The Research On Accounting System Of Dunhuang Monasteries In The Late Tang, Five Dynasties And Early Song Dynasty

International and domestic researchers in the fields of archeology，history andothers involved have paid high attention to Dunhuang documents since it wasfound.Accounting documents of Dunhuang monasteries provide rarehistorical data and literature references for the study of socio-economic and culturallife during the late Tang，Five Dynasties and early Song periods. Accounting systemhas a long standing history in china，and the abundant accounting books and records inthe Tang and Song dynasties represent the world leading position that chineseaccounting had already taken in ancient times. In addition, the discovery of accountingdocuments in Dunhuang monasteries provides a solid historical evidence for thisposition. Studying the accounting documents in Dunhuang monasteries, we find thataccounts in Dunhuang monasteries mainly occurred in the period from late Tan to earlySong, when single-entry bookkeeping developed. Therefore, research on accountingsystem in Dunhuang monasteries has important theoretical value andpractical guidance significance for exploration to single-entry bookkeepingdevelopment process in china, analysis of ancient accounting thoughts and furtherstudy on accounting and financial management system of monasteries as non-profitorganizations.Previous scholars mainly studied accounting documents of Dunhuang monasteriesfrom the historical perspective, or analyzed and examined the prevailing social andcultural life according to accounts records of Dunhuang monasteries. There is fewresearch achievement of Dunhuang monasterie·s documents which study and analyzethe development process of Dunhuang monasteries accounting system and its formreasons from the accounting perspective.What’s more, none has done systematicorganization and deep analysis on these accounts two thousand years ago sinceDuhuang accounting documents was found. And it is not only the regret of Dunhuangstudies, but also the loss to accounting studies.This paper firstly systematically compiled the types of Dunhuang accountingdocuments according to requirements of modern accounting books system, makingexplicit relationship between accounting data at that time and modern accountsystem,correcting misunderstandings on part types of accounting documents by theprevious researchers.The article makes corrections and provides rigorous literature for the further study. On the basis, the paper gives a comprehensive andin-depth argument about accounting system of Dunhuang monasteries, and analyzesaccounting elements, accounting methods and account system systematically. Byspecific analysis of accounting practice, accounting elements, bookkeeping procedureand account system in Dunhuang monasteries, it becomes easier to further reveal theaccounting thoughts of Dunhuang monasteries and the effects that these thoughts hadupon the development of modern accounting.Accounting elements, accounting methods and account system relationship arethe main aspects formed accounting system; thus, the paper focuses on the specificcontent of these aspects in accounting documents of Dunhuang monasteries andcompares with the relative content in modern accounting s ystem. As the earlysingle-entry booking, accounting of Dunhuang monasteries had not form accountingsymbols that had the function of abstract generalization, and practicality measurementwas used as the main measurement unit. Then at the time accounting period wasalways consistent with the rotation of monastery monks, and accounting elementsdeveloped simple and direct. When it came to bookkeeping method,Dunhuang monasteries used neither early three column settlement method, nor typicalfour column settlement method, but a more special method-five column settlementmethod which lied between three column settlement method and four columnsettlement method.The special method was unique in Dunhuang monasteries duringthe late Tang, Five dynasties and early Song, and was so popular that there was a largequantity of relative records in accounting documents. It could be inferred that theperiods from the late Tang,Five dynasties to early Song be the transition period whenthree column settlement method trended towards four column settlement method，andbe also the critical period when four column settlement method developed and finallyformed. As is known，accounting voucher,accounting books and accounting statementwere the core and main elements of accounting system. The above elements in theaccounting system of Dunhuang monasteries showed to be integrative.Compared withvoucher and statement, accounting books experienced a rapid development andespecially the detail account with clear classification and complete elements had nosignificant difference with modern detail account. The formation of accountingthoughts was originated from the development of accounting behavior and accountingawareness. Likewise, account books such as current account, receivable account,balance account and business contract account etc.existed in the Dunhuangaccounting documents of Dunhuang monasteries contained the thoughts of early double-entry bookkeeping,thoughts of accrual basis, thoughts of perpetual inventoryand thoughts of property rights accounting. And these accounting thoughts con tainedcould be considered as the historical proof of the origin and formation of modernaccounting thoughts. Accounting thoughts implied in Dunhuang Documents embodiedthe twine of religion and secular， the consistency of religious belief withcharacteristics of non profit organizations in temples in terms of spiritual character，providing good references for the construction of accounting system of non profitorganizations in modern religious temples.Based on achievements of textual research and interpretation on Dunhuangacco-unting documents in the fields of archaeology and history for reference, the paperprovides a comprehensive analysis and research on the accounting system of Dunhuangmonasteries first from the perspective of accounting studies. It reveals thesignificance of five column settlement method in relation to the formation of fourcolumn settlement method, followed by a systematic exposition made of accountingtransaction system of Dunhuang monasteries. Using the historical logical thinkingmethod, the paper analyzes and summaries the accounting thoughts contained in theaccounting documents of Dunhuang monasteries. This research is a new achievementobtained in accounting history studies, and provides a new perspective and field forDunhuang Studies as well. It has important implications for theorizing accounting andleads to profound practical significance by contributed to expand the breadth and depthof accounting history studies， rich research achievements in the fields of bothaccounting history studies and Dunhuang studies, and finally promote the perfectionand development of modern accounting system.