茶马司茶馬司
Term · History
Tea and Horse Agency
Literal meaning
tea-horse + office
Definition#
Government office that bought tea and exchanged it for horses on the frontier. A Song agency dates from the 1074 reforms; the Ming set up tea-horse offices at Qinzhou, Taozhou, Hezhou and Yazhou after Hongwu 4 (1371) and issued gold tally plaques (金牌信符) to frontier chiefs.
Translation and usage#
| Language | Use | Alternatives & cautions |
|---|---|---|
| English | Tea and Horse Agency official tea-for-horses bureau translation |
Also acceptable
Avoid Tea Horse Company Babelcarp gloss; it was a state office, not a firm |
| Deutsch | Tee-und-Pferde-Amt Behörde für den Tee-Pferde-Tausch translation |
Also acceptable
|
| Русский | Чайно-конское управление ведомство обмена чая на лошадей translation |
Also acceptable
|
| 简体字 | 茶马司 | |
| 繁體字 | 茶馬司 | |
| 日本語 | 茶馬司 |
Common confusions#
- Babelcarp describes it mainly as controlling pu'er distribution in Yunnan; the documented Song and Ming offices were in Sichuan and Shaanxi–Gansu.