国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

TA-T'ANG-HSI-Ye-CHI.   81

to the south. To the east they held the country to Liang-chou in Kansu and to

Szechuan. In 692 the Chinese, having defeated the Tibetans, conquered the four garrisons.

In the Chiu Tang-shu and the T ang-shu there is to be found a detailed chronicle of the political and military relations between the Tibetans and Chinese and surrounding peoples, though there is nothing of geographical interest to us. In Chavannes' translation we are told that during the i-fêng period, 676-678, Tu-chi took the title of Kagan of the ten tribes, concluded an alliance with the T'u-fan

(T'u-po) or Tibetans and ravaged An-hsi or Kucha. In the same period the Tibetans are said to have ravaged the Kingdom of Kashgar.

Great P'o-lü or Baltistan is said to be direct west of the T'u-fan (T'u-po) or Tibetans, and bordering upon Little P'o-lü, Gilgit, and westwards upon the territory of Wu-ch'ang or Oudyâna. It belongs to the T'u-fan (T'u-po), and from 696 to 741 it is reported to have sent ambassadors to the court thrice; 3,000 li to the east, a little to the south, from Little P'o-lü one arrives at the encampment of T'ufan (T'u-po) tsan-p'u, the btsanpo of Tibet; 500 li south is Ku-shih-mi or Kashmir. In 747 Kao Hsien-chih made an expedition to Little P'o-lü.I

Several features of the ancient Sanscrit geography of S.W. Tibet are to be found in Ta-t'ang-hsi yii-chi, Records of the Western World (compiled during) the Great T'ang dynasty (A. D. 618-907); translated by Imperial command by HSÜAN CHUANG (Hiuen Tsang), a Doctor of the three Pitakas, and edited by PIEN CHI, a Shaman of the Ta-tsung-chi Temple. In the Introduction to Book I of this work, written by Chang Yüeh, who flourished as minister of state under T'ang Hüan Tsung (A. D. 713-756), we read the following passages, which for the sake of completeness should be inserted in this connection: 2

The mountain called Sumêru stands up in the midst of the great sea firmly fixed on a circle of gold, around which mountain the sun and moon revolve; this mountain is perfected by (composed of) four precious substances, and is the abode of the Dêvas. Around this are seven mountain-ranges and seven seas; between each range a flowing sea of the eight peculiar qualities. Outside the seven golden mountain-ranges is the salt sea. There are four lands (countries or islands, dvîpas) in the salt sea, which are inhabited. On the east, (Pûrva) vidêha; on the south, Jambudvîpa; on the west, Gôdhanya; on the north, Kurudvîpa.

In the middle of Jambudvîpa there is a lake called Anavatapta, to the south of the Fragrant Mountains and to the north of the great Snowy Mountains; it is 80o li and more in circuit; its sides are composed of gold, silver, lapis-lazuli, and crystal; golden sands lie at the bottom, and its waters are clear as a mirror. The great earth Bôdhisattva, by the power of his vow, transforms himself into a Nâga-râja and dwells therein; from his dwelling the cool waters proceed forth and enrich Jambudvîpa (Shan-pu-chao).

I Sbornik trudoff orkhonskoï ekspeditsiy, VI Documents sur les Tou-kiue (Turcs) occidentaux. Recueillis et commentés par Edouard Chavannes. S. Petersburg, 1903, p. 74 et seq.

2 Si-yu-ki. Buddhist Records of The Western World. Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (A. D. 629), by Samuel Beal. Vol. I, London 1884, p. 10 et seq.

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