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0136 Ancient Khotan : vol.1
Ancient Khotan : vol.1 / Page 136 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000182
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Fa-hsien's Tzû-ho.

Sung Yün's notice of Chu-chü-po.

Notices in

Pei shih.

92 REMAINS OF KASHGAR, OASES OF YARKAND AND KARGHALIK [Chap. IV

which had become absorbed in Chu-chü-po supports the identification ; for notices in chapter xcvi of the Chien Han shu concerning Tzû-ho, Hsi-yeh, P`u-li, and I-nai, leave no doubt that these petty territories were situated close together to the south of the present Yarkand 16. The passage referring to Hsi-yeh records that its ruler bore also the title of king of Tzû-ho ; and in agreement with this indication of a special connexion between the two places, modern Chinese geographers identify Hsi-yeh and Tzû-ho with the adjacent village tracts of Yul-arik and Kökyâr 17. Whether this identification rests on historical fact or only on learned conjecture, it does not supply us, as recognized by M. Chavannes, with any cogent reason for placing the political centre of the united territory of Chu-chü-po so far to the south as Kök-yâr. This place is separated by a considerable distance from the direct route between Kâshgar and Khotan, and since Hsüan-tsang's itinerary leads us to look along this route for the capital of the kingdom as it existed in his days, the neighbourhood of the present Karghalik appears a far more likely position.

The mention of Tzû ho . - Â as an integral part of the kingdom of Chu-chü-po is of interest, as enabling us to trace with certainty the route which Fa-hsien followed immediately after leaving Khotan. From the narrative of his travels we learn that, starting from the latter place, it took the pilgrim twenty-five days to reach Tzû-ho, where he found the ruler devoted to Buddhist law, and around him ` more than a thousand monks, mostly students of the Mahayana'. 18 Fa-hsien and his party, after a stay of fifteen days at Tzû-ho, went south for four days before they found themselves among the Ts`ung-ling range. From this statement it becomes probable that in his time, too, the capital of the territory lay in a relatively open position to the north of the Kun-lun range. We have already seen that Fa-hsien's immediate goal after leaving Tzû-ho was Sarikol, which he probably reached by the route passing through the mountains south of the Zarafshan 19.

Sung Yün also, travelling westwards from Khotan in 519 A. D., passed along the road which crosses the Karghalik district. The account of his journey refers to the latter as the kingdom of Chu-chüj5o, and informs us that it produced cereals in plenty 20. Its inhabitants lived in the mountains and used leavened wheat for their food. As the killing of animals was forbidden among them, the only meat they partook of was that of animals which had died a natural death. Of their customs and language it is noted that they resembled those of Yü-t`ien or Khotan, while their writing was the same as that of the P`o-to-mên or Brahmans. The circumference of the kingdom was estimated at five days' journey, which, compared with Hsüan-tsang's thousand li, seems to indicate that the territory had not then attained its later dimensions 21.

Sung Yün's fellow pilgrim, Hui-shêng, is the source of a briefer notice which the Pei shih

(composed about 644 A. D.) furnishes of the same territory, called here Chu-chü   , 22. Besides

76 For a translation of the notices concerning these petty chiefships, see Wylie, J. Anihrop. Inst., x. pp. 31 sq. Various discrepancies as to the relative positions, &c., of the localities mentioned make a detailed analysis of these passages impracticable for those who are unable to consult and control the original texts. It is, however, clear that agricultural produce in all these territories was small and had to be supplemented from So-ch`ê (i. e. the oasis of Yarkand). Of Tzü-ho it is particularly mentioned that jade is found there.

" Compare Voyage de Song Fun, p. 19, note 4.

16 See Legge, Travels of Fd-hien, p. 2I.

19 See above, p. 28.

20 Compare Voyage de Song Fun, pp. 19 sq.

21 The same conclusion must be drawn from the statement that Sung Yün, who had entered the kingdom of Chu-chü-po on the 29th day of the seventh month, passed at the commencement of the eighth month into the territory of Ho-p`an-Vo or Sarikol. It is evident that the latter extended in the year 519 further to the east than in Hsüan-tsang's time. For the probable route followed by Sung Yün to Sarikol, see above, pp. 29 sq.

22 See Chavannes, Vyage de Song Yun, p. 19, note 4.