File:張掖郡昭武、觻得縣騎士名籍.jpg

English: Official documents would be regularly destroyed in the Han dynasty. If slips and volumes were allowed to accumulate over time, their bulky size and weight would inevitably lead to problems such as a lack of storage space. Moreover, in the frontier regions of the Han, wooden slips were often pared and reused or repurposed in an effort to make full use of the resources. For example, some were reutilized for writing practice, toilet wiping, (in the case of one unearthed from Mahuanwan in Dunhuang, Gansu) hunting tools, as well as other objects of unknown use. Many others show burnt traces, indicating that they were likely used as firewood. Moreover, large numbers of slips have been found in wells or garbage heaps—official documents simply been dumped.