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0115 On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1
中央アジア踏査記 : vol.1
On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1 / 115 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000214
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CH. IV

ANCIENT KHOTAN CAPITAL   55

ceeded in safely identifying all the sacred Buddhist sites

which Hsüan-tsang, my Chinese pilgrim guide, had visited

and described within the Khotan oasis. On ground con-

tinuously cultivated and irrigated for centuries nothing of

structures built with sun-dried bricks could of course sur-

vive except low shapeless mounds at the best. But there were

still traditions which indicated survival of ancient local wor-

ship at places where Buddhist sanctuaries had been re-

placed by Ziarats, or tombs of supposed Muhammadan

saints.

The site of the ancient capital of Khotan could indeed be

definitely located at the little village of Yotkan, about half-

way between the two rivers and some seven miles to the west

of the present chief place of the district. The digging carried

on there for some thirty-five years by `treasure-seeking'

villagers had revealed a `culture stratum' of completely

decayed matter buried under a very deep layer of alluvium.

Curiously enough this has been dug and washed mainly for

the flakes of gold leaf which at one time were rather plenti-

fully obtained from it. These were the relics of the rich gild-

ing which, according to the testimony of an early Chinese

pilgrim, had covered not only images but many parts of

Buddhist religious structures at the capital. In recent years

antiques such as ornamented fragments of pottery, terra-

cotta figurines, chiefly of monkeys, engraved stones and

coins had come to be counted as a kind of secondary by-

products of a saleable kind (Fig. 26) .

Interesting as it was to collect such small remains and to

survey the strangely revealed site which they indicated, yet

I felt glad when, after careful completion of all arrange-

ments for supplies and transport, I was free to start by