IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Sino-Iranica : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
IRANIAN MINERALS-COPPER-OXIDES, SALT, ZINC 51I
of vinegar, and employed as an ingredient in many remedies for eye-diseases.'
The Emperor Yarn (A.D. 6o5-616) of the Sui dynasty, after
his succession to the throne, despatched Tu Han-man 47"g to the
Western Countries. He reached the kingdom of an (Bukhara),
obtained manicolored salt (wu se yen), and returned.2 Istaxri relates that in the district of Dârabejird there are mountains of white, yellow, green, black, and red salts; the salt in other regions originates from the interior of the earth or from water which forms crystals; this, however, is salt from mountains which are above the ground. Ibn Haukal adds that this salt occurs in all possible colors.'
The Pei hu lu4 distinguishes red, purple, black, blue, and yellow
salts. eV yen g (" red salt ") like vermilion, and white salt like jade,
are attributed to Kao-f`an (Turfan).5 Black salt (hei yen) was a product of the country Tstao (Jâguda) north of the Ts`un-lin.6 It is likewise attributed to southern India.' These colored salts may have been impure salt or minerals of a different origin.
ik t`ou-§i is mentioned as a metallic product of Sasanian
Persia (enumerated with gold, silver, copper, pin, iron, and tin) in the Sui . u.8 It is further cited as a product of Nü kwo, the Women's Realm
south of the Ts`un-lin;9 of A-lo-yi-lo Rt, 1# it in the north of Uddi-
yâna,10 and of the Arabs (Ta-si) ." Haan Tsan's Memoirs contain the term three times, once as a product found in the soil of northern India (together with gold, silver, copper, and iron), and twice as a material from which Buddhist statues were made.12 According to the Kin c`u
' J. RUSKA, Steinbuch des Aristoteles, p. 182; and Steinbuch des Qazwini, p. 25.
' Sui hu, Ch. 83, p. 4 b. 1P. SCHWARZ, Iran, p. 95.
Ch. 2, p. II (ed. of Lu Sin-yuan).
b Sui su, Ch. 83, p. 3 b. In the T'ai p'in hwan yü ki (Ch. 180, p. I I b) the same products are assigned to Kû- i *{ (Turfan).
Sui su, Ch. 83, p. 8.
'
T'ait Su, Ch. 221 A, p. 10 b.
F Ch. 83, p. 7 b.
9 T'ai p'in hwan yü ki, Ch. 186, p. 9.
10 Ibid., p. 12 b. 't Ibid., p. 15 b.
12 Cf. S. JULIEN, Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales, Vol. I, pp. 37, 189, 354. Julien is quite right in translating the term by laiton ("brass"). PALLADIUS (Chinese-Russian Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 16) explains it as "brass with admixture of lead, possessing attractive power." The definition of Giles ("rich ore brought from Persia supposed to be an ore of gold and copper, or bronze") is inexact. T'ou-
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