated from the site of construction projects in Yangzhou city in 1951, this is a rare night-use bronze pass nationwide, serving as an important material for the study on the politics, military and culture of the Yuan dynasty (1257-1368 AD). Adorned with a centrally pierced vined leaf, this round bronze pass features four vertical lines of Chinese characters in clerical script on the front side which mean, from right to left, “Official business. Expedite.”, “Department of Frontier Administration”, “For night use” and “No. 10 of night-use category”, and an inscription in Arabian and Phags-pa on the back, together with another two vertical lines of Chinese in clerical script which mean “those who violate” and “must be executed” from right to left.