National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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R.K. kingdoms, the States of Jounglou, Iumi, and Soule, which constituted Kâshghar, belonged to Khutan..

In the ninth year of Wooti, of the Liang dynasty, 509 A.D., Envoys went with tribute to the Chinese capital, and in the annals of this reign, Khutan was then thus described :—" The people are Budhists, and their women are in society as amongst other nations. They (the women) braid the hair into long plaits, and wear pelisses and loose trowsers. The people are very ceremonious and polite, and curtsy on meeting by bending one knee to the ground. They write with pencils of wood, and carry

P. stone seals, and on receiving a letter raise it to the head before opening it." This

description, it may be here noted, applies equally to the people of Khutan at the present day, excepting only that they are no longer Budhists, and with the addition that, when they have read their letters they invariably carry them in the folds of their turbans, or in their Tatar caps. Less than a century earlier than the above period, however, they received a very different character, and one, so far as morality is concerned, by no means inapplicable at the present day, from the officers of an expeditionary force that entered the country in pursuit of a fugitive rebel.

R.K.   In the sixth year of Tae Wooti, of the north Wei dynasty, 445 A.D., an expe-

dition was sent to punish the Tartars of Tangut. Their Prince, Mouliyan, fled to Khutan, and, coming into collision with its King, killed him. He was pursued, overtaken, and defeated at Yen-phing-pelan, whence he fled for refuge to the west of Khutan. The force it seems stayed here some time, and on their return the officers gave the following description of the country :—" The district of Khutan is very fertile in all sorts of grains, and abounds in mulberry and fruit trees. It possesses good horses, camels, and mules. According to the law of the country, murderers are punished by death, and other offenders according to the gravity of their crimes. For the rest the manners of the people—as the productions of the country—are analogous to those of the Koueitseu (the Kuisse or Uighûr) . They are devoted Budhists, and have a great number of temples and religious towers for the service of which they support large establishments of priests. . These people, however, know neithér justice nor civility, and amongst them are many thieves, and adulterers, and other villainous reprobates."

In 518 A.D., amongst the tribute offerings sent from Khutan were vases de verre, and in the tribute of 541 A.D. was an image of Budha, carved in jade in some foreign country. In 832 A.D., the sixth year of the reign of Tae Tsung, Khutan sent as tribute a splendid jade zone, which the Emperor acknowledged with a special letter of thanks. The State at this period appears to have considerably extended its borders, for it is described as including the regions known under the Han dynasty as Jounglou, Kanmi (Khâmil), Kiule (Kiirla), and PichA,n. Its rivers were noted for their jade, which was discovered by its shining in the water at night. It was fished out .by diving, after the subsidence of the floods produced by the melting of the snows

on the mountains.   •

The description of the country in the annals of this reign goes on to say that the people. were Budhists, ceremonious and polite, and distinguished as clever artificers. They were fond of music and dancing, and the enjoyments of life generally. In the deserts to the west was found a species of rat, the size of a hedgehog, which travelled in troops and yielded a gold coloured fur. This little animal, I may here note, has probably long since been exterminated by the fur hunters, for it is not now known in the country. The only animal approaching its description found there at the present day is the jerboa. There was neither silk here formerly nor the mulberry tree. Both were introduced by an Eastern Princess, who secreted their seeds in her bonnet when she went as bride to the King, who had long vainly sought to get possession of them by other means. The letters, literature, and laws of Khutan are derived from the Hindus, and their influence has been to civilize the people. The ancient name of Khutan is Kiusa-tan-na from the Sanskrit Kustana, which signifies " Pap of the world," in connection with the Hindu legend regarding