Buddhist records of the Western world (Xuanzang)
by Samuel Beal | 1884 | 224,928 words | ISBN-10: 8120811070
This is the English translation of the travel records of Xuanzang (or, Hiuen Tsiang): a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India during the seventh century. This book recounts his documents his visit to India and neighboring countries, and reflects the condition of those countries during his time, including temples, culture, traditions and fest...
Chapter 3 - Country of Poh-luh-kia (Baluka or Aksu)
Note: Poh-luh-kia was Formerly called Che-meh or Kih-meh. Kih-meh doubtless represents the Kou-mé of Julien.[1]
The kingdom of Poh-luh-kia is about 600 li from east to west, and 300 li or so from north to south. The chief town is 5 or 6 li in circuit. With regard to the soil, climate, character of the people, the customs, and literature (laws of composition), these are the same as in the country of K'iu-chi. The language (spoken language) differs however a little. It produces a fine sort of cotton and hair-cloth, which are highly valued by neighbouring (frontier) countries.
There are some ten saṅghārāmas here; the number of priests (priests and followers) is about one thousand. These follow the teaching of the "Little Vehicle," and belong to the school of the Sarvāstivādas (Shwo-yih-tsai-yu-po).[2]
Going 300 li or so to the north-west of this country, crossing a stony desert, we come to Ling-shan[3] (ice-mountain). This is, in fact, the northern plateau of the T'sung-ling range,[4] and from this point the waters mostly have an eastern flow. Both hills and valleys are filled with snowpiles, and it freezes both in spring and summer; if it should thaw for a time, the ice soon forms again. The roads are steep and dangerous, the cold wind is extremely biting, and frequently fierce dragons impede and molest travellers with their inflictions.[5] Those who travel this road should not wear red garments nor carry loud-sounding[6] calabashes. The least forgetfulness of these precautions entails certain misfortune. A violent wind suddenly rises with storms of flying sand and gravel; those who encounter them, sinking through exhaustion, are almost sure to die.
Going 400 li or so, we come to the great Tsing lake.[7]
This lake is about 1000 li in circuit, extended from east to west, and narrow from north to south. On all sides it is enclosed by mountains, and various streams empty themselves into it and are lost. The colour of the water is a bluish-black, its taste is bitter and salt. The waves of this lake roll along tumultuously as they expend themselves (on the shores). Dragons and fishes inhabit it together. At certain (portentous) occasions scaly monsters rise to the surface, on which travellers passing by put up their prayers for good fortune. Although the water animals are numerous, no one dares (or ventures) to catch them by fishing.
Going 500 li or so to the north-west of the Tsing lake, we arrive at the town of the Su-yeh river.[8] This town is about 6 or 7 li in circuit; here the merchants from surrounding countries congregate and dwell.
The soil is favourable for red millet and for grapes; the woods are not thick, the climate is windy and cold; the people wear garments of twilled wool.
Passing on from Su-yeh westward, there are a great number[9] of deserted towns; in each there is a chieftain (or over each there is established a chief); these are not dependent on one another, but all are in submission to the Tuh-kiueh.
From the town of the Su-yeh river as far as the Ki-shwang-na[10] country the land is called Su-li, and the people are called by the same name. The literature (written characters) and the spoken Language are likewise so called. The primary characters are few; in the beginning they were thirty[11] or so in number: the words are composed by the combination of these; these combinations have produced a large and varied vocabulary.[12] They have some literature,[13] which the common sort read together; their mode of writing is handed down from one master to another without interruption, and is thus preserved. Their inner clothing is made of a fine hair-cloth (linen); their outer garments are of skin, their lower garments of linen, short and tight.[14] They adjust their hair so as to leave the top of the head exposed (that is, they shave the top of their heads). Sometimes they shave their hair completely. They wear a silken band round their foreheads. They are tall of stature, but their wills are weak and pusillanimous. They are as a rule crafty and deceitful in their conduct and extremely covetous. Both parent and child plan how to get wealth; and the more they get the more they esteem each other; but the well-to-do and the poor are not distinguished; even when immensely rich, they feed and clothe themselves meanly. The strong bodied cultivate the land; the rest (half) engage in money-getting (business).
Going west from the town Su-yeh 400 li or so, we come to the "Thousand springs,"[15] This territory is about 200 li square. On the south are the Snowy Mountains, on the other sides (three boundaries) is level tableland. The soil is well watered; the trees afford a grateful shade, and the flowers in the spring months are varied and like tapestry. There are a thousand springs of water and 1akes here, and hence the name. The Khān of the Tuh-kiueh comes to this place every (year) to avoid the heat. There are a number of deer here, many of which are ornamented with bells and rings;[16] they are tame and not afraid of the peop1e, nor do they run away. The Khān is very fond of them, and has forbidden them to be kil1ed on pain of death without remission; hence they are preserved and live out their days.
