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

it; that Hsüan-chuang thence travelled to the north 500 li across stony mountains and
desolate plains, and after 500 li arrived at the kingdom of Ch'ieh-sha or Kashgar, and
that from Kashgar, crossing the river Hsi-to, he had another 500 li south-eastwards to
Ché-chü-chia.

This description contains all the features characteristic of the Ts'ung-ling proper
and to the Pamirs as we know them nowadays. The exaggerations, the fantastic tales
and the descriptions of strange animals do not in the least influence the general veracity
of the narrative. The reality stands out very clear and impressive from Hsüan-chuang's short
geographical descriptions. The mistakes he makes may to a certain extent depend upon
stories told to him by his fellow-travellers, to whom the high country may have seemed
very inhospitable. The bearings of the route are approximately correct, though sometimes
doubtful, which is easy to understand in a labyrinth of mountains, where the direction
of march changes at every moment.

With the dates given by Hsüan-chuang it is difficult to sketch on a map his itinerary
across the Pamirs and surrounding mountains with any degree of certainty. Every attempt
in that direction is guesswork, and different interpreters have explained the pilgrim's
route in different ways. To the scholars of our own time who have had a much greater
store of Chinese geographical literature at their disposal, it has been easier to approach
the truth. But even now the material given by Hsüan-chuang is not sufficient for us
to follow his footsteps. By a few examples I will show how some of the prominent geo-
graphers have looked upon the problem, so far as our mountains are concerned.

3. THE DRAGON LAKE.

Klaproth gives the following short résumé of Hsüan-chuang's route across the Pamirs:
Quand il sort de cette ville (Shang-mi), son chemin le conduit au nord-est à travers les hautes
montagnes et la vallée de Pa-mi-lo (Pamir), qui a une étendue de mille li de l'ouest à l'est, et de cent
li du sud au nord, et est renfermée entre deux chaînes parallèles de montagnes neigeuses. On y voit
le lac du Dragon (le Kara Koul ou Lac Noir). Ici, dit Hiouan Thsang, entièrement d'accord avec
Marco Polo, est le point le plus élevé du Djambou-Dvipa, c'est-à-dire de l'Asie.¹

Landresse has given a résumé of the pilgrim's route in his »Itinéraire de Hiuan-
Thsang«, where he notes the relative situation of some places to the Ts'ung-ling:
Sou-tou-li-se-na (Osrouchna) touche à l'orient au fleuve Ye, qui sort des monts Tsoung-ling . . . .
Kiu mi tho; monts Ts'oung-ling . . . . Se mo tha lo (anciennement pays de Tou ho lo) . . . . A
l'ouest des monts Ts'oung-ling, la domination des Thou khiouei a beaucoup altéré les mœurs et déplacé
les peuples . . . . Che khi ni . . . . ce pays est au nord des grandes Montagnes de neige . . . . Au sud
de Tha mo si thié ti et des grandes montagnes, est le Chang mi . . . . Pho mi lo — là est le grand
lac des Dragons. — Il est dans les monts Ts'oung-ling. C'est le terrain le plus élevé du Djambu dwipa . . . .
Au sud de Pho mi lo, en passant les montagnes, et le royaume de Po lou lo . . . . En passant les
Montagnes de neige et les glaciers, on arrive à Ko phan tho . . . . En passant la chaîne, P'un jang
chi lo (maison du bonheur), sur le revers oriental des Tsoung-ling, entre quatre montagnes. De là,
descendant les Tsoung-ling à l'est et grimpant d'autres montagnes, après 800 li, on sort des Tsoung-ling . . .²