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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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my explorations of 1915 and in the barren hill ranges about Kelpin, known there by the designation
of kāk.¹⁰ In both these hill regions I have observed unmistakable evidence that desiccation
has advanced within historical and even relatively recent times. As their physical conditions show
essentially the same character as those of the ground discussed here, it appears a priori very
probable that this region too has experienced an advance of aridity, and that consequently in
ancient times it may have presented no greater obstacle to the passage of raiders from the north
than the Kelpin ranges would at the present day.¹¹
Desiccation
advanced
since
Limes con-
struction. In support of such a conclusion we can point to archaeological evidence even more direct
and convincing. It is to be found in the very fact that the Chinese, when constructing the
Tun-huang Limes towards the close of the second century B. C., found it necessary to extend it
so far west of Khara-nôr as my explorations have proved. It is obvious that if the desert
north of the terminal course of the Su-lo Ho had been then as impassable through want of
water as it certainly now is for parties of mounted raiders, it would have been quite needless to
construct this far-flung line of wall and watch-stations over desert ground bare of all resources,
and to maintain it for centuries in the face of serious difficulties.
T. xv. a pro-
bable start-
ing-point of
'new route
of north'. I regret that the pressure of other tasks, and a variety of practical considerations connected
with the season and the exhausted condition of camels and men, did not permit me to extend
my explorations into this desert ground north of the Limes on either of my visits to the Tun-
huang region. But if I was thus denied the chance of personally examining the ground through
which I believe that ancient 'new route' to have passed, we have, I think, at least enough
topographical and archaeological evidence for tracing its starting-point. The following are the
main reasons which make me inclined to locate it at the ruined station T. xv. a. In the first
place, we have the definite statement in the Former Han Annals which names the Yü-mên
barrier as the southern end of the 'new route'. This is confirmed by the Wei lio's notice,
which adds the important indication that the route 'sets out on the north-west'. We have seen
that the headquarters station of the 'Jade Gate barrier', when the 'new route' was opened up
at the beginning of the first century A. D., was still placed at T. xiv, and it is in its immediate
neighbourhood that we may reasonably suppose the route to have passed through the actual line
of wall. Now on referring to the detailed map in Plate 33 we observe that T. xv. a occupies
a position particularly convenient for such a débouché from the line of the Limes. Northward it
offered easy access to the bed of the Su-lo Ho, which here lies narrow and well confined between
firm banks of gravel, whereas from about three miles further east it is fringed on the left bank
by impassable marshy ground.¹² Thus a safe crossing of the river was assured here at all
seasons.
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National Institute of Informatics
and
The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.