Going from the Thousand springs westward 140 or 150 li, we come to the town of Ta-lo-sse (Taras).[17] This town is 8 or 9 li in circuit; merchants from all parts assemble and live here with the natives (Tartars). The products and the climate are about the same as Su-yeh.
Going 10 li or so to the south, there is a little deserted town. It had once about 300 houses, occupied by people of China. Some time ago the inhabitants were violently carried off by the Tuh-kiueh, but afterwards assembling a number of their countrymen, they occupied this place in common.[18] Their clothes being worn out, they adopted the Turkish mode of dress, but they have preserved their own native language and customs.
Going 200 li or so south-west from this, we come to the town called Peh-shwui ("White Water.")[19] This town is 6 or 7 li in circuit. The products of the earth and the climate are very superior to those of Ta-lo-sse.
Going 200 li or so to the south-west, we arrive at the town of Kong-yu,[20] which is about 5 or 6 li in circuit. The plain on which it stands is well watered and fertile, and the verdure of the trees grateful and pleasing. From this going south 40 or 50 li, we come to the country of Nu-chih-kien.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Kih-meh doubtless represents the Kou-mé of Julien (see the M'émoire Analytique by V. St. Martin, Mem. s. l. Contr. Occid, tom. ii. p. 265); It was formerly the eastern portion of the kingdom of Aksu. The name Poh-lu-kia or Bālukā is said to be derived from a Turkish tribe which "in the fourth century of our era occupied the north-western parts of Kansu."--Ibid. p. 266. The modern town of Aksu is 56 geog. miles E. from Ush-turfan, in lat. 41°12' N., long. 79°30' E. Aksu is 156 Eng. miles in a direct line W.S.W. from Kuchā, which is in lat. 41°38' N., long. 83°25' E. on Col. Walker's map.
[2]:
The school of the Sarvāstivādas; one of the early schools of Buddhism, belonging to the Little Vehicle, i.e., the Hīnayāna, or the imperfect mode of conveyance. This early form of Buddhism, according to Chinese accounts, contemplated only the deliverance of a portion of the world, viz., the Saṅgha or society; the Mahāyāna or complete (great) mode of conveyance, on the other hand, taught a universal deliverance. The Sarvāstivādas believed in "the existence of things," opposed to idealism. Burnouf, Introd. (2d edit.), p. 397; Vassilief, Bouddh., pp. 57, 78, 113, 243, 245.
[3]:
Ling-shan, called by the Mongols "Musur-aola," with the same meaning.-- V. de St. Martin, p. 266.
[4]:
I translate it thus, because it agrees with Hwui-lih's account in the Life of Hiuen Tsiang, although it may also be rendered "this is (or, these mountains are) to the north of the T'sung -ling. The waters of the plateau," etc.. The T'sung-ling mountains are referred to in the Twelfth Book; they are called T'sung, either because the land produces a great quantity of onions (t'sung), or because of the blue (green?) colour of the mountain sides. On the south they join the great Snowy Mountains; on the north they reach to the "hot-sea," i. e., the Tsing lake, of which he next speaks. So that the Icy Mountains form the northern plateau of the range. The rivers which feed the Tarim do, in fact, take their rise here. Conf. Jour. R. Geog. Soc., vol. xl. p. 344; Wood's Oxus, p. xl.
[5]:
The inflictions or calamities alluded to are the sand and gravel storms, referred to below.
[6]:
Or, it may be "ought not to carry calabashes nor shout loudly." Perhaps the reason why calabashes are forbidden is that the water freezing in them might cause them to burst with a loud sound, which would cause the "snow piles" to fall. Why "red garments" should be interdicted is not so plain, unless dragons are enraged by that colour. Red garments are the badge of those condemned to death: vide the Nā;gānanda, Boyd's translation, p. 62, 63, 67. [The last sentence has been moved here from the "additions and corrections page" p.241-242. (M.B.)]
[7]:
The Tsing (limpid) lake is the same as Issyk-kul, or Temurtu. It is 5200 feet above the sea-level. It is called Jo-hai, "the hot sea," not becauae its waters are warm, but because when viewed from the Ice Mountain, it appears hot by comparison (note in the Life of Hiuen Tsiang). The direction is not given here; but from Aksu to Issyk-kul is about 110 English miles to the north-east. Conf. Bretschneider, Med. Geog., note 57, p. 37; Jour. R. Geog. Soc., vol. xxxix. pp. 318 ff., vol. xl. pp. 250, 344, 375-399, 449.
[8]:
That is, the town of Su-yeh, situated on the river Chu or Chui. Hwui-lih a1so calls it the town of Su-yeh (k. ii. fol. 4a). The same symbol (yeh) is used both in the Si-yu-ki, and the Life of Hiuen Tsiang. The site of this town is not now known (vid. V. de St. Martin, ut sup., p. 271). It may be the present Constantinovosk, or perhaps Bela-sagun, the capital of the Kara-khitai, on the river Chu. Conf. Bretschneider, Med. Geog., note 37, p. 36; Chin. Med. Trav., p. 50, 114; Trans. Russ. Geog. Soc., 1871, vol. ii. p. 365.
[9]:
Several tens.
[10]:
Kaśanna (Jul.) It is the modern Kesh, in lat. 39°4' N., long. 66°50' E. In Eite1's Handbook (sub Kachania) it is said to be the region near Kermina. See note 116 infra.
[11]:
So my copy has it: Julien translates it thirty-two.
[12]:
Literally, "the flowing forth from these has gradually become large and varied."
[13]:
"Some historical records" (Shu-ki); or, it may be, "they have books and records."
[14]:
This difficult passage seems to mean that they use linen as an article of clothing; that their upper garments (jackets or jerkins) are of leather; their breeches are of linen, made short and tight.
[15]:
That is, Myn-bulak (Bingheul), a country with innumerable lakes --Eitel. Myn-bulak lies to the north of the road from Aulie-ata to Tersa; the high mountains to which it clings are the Urtak-taù. "The Kirghizes, even now, consider Myn-bulak to be the best place for summer encampment between the Chu and the Syr-Daria." "Here there is good pasturage, with a dense and succulent herbage, and there are numerous clear springs"--Severtsof, J. R. G. Soc., vol. xl. pp. 367-369.
[16]:
Probably the "rings" (hwan) refer to neck-collars.
[17]:
M. Viv. de St. Martin has remarked, in his Mémoire Analytique (Jul., Mém., tom. ii. pp. 267-273), that the distance from Lake Issyk-kul to Taras or Talas(which he places at the town of Turkistān, by the Jaxartes river), is too short by l000 li ; or, in other words, that from Su-yeh to the "Thousand springs" (Bingheul or Myn-bulak), instead of 400 li, should be 1400 li. The same writer explains that in Kiepert's map of Turkistān there is a locality called Myn-bulak in the heights above the town of Turkistān, about a dozen leagues east from it. This would agree with the 140 or 150 li of Hiuen Tsiang. But see notes 93 and 95 below, and conf. Bretschneider's valuable note, Med. Geog., p. 37, and Notes on Chin. Med. Trav., pp. 34, 75, 114; Klaproth, Nouv. Jour. Asiat., tom. xii. p. 283; Deguignes, Hist. des Huns, tom. ii. p. 500, tom. iii. pp. 219, 229; Yule's Cathay, p. clxv.; Wood's Oxus, p. xlii.; Rubruquis, in Rec. de Voy. et de Mém., tom iv. pp. 279, 280.
[18]:
The little deserted town alluded to in the text is named elsewhere (St. Martin, Mémoires sur l'Armenie, tom. ii. p. 118). We gather from Hiuen Tsiang that the inhabitants were originally captives, carried off from China by the Turks, who assembled and formed a community in this place.
[19]:
The town called "White Water" is the Isfijab of Persian writers according to V. de St. Martin, p. 274.
[20]:
The bearing south-west in this and the preceding case from Turkistān (if, with Julien, we identified that town with Taras) would take us over the Jaxartes and away from Tāshkand (Che-shi). In the tabular statement given by St. Martin (p. 274) the bearings and distances are as follows:--From Ta-lo-sse to Peh-shwui, 200 li to the south; Peh-shwui to Kong-yu, 200 li southerly; Kong-yu to Nu-chih-kien, 50 li south; Nu-chih-kien to Che-shi, 200 li west. But the bearing from Taras to the "White Water" (Peh-shwui) is south-west, and from the "White Water" to Kong-yu is again south-west. We have then a short distance of 50 li to the south to Nu-chih-kien, after which there are 200 li west to Tāshkand. Working back from Tāshkand, which appears to be a certain point according to the distances and bearings given, we reach to about the River Talas, far to the eastward of Turkistān. If Aulie-ata on the Talas (lat. 43°55' N., long. 71°24' E., and 110 geog. miles from the river Chu) be his Ta-lo-sse, then his route would lie across the head waters of the Karagati--a feeder of the Chu, and of the Jar-su, an affluent of the Talas, where we should place the Thousand Springs. But Myn-bulak is to the west of the Talas on the way to Tersa (35 miles west of Aulie-ata), which may be Ta-lo-sse. From Tersa, on a river of the same name which flows between Myn-bulak and the Urtak-Taü hills, his route must have been to the south-west, either by Chemkent to Tāshkand--the same route as was afterwards followed by Chenghiz Khān; or he must have gone over the Aksai hills, on the road to Namangan, into the valley of the Chatkal or Upper Chirchik, and so south-west and then west to Tāshkand. Myn-bulak, however, is north-east of Tersa, not east. See Severtsof's account of the country from Lake Issyk-kul to Tāshkand in Jour. R. Geog. Soc., vol. xl. pp. 353-358, 363-370, etc.., also p. 410. The site of Kong-yu has not been ascertained.