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| The Book of Ser Marco Polo : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
206
MARCO POLO BOOK I
.40
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is generally called by the Chinese Hsi Hsia, or Western Ilsia." This is a list of the Tangut sovereigns, w iih the date of their accession to the throne : Tai Tsu (982), Tai Tsung (1002), Ching Tsung (1032), Yi Tsung (1049), Hui Tsung (1068), Ch'ung Tsung (1087), Jen Tsung (I 140), Iluan Tsung (1194), Hsiang Tsung (1206), She'n Tsung (1213), Hien Tsung (1223), l\Io Chu (1227). In fact, the real founder of the Dynasty was Li Yuan-hao, who conquered in 1031, the cities of Kanchau and Suhchau from the Uighúr Turks, declaring himself independent in 1032, and who adopted in 1036 a special script of which we spoke when mentioning the archway at Kiuyung Kwan. His capital was Hia chau, now Ning hia, on the Yellow River. Chinghiz invaded Tangut three times, in 1206, 1217, and at last in 1225 ; the final struggle took place the following year, when Kanchau, Liangchau, and Suhchau fell into the hands of the Mongols. After the death of Chinghiz (1227), the last ruler of Tangut, Li H'ien, who surrendered the same year to Okkodaï, son of the conqueror, was killed. The dominions of Tangut in the middle of the i i th century, according to the Si Ilia Chi Shih Pên Mo, quoted by Dr. Bushell, " were bounded, according to the map, by the Sung Empire on the south and east, by the I,iao (Khitan) on the north-east, the Tartars (Tata) on the north, the Uighúr Turks (Ilui-hu) on the west, and the Tibetans on the south-west. The Alashan Mountains stretch along the northern frontier, and the western extends to the Jade Gate (Yü Mén Kwan) on the border of the Desert of Gobi." Under the Mongol Dynasty, Kan Suh was the official name of one of the twelve provinces of the Empire, and the popular name was Tangut.
(Dr. S. W. Bushell : Inscriptions in theJuchen and Allied Scripts and The Hsi Hsia Dynasty of Tangut. See above, p. 29.)
" The word Tangutan applied by the Chinese and by Colonel Prjevalsky to a Tibetan-speaking people around the Koko-nor has been explained to me in a variety of ways by native Tangutans. A very learned lama from the Gserdl:og monastery, southeast of the Koko-nor, told me that Tangutan, Amdoans, and Sifan were interchangeable terms, but I fear his geographical knowledge was a little vague. The following explanation of the term Tangut is taken from the Hsi-tsar - fu. ` The Tangutans are descendants of the Tang-tu-chüeh. The origin of this name is as follows : In early days, the Tangutans lived in the Central Asian Chin-shan, where they were N orkers of iron. They made a model of the Chin-shan, which, in shape, resembled an iron helmet. Now, in their language, " iron helmet " is Tana -küeh, hence the name of the country. To the present day, the Tangutans of the Koko-nor wear a hat shaped like a pot, high crowned and narrow, rimmed with red fringe sewn on it, so that it looks like an iron helmet, and this is a proof of [the accuracy of the derivation].' Although the proof is not very satisfactory, it is as good as we are often offered by authors with greater pretension to learning.
" If I remember rightly, Prjevalsky derives the name from two words meaning ` black tents.' " ( W. W. Rockhill, China Br. R. As. Soc., XX. pp. 278-279.)
" Chinese authorities tell us that the name [Tangut] was originally borne by a people living in the AltaY, and that the word is Turkish. . . . The population of Tangut was a mixture of Tibetans, Turks, Uighúrs, Tukuhuns, Chinese, etc." (Rockhill, Rubruck, p. 15o, note.—H. C.]
Sachiu is SHACHAU, " Sand-district," an outpost of China Proper, at the eastern verge of the worst part of the Sandy Desert. It is recorded to have been fortified in the ist century as a barrier against the Hiongnu.
[The name of Shachau dates from A.D. 622, when it was founded by the first emperor of the T'ang Dynasty. Formerly, Shachau was one of the Chinese colonies established by the Han, at the expense of the Hiongnu ; it was called T'ung hoang (B. c. I I 1), a name still given to Shachau ; the other colonies were Kiu-kaan (Suhchau, s. c. 121) and Chang-yé (Kanchau, s. C. I I I ). (See Bretschneider, Med. Res. II. 18.)
" Sha-chow, the present Tun-liwang-hien (a few li east of the ancient town). . . . In 182o, or about that time, an attempt was made to re-establish the ancient direct way between Sha-chow and Khotan. With this object in view, an exploring party of ten men was sent from Khotan towards Sha-chow ; this party wandered in the
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