Ancient Khotan : vol.1 / 69 ページ（白黒高解像度画像）

0069	Ancient Khotan : vol.1
古代コータン : vol.1

the distance over wholly uninhabited ground was reduced as much as possible. Now in this
respect the route over the Wakhjîr Pass offers an undoubted advantage. If starting from
Langar, the highest point in the Āb-i-Panja Valley where village remains and traces of old
cultivation have been observed ²⁶, a journey of scarcely more than 106 miles would suffice to
bring the traveller to Dafdār, and thus to the commencement of cultivated ground in the main
Sarîkol Valley. The shortest route from the same starting-point over the Little Pāmîr and
the Naiza-tāsh Pass to Tāsh-kurghān measures fully 120 miles, while on the road that leads
from the latter place by the Great Pāmîr to the central part of Wakhān, some 180 miles have
to be traversed before a permanently inhabited locality (Langar-Kisht) is reached ²⁷.

SECTION III.—HISTORICAL SITES OF SARÎKOL

From this review of the Tāghdumbāsh Valley route, which was needed to complete our
survey of the old lines of communication between Sarîkol and Wakhān, we may turn once more
to Hsüan-tsang's itinerary, and to the account it furnishes of Sarîkol itself or 'the kingdom of
Chieh-p'an-t'o'. Before we examine the details which possess a definite antiquarian bearing, it
will be well to note how closely the pilgrim's general description of the territory agrees with
the natural features observed to this day.

In Chieh-p'an-t'o, to which is ascribed an approximate circuit of 2,000 li, or about twenty Hsüan-
days' marches, 'the mountain chains run in continuous succession, the valleys and plains are tsang's de-
very contracted. There is very little rice cultivated, but beans and corn grow in abundance. scription of
Trees grow thinly, there are only few fruits and flowers. The plateaux are soppy, the hills Sarîkol.
are waste, the towns are deserted.'¹ The account we receive of the inhabitants is in keeping
with these stern surroundings. Their manners are described as 'without any rules of propriety',
and very few of them gave themselves to study. 'They are naturally uncouth and impetuous,
but yet they are bold and courageous. Their appearance is common and revolting; their
clothes are made of woollen-stuffs.' Notwithstanding the coarseness which Hsüan-tsang's
description indicates, and which the material conditions of life among a hill community thus
placed adequately account for, the people of Chieh-p'an-t'o had received their share in the benefits
of Buddhist religion and culture. 'They know how to express themselves sincerely, and they greatly
reverence the law of Buddha.' There were some ten convents, in which about five hundred monks
studied 'the Little Vehicle according to the school of the Sarvāstivādas'; and in regard to the
letters in use we are told that they much resembled those of the Ch'ia-sha country or Kāshgar.

Hsüan-tsang, according to the statement of his biographer Hui-li, remained in Sarîkol for Traditions
about twenty days², and to this halt we probably owe the detailed information he gives of of Chieh-
the traditions and legends attaching to the royal family and the capital of the country. The p'an-t'o.
account recorded by him as to the origin of the former is of particular interest, for it proves
the high antiquity which popular belief in Sarîkol then ascribed to the race of its rulers, while
we can still trace a characteristic feature of the story in a legend actually surviving at the identical
locality.

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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

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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