National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

692   230. FEMELES (ISLAND OF WOMEN)

the T'ung tien, 190, 2 b; the T'ai-p'ing huan yü chi, 188, 10 a; the T'ung chid, 196, 16 a; and the Wên-hsien t'ung-k'ao, 334, 2 b, give only I-fu-ti; the name is unidentified), the customs of which are the same as those of the T'u-yü-hun. They do not know the five cereals, and live only on fish and , : su-txû (« seeds of su »; ? Perilla ocimoides); the seeds of su are like the seeds of the ;J * kou-chi of China (Lycium Chinense). To the north [of the T'u-yü-hun], there is also the

kingdom of Rif   A-lan (this is the usual transcription of the name of the Alans [see « Alains »,

t. z, p. 16], but the true form certainly is TIT   K'o-lan, *K1-lân, given by all the other texts),

[the people of] which are like birds and beasts. They do not know how to fight. If of a sudden they see a stranger, the whole kingdom takes to flight. The land yields nothing, [but the people] breed much cattle. The people are of light body and good at running; when pursued, they are not to be caught. To the north [of the T'u-yü-hun], there is also the Kingdom of the Woman King (Nu-wang kuo), where a woman is the ruler. People do not know it, but it is so reported. »

The Pei shih (96, 8 b, 9 a) is more detailed and more satisfactory : « North of the T'u-yü-hun,

there is the kingdom of I-fu-wu-ti. In that kingdom there is the ))   Ch'ü-hai (« Bent Sea » ?,
or transcription of a foreign name) more than 1 000 li in circuit. The people number 10,000 X to (« camps », « settlements »; here « tents » ?). Their customs are the same as [those of] the T'u-yühun. They do not know the five cereals and live only on fish and seeds of su; the seeds of su are like the seeds of kou-chi of China, either red or black. [West of the T'u-yü-hun] (the word «west» is not in the Pei shih, but is given in the T'ung tien, the T'ai-p'ing huan yü chi, etc., and was certainly

dropped by accident), there is a tribe [called] 1   Ch'i-han (*K`iei-yân or *K`Aat.yân), the customs
of which are also identical (on the ancient seat of the Ch'i-han, cf. the text, perhaps corrupt, of T'ai-p'ing huan yü chi, 188, 9 a); it has particularly many wolves. North-west of the Po-lan Mountain, there is moreover the kingdom of K'o-lan, the customs of which are also identical [with those of the T'u-yü-hun]. Their eyes do not see the five colours; their ears do not hear the five sounds; they are an ugly race among all the kinds of Barbarians. The lands yields nothing, but they

breed much cattle; and their tents (    hu-lo) too may number more than 10.000. The people
are stupid and weak, and do not know how to fight. If of a sudden they see a stranger, the whole kingdom takes to flight. Their nature is like that of wild beasts. They are light of body and good at running; when pursued, they are not to be caught. South-west of the Po-lan, at a distance of 2 500 li, and separated by a great range of mountains, after having crossed the Sea of Forty Li

(Ssû-shih-li-hai), there is the Kingdom of the Woman King (   Nii-wang kuo). The people
number more than 10,000 to (« tents » ?). They have fixed abodes. [The land] yields mulberry and hemp, and ripens the five cereals. They make a woman their king, hence their name. The interpreters (i-shih) have not been there, but it is so reported.» The T'ai p'ing huan yü chi (186, 8 b)

has preserved a similar passage from an earlier work, a f Tuan Kuo's   pa Sha-chou chi,
written prior to 527 : « South-west of the Po-lan, at a distance of 2 500 li, and separated by a great range, after having crossed the Sea of Thirty Li (San-shih-li-hai), there is the 'Kingdom of Women (Nü-kuo).» The divergence between the «Sea of Forty Li» and the «Sea of Thirty Li» is the result of a clerical error, one way or the other, probably due to the ancient use either of .} and .Mt- for « forty » and « thirty », or of 5 for « four ».

It is clear that the Pei shih gives the true bearings, whereas the Wei shu erroneously locates