IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Across Asia : vol.1 |
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| Ruin W of Tun-huang. | |
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Citation Information
C. G. MANNERHEIM
Ruin W of Tun-huang.
(bought at 6-7 tch., sold at II —I2 tchen per tou) to Kanchow, whence it will return with gaolyan tobacco (bought at 6-7 fen, sold at 17-18 per djin).
About a mile W of the Sindianza station a small deserted impanj is seen on the right of the road. On the left rise the ruins of a group of towers or rectangular columns of un-baked bricks, tapering slightly towards the top. They are placed as shown on the plan given below. Four are fairly well preserved, especially a and b, and approximately o the-
same size. The tops had fallen to pieces, but a still fmea
sured about 4 I /2 fathoms and b 5 I /2 in height. On the
A E side of the columns there is a small aperture at a height
C.50yds o of about 2 1/2 fathoms. To the N the opening faces a
6 °mot — — „A a ° niche, the bottom of which is about I fathom from the
C. 8Oyds
ground. It is the height of a man and has a lattice-work arched roof formed of 4 walls inclined towards each other. In one of these niches there were the bones of a large animal and the horn of an ox.
The road goes on through the trees which become more densely populated. We saw a couple of »huang jang» (gazelles) and a great many pheasants. Many of the houses were enclosed within massive clay walls with turrets at the corners, a sure sign of the prosperity of their owners. A large number of the fields were under water which made the country look like a large fish farm with its ponds at different levels. The road was also submerged for the greater part, the water having been released from Tun-huang. As it approaches the town, it cuts deep into the ground. -- The distance covered to-day is given as 7o li. Owing to numerous halts of indefinite length I was unable to calculate whether this was correct, even approximately.
.November 16th. The town, which lies on the flat bank of the Tang-ho, about loo fathoms wide, consists of'
Tun-huang. two parts built one within the other and enclosed by walls, the eastern part surrounding
)4o8(
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