现代民法中契约即合同,是由平等地位的双方当事人签订并具有法律效力的民间法。从敦煌契约文书中可以看出人们在签订契约时会普遍遵守一定的习惯:1保人担保;2文书由他人代写;3当地百姓普遍采用“画指”方式签订契约。这些民间习惯,反映出敦煌地区的契约制度已经发展到十分完善的水平。 Contract in modern civil law is the contract, signed by both parties of equal status and has the legal effect of the civil law. It can be seen from the Dunhuang contract documents that people generally follow certain habits when signing a contract: 1 the guarantor guaranties; 2 the documents written by others; 3 the local people generally use the “painting finger” approach to sign the contract. These folk customs show that the contractual system in Dunhuang has developed to a very perfect level.