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『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

Sec. ii]   THE SEAT OF THE PROTECTOR GENERAL   795

(86-74 B. c.), who appointed ` Lai-tan ... the heir-apparent of the indigenous chiefship Yi-müi . . . Deputy Protector and General, with a commission to colonize Lun-t`ai. The territory of Lun-t`ai is conterminous with that of Ch`ü-li.' 9 Once again the establishment of a Chinese military colony in Lun-t`ai was frustrated ; for the king of Kuchâ,, whose vassal the newly appointed Deputy Protector had previously been and who feared injury to his interests from the new Chinese colony, ` found means to put Lai-tan to death '.

These references to Lun-t`ai, together with a mention in Wu-ti's above-quoted rescript that this territory is situated more than a thousand li west of Chü-shih or Turfân, are the only ones I am able to trace in the ` Notes ' of the Chien Han shu as accessible in Mr. Wylie's translation. They are, however, when taken in conjunction with one another, sufficient to make it highly probable that the Chinese identification of Lun-t`ai with Bugur is well founded. The statement that Ch`ü-li is conterminous with Lun-t`ai of itself necessarily takes us to Bugur ; for we have seen that Ch`ü-li must be located on the Inchike and Yârkand rivers south and south-east of Bugur, and the north is the only direction in which the notice on Ch`ü-li does not specify other territories as adjacent to Ch`ü-li i° The location at Bugur is in harmony with the mention of Lun-t`ai as lying more than a thousand li to the west of Chü-shih', i. e. Turfân, and with the objection which the chief of Kuchâ, entertained to the establishment of a military colony on his border. The reference to the abundant grazing to be found in Lun-t`ai and the pastoral habits of its population is also entirely in keeping with the facts as they are at present ; for Bugur commands extensive grazing grounds both to the south towards the Inchike-darya and in the valleys of the Tien-shan to the north, and the flocks owned by its ` Bais ' were reported to me to be very large.

We may now turn to the closely connected question of the location of Wu-lei , ,, Via. This territory is often referred to in the Former Han Annals as the seat of the Protector General (lu-hu

) controlling the ` Western Countries ', and receives a separate short notice in the ` Notes on the Western Kingdoms ' in Book xcvi of the Chien Han shun We are told there that ` the city of Wu-lei, the seat of the Protector General, lies 350 li to the east ' of Kuchâ., and that ` Ch`ü-li lies 330 li to the south '. The Chien Han shu gives bearings and distances of numerous other territories in relation to the seat of the Protector General. But as these in some instances are manifestly discordant among themselves, and as all such estimates as to direction and distances are evidently liable to ` accumulation of error ' the farther away the territories are, it will be safest for our purpose to take into account only those recorded for the two neighbouring tracts the identification of which is certain, viz. Wei-hsü and Wei-li. From Wei-hsü, corresponding to Korla, the seat of the Protector General is said to be 500 li to the west, while the same relative bearing is indicated for Wei-li, on the Konche-daryâ., with a distance of 300 li. These indications necessarily take us to the group of oases Bugur, Yangi-hissär, and Châdir, but do not without further consideration permit us definitely to determine at which of them the head-quarters of the Protector General were actually established ; for of all three of them it can be correctly stated that they lie to the east of Kuchâ,, to the west of Korla, and to the north of Ch`ü-li, i. e. the riverine region of the I nchike-darya.

We may derive some help from a reference to the record of the Former Han Annals concerning

Lun-t'ai located at Bugur.

Position of Wu-lei.

9 See ibid., xi. p. 99.

1Ö The boundaries of Ch`ü-li mentioned are : to the northeast, Wei-li (Konche-darya tract) ; to the south-east, Chü-mo (Charchan) ; to the south, Ching-chüeh (Niya Site) ; to the west, the river of Kuchâ ; cf. Wylie, J. Anthrop. Inst., xi. p. 95 ; Serindia, iii. p. 1236.

11 See Wylie, loc. cit., xi. p. 95. In my quotations I have substituted the translation of the title to-hu as ` Protector General ', fully explained by M. Chavannes, T'oung-pao, 1907, p. 1S4, note r, for that of Governor-General, used by Mr. Wylie.