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Innermost Asia : vol.2 |
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profess any special interest in such heritage of China's antiquity as paintings of Buddhist idols
and rags from heathen tombs, was probably quite as glad as I was that the timely departure of
my convoy of cases relieved him of any obligation to furnish the desired information. On the
other hand, it seemed but a small concession to hasten by a few days my own start for the Kuruk-
tāgh, and by disappearing into the 'Gobi' to afford him relief from all further trouble about myself
and my doings. In deciding upon this course I was prompted quite as much by the wish of avoiding
what might serve as an excuse for an attempt to interfere with my convoy while in transit, as by
desire to see Muhammad Yāqūb's work satisfactorily concluded. For an inspection of the plane-
table sheets brought by him to Yār-khoto showed that his detailed survey of the Turfān depression
was then still far from completion.³ᵃ
These considerations obliged me to bring my stay at Yār-khoto to a close on February 13th Survey of
and did not allow me to make as close a survey of this impressive site as might otherwise have Yār-khoto
been possible.³ᵃ Our excavation work, too, had to be confined to a portion of the large Buddhist site.
shrine, marked I in the sketch-plan Pl. 35, that did not appear to have been completely searched
before. The ruins of Yār-khoto, remarkable both for their unusual character and the conspicuous
position occupied by them, have attracted the attention of all European explorers who have visited
Turfān since Dr. Regel, and the excavations conducted by the successive expeditions of Professors
Grünwedel and Von Lecoq are known to have extended to different parts of them. As, however,
I am unable to trace any special account of the site other than the brief description contained in
Dr. Klementz's preliminary report,⁴ the sketch-plan Pl. 35 prepared on my renewed visit and
some rapidly gathered notes on characteristic features of the ruins may prove of use.
The ruined town of Yār-khoto owes its striking appearance and also the survival of many of Topo-
its structures to its having been built on an island-like plateau rising high above the ravines or graphical
'Yārs' which surround it. This topographical fact accounts for the natural strength of the position character
occupied by the town and explains why its buildings, whatever damage they were otherwise exposed of site.
to, were absolutely safe from the effects of moisture carried over the ground by streams or irrigation
and from direct encroachment by cultivation. The same position renders it also certain beyond
all doubt that Yār-khoto, the name, half Turkī half Mongol, by which the ruined town has been
known since medieval times, is identical with the town of Chiao-ho 交河 'the interlacing rivers',
which the Chinese Annals from Han to T'ang times mention as the capital of Anterior Chü-shih
or Turfān.⁵
The plateau, as seen in Pl. 35, stretches for over a mile from north-west to south-east, with Natural
a maximum width near the middle of about two furlongs. Two deep-cut 'Yārs', each between strength of
position.
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