Serindia : vol.2 / 231 ページ（カラー画像）

0231	Serindia : vol.2
セリンディア : vol.2

by means of signal-fires, to give the alarm in case of attacks on the border, was in use before Han
times. A distinction is made in those texts between fires, called *feng* 烽, which were intended to
produce thick smoke for signalling in day-time, and others, known as *sui* 燧, the clear flame of which
was to be visible at night.² Thus the general Ma Ch'eng, who in A. D. 38–43 organized the northern
frontier defences along certain stretches, is said to have 'organized fire-signals for the day (*feng*) and
night (*sui*). There was a watch-tower at every 10 li.'³ In practice the term *feng* came to be
applied to any signal-fire, and it is thus that the watch-towers, which in our documents are ordinarily
designated by the term *hou* 候, are sometimes in the texts called also *feng hou* or simply *feng*.⁴ A
passage quoted by M. Chavannes from a text of T'ang times adds an interesting detail which indicates
a further development in the system of signalling: 'The watch-towers were on the average 30 li
from each other; when they lit fire-signals, they produced one flash *chü* 炬, or [in succession] two or
three or four flashes in accordance as the invaders were more or less numerous.'⁵

It is easy to realize the importance of the help which a carefully maintained signal service of
this kind could afford for giving the alarm to the Limes troops and effectively warding off raids or
more serious attacks. M. Chavannes quotes passages from the Former Han Annals emphasizing
this importance, and we find it fully reflected also in the document No. 432. This notice, 'to
be posted in a visible place of the [locality of] the company of the *t'ing* so that all may know by heart
and understand it', directs 'that a perfect supervision should be kept, and that, as soon as there may
be a fire-signal, the company of the *t'ing* should light one in turn. Let there be no negligence.' We
can, therefore, appreciate the contrition with which, in *Doc.* No. 567, an officer of the 'Yi-ho barrier'
accuses himself of not having 'properly observed in the supervision of the fire-signals' and expresses
the wish to denounce himself by a deposition at headquarters.

The distinction between smoke-signals for day-time and fire-signals for the night is duly made
in *Doc.* No. 552, which we had occasion before to discuss in another connexion.⁶ A further detail
recorded in the above passage of the T'ang text receives confirmation from a series of documents
from T. vi. b, Nos. 84–7, which record the reception of flash-signals, here called *chü huo* 炬火
(literally 'torch fire'). The time of reception is exactly indicated by month, day, and hour; the
eastern direction from which the signals came is noted, and in one case also the name of the man who
had made the observation. As a curious relic may be mentioned the large but not completely preserved
board-like tablet, No. 278, T. xxii. b. 6 (Plate IX), bearing the inscription, obviously meant as
a label: 'Signal-fire of the Ta-wei barrier'. Its original application is doubtful. Uncertain, too,
seems the interpretation of Nos. 694–5, apparently fragments of the same document, in which
the pole of a burning stack, 30 feet long, and a difficulty about extinguishing the fire are mentioned.

It is obvious that if the bulk of the troops kept available for the safeguarding of the Limes
were, as we have seen good reason to believe, maintained, as military colonists or otherwise, within the

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