Ancient Khotan : vol.1 / 104 ページ（白黒高解像度画像）

0104	Ancient Khotan : vol.1
古代コータン : vol.1

End of
occupation
of 'Four
Garrisons.'

set forth in the concluding part of his contribution, printed below in Appendix A, on the
Chinese records from Dandān-Uiliq ⁴⁵. They show that, notwithstanding their isolation from the
rest of the empire, the Chinese governors of the 'Four Garrisons' and of Pei-t'ing succeeded
in maintaining their authority over the territories confided to their charge for a comparatively
long period. Kuo Hsin, the resident governor of the 'Four Garrisons,' and his colleague of
Pei-t'ing, who commanded at Hāmi and Turfān, after having been completely cut off for fifteen
years, succeeded in 781 in sending envoys to the Imperial court through the friendly territory
of the Uigurs.

The biography of Kuo Hsín shows that the Emperor Tê-tsung liberally rewarded the
faithful governors and all their officers by grants of higher rank and other honours for having
maintained Chinese authority under such difficulties ⁴⁶. But effective succour such as the
governors had, no doubt, eagerly solicited, was not to be obtained from the enfeebled Empire.
In fact, another historical record shows that in 784 the Emperor seriously considered the recall
of Kuo Hsin and his colleague Li Yüan-chung. This step was checked by the representations
of his ministers, who urged the advantage of retaining at least a semblance of Chinese authority
in the Tarīm Basin and in the region adjoining it on the north-east. The time for the final
disappearance of this authority was close at hand, and it is a fortunate chance which allows us
to verify its survival during these last few years from the testimony of a contemporary
witness.

Wu-k'ung's
visit to
'Four Gar-
risons,' A.D.
786–789.

This is furnished by the itinerary of the Chinese pilgrim Wu-k'ung, who, after a residence
in India of more than thirty years, made his return journey to China during the years 786–
789 through the 'Four Garrisons' and Pei-t'ing ⁴⁷. Coming from Tokhāristān and the territory
of Chü-mi-chih, or the ancient Komedi, he reached Su-lê or Sha-lê some time in 786 ⁴⁸. He
mentions there, besides the king Pei Léng-lêng, the deputy governor Lu Yang, who judging
by his name appears to have been a Chinese official. In Khotan he found as king Wei-ch'ih
Yao, otherwise known to us from Chinese records, with the deputy-governor Chêng Chü.
In Ch'iu-tzu, i.e. Kuchā, Wu-k'ung duly mentions Kuo Hsin, 'Great Protector of An-hsi,'
with a string of high titles, at the head of the administration. In Kara-shahr (Wu-k'ung's
Wu-ch'i), too, a Chinese deputy-governor is noticed besides a local ruler. Pei-t'ing, the adminis-
trative centre of the Protectorate adjoining the 'Four Garrisons' to the north-east, was still
under Chinese administration when Wu-k'ung was setting out from there in 789 in the suite
of an Imperial delegate returning to China. The route through the Gobi was closed, no doubt
by the Tibetans. Hence the devious route through the territory of the Uigurs had to be
taken by the travellers, and it was only in 790 that Wu-k'ung arrived at Ch'ang-an, the
Imperial capital.

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