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

Synopsis of
historical
data.

I shall only depart from this course for the purpose of a rapid synopsis of such definite historical
data of importance concerning Turfān as Chinese records furnish for those limited periods when
the territory was under Chinese political control in Han and T'ang times. These data have
necessarily the closest bearing upon the interpretation of all archaeological observations in that
region. They themselves evidently require to be considered in the light of the geographical
conditions affecting that territory. I am not aware that any such review of the Chinese
historical notices regarding Turfān has hitherto been furnished by those fellow scholars whom
their archaeological work has made familiar with the ground. I may accordingly prefix it
here to the account of my antiquarian observations on the afore-mentioned reconnaissances,
and of the results which attended our excavations at particular sites such as Toyuk, Murtuk,
Astāna.

Chü-shih in
Former Han
Annals.

The notices which the Ch'ien Han shu in Chapter XCVI devotes to the several territories com-
prised under the general designation of Chü-shih 車 師 are regrettably brief as regards the geo-
graphical limits and character of these territories. But they at least make it quite clear that ' the
kingdom of Anterior Chü-shih ' during Former Han times must have comprised most, if not the
whole, of the Turfān basin proper. In their historical portion, however, these notices are somewhat
more ample and bring out two essential facts: on the one hand the close interrelation of these
territories whether situated to the south or to the north of the T'ien-shan, and on the other the
strong influence to which they were exposed throughout that period from their nomadic neigh-
bours on the north, the Huns. Both these facts are also reflected in the later history of this region
and find their full explanation in clearly recognizable geographical factors, which deserve to be
noted here at once.

Interdepen-
dence of
Turfān and
' Posterior
Chü-shih '.

The close interdependence of the territories on both sides of the mountain range is a necessary
economic result of the fact that, owing to a striking difference of climatic conditions, they naturally
complement each other in respect of their products. The adequate moisture available north of
the portion of the T'ien-shan dividing Posterior from Anterior Chü-shih makes that area, as we
have seen, not only capable of producing an abundance of cereals without irrigation, but also
provides it with plentiful pastures, to be found in the mountain valleys during the summer months
and on the lower slopes and in the plains farther north during the winter. In consequence, there
is a considerable excess of essential food-stuffs, both as regards cereals and live stock, available for
the population of the oases in the south. There, within a small but potentially most fertile area,
wholly different climatic conditions prevail. Owing to the fact that the greater portion of the
cultivable ground in the Turfān basin descends well below sea-level, the climate of that area, though
situated near the 43rd degree of latitude and in the close vicinity of a high snowy range, is for eight
or nine months in the year so warm as to allow two crops to be grown yearly on soil that is thoroughly
well manured, and cotton as well as fruit of all kinds to be produced in abundance and of excellent
quality. Irrigation, however, is an absolute necessity throughout the area, and consequently the
Turfān depression could never tempt any but settlers accustomed by tradition to a system of
intensive cultivation by canals. On the other hand, the climatic conditions and the want of suitable
pastures wholly preclude a pastoral mode of life.

Kārēz
irrigation
in Turfān
basin.

The exceptional fertility of the district, when cultivated under such a system, is best proved
by the fact that there alone in Chinese Turkestān we now find the use of Kārēzes or underground
canals extensively established. It is worked with an expenditure of money and labour which
would never be thought of in any other oasis of the ' New Dominion ', and is justified only by the
profit derived from such a valuable and easily exported produce as cotton. The development of
Kārēz irrigation in the Turfān area is of comparatively recent date, and its introduction certainly