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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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' The Êrh-shih temple, which stood by the roadside, has long been in ruins. Stones from it have been piled up together, and to this spot travellers come with their camels and horses in order to pray for good luck. Going east, you pass into the territory of Kua-chou.' ⁴
Location of spring at Lu-ts'ao-kou.
The indications given in this account make it, I think, quite certain that the spring meant here by the writer of the Tun-huang Mirabilia is the one still existing at Lu-ts'ao-kou. The position and distance there stated point clearly to it. Had I known it at the time, it would have been easy to look among or near the ruins of the little fort and station, deserted since the Tungan rebels wrecked them, for the remains or likely site of the ' Êrh-shih temple which stood by the roadside ', and which was already in ruins when the Tun-huang lu was written, probably about the ninth–tenth century. From what I have had occasion to observe before about the tenacity of local worship in this and neighbouring regions,⁵ I have little doubt that traces of the religious respect enjoyed by the spring and of the superstitious belief about its miraculous phenomena still linger to the present day. However this may be, I am able at least to bear personal testimony to the attraction which this spot still has 'for travellers [who] come with their camels and horses'. During both my halts at An-hsi, in June and October, it was to Lu-ts'ao-kou that under well-meaning local advice my camels and ponies were sent to enjoy a good rest and fat grazing—though I cannot be sure whether Hassan Akhûn, my faithful director of transport, took the occasion also 'in order to pray for good luck'.⁶
Ancient oasis of Kua-chou.
The fifteen miles' ride which brought me from Kua-chou-k'ou north-westwards to the present district headquarters of An-hsi amply sufficed to show the conditions now prevailing within the ancient oasis of Kua-chou 瓜州.¹⁰ Its area presented itself as a wide scrub-covered plain, extending from the foot of the low outermost hill range of the Nan-shan to the banks of the Su-lo Ho. Within
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