Serindia : vol.3 / 22 ページ（白黒高解像度画像）

0022	Serindia : vol.3
セリンディア : vol.3

ground which looked old, and when I inspected these on June 20, I soon found conclusive evidence
proving that they belonged to the line of the Limes.

Remains of
Limes
posts.

The westernmost of these towers lies about 4 miles in a straight line to the south-west from the
temple outside the west gate of An-hsi, which served as our quarters. It is situated in the broad
belt of waste ground which I have mentioned already as extending from east to west between the
cultivation areas near Kua-chou-ch'êng and An-hsi.³ The tower, though badly decayed, still rises to
a height of about 18 feet, on a base which erosion has reduced to about 14 feet square. In con-
struction it shows, like the other ruined tower, closest agreement with the methods so familiar to me
from the Limes remains in the Tun-huang desert, solid layers of stamped clay being used with an
inner framework of Toghrak posts. The fact that, in spite of having been cut right through in the
centre from east to west by sand-scouring, it still stands upright is the best proof of the solidity of
construction. Dark-grey potsherds of the Han type, showing mat marks, lay around the foot of the
tower and attested its antiquity.⁴ The same were found also on a low mound, about 32 feet long
and half as wide, which adjoined on the south and contained the foundations of walls built with sun-
dried bricks, evidently of quarters. No other remains survived on this ground exposed both to
wind-erosion and to moisture.

Line of
ancient
border wall
traced.

But as I proceeded to the next tower about a mile off to the east, the soil turned from scrub-
covered loess to fine gravel bearing only scanty vegetation, and here from about half-way onwards
the straight mound marking the direction of the ancient border wall could be traced quite clearly.
It rises to a height of about 4–5 feet, and, where a cutting was effected close to the eastern tower,
proved to contain irregular layers of Toghrak branches embedded in gravelly earth. This tower is
in better preservation, standing to a height of 22 feet on a base about 17 feet square. Here, too,
broken Han pottery was picked up at the foot of the tower as well as on a clay mound about 55
yards off to the south. This mound measures about 28 by 16 feet and rises to cire. 8 feet above the
level ground. The clearing of its top and slopes only yielded more remains of pottery of the Han
type besides layers of decayed straw. From this point the straight line of the wall was traceable east-
wards without any difficulty over most of the distance, about 1¼ miles, which lies between the tower
last mentioned and the high-road to An-hsi. The ground here consists of bare gravel, and to this fact,
no doubt, the preservation of these traces of the Han wall is due. Elsewhere to the east and west of
the stretch described it is scrub-covered loess, where moisture and vegetation were bound to destroy the
remains of the agger much more effectively. When revisiting this ground in October, 1907, I found in
fact considerable portions of the scrubby waste west of the cart road flooded from the spillage of canals.

Limes line
crossed by
high road.

Where the line of the Limes strikes the main road from Tun-huang to An-hsi there stands
a much-restored tower built, with its modern outer masonry of vertically placed bricks, in the usual
shape of a truncated cone.⁵ Immediately adjoining it on the south is a small reception-hall such as
is invariably to be found at points some distance from district headquarters where Chinese etiquette
demands that officials arriving or parting should have their formal welcome or farewell, with tea, etc.,
by the roadside. There, too, rise five small towers in a row, the regular mark of the usual main
stages on Chinese high roads. That the core of the large tower, standing exactly on the line of the

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

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

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

引用情報

OCR読み取り結果

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