大唐西域記 12.26

12.26

朅盤陀國，周二千餘里。國大都城基大石嶺，背徙多河，周二十餘里。山嶺連屬，川原隘狹。穀稼儉少，菽、麥豐多，林樹稀，花菓少。原隰丘墟，城邑空曠。俗無禮義，人寡學藝。性既獷暴，力亦驍勇。容貌醜弊，衣服氈褐。文字、語言，大同佉沙國。然知淳信，敬崇佛法。伽藍十餘所，僧徒五百餘人，習學小乘教說一切有部。今王淳質，敬重三寶，儀容閑雅，篤志好學。建國已來，多歷年所。其自稱云是至那提婆瞿呾羅（唐言漢日天種）。此國之先，葱嶺中荒川也。昔波利剌斯國王娶婦漢土，迎歸至此，時屬兵亂，東西路絕，遂以王女置於孤峯，極危峻，梯崖而上下，設周衛警，晝巡夜。時經三月，寇賊方靜，欲趣歸路，女已有娠。使臣惶懼，謂徒屬曰：「王命迎婦，屬斯寇亂，野次荒川，朝不謀夕。吾王德感，妖氛已靜，今將歸國，王婦有娠。顧此為憂，不知死地，宜推首惡，或以後誅。」訊問諠譁，莫究其實。時彼侍兒謂使臣曰：「勿相尤也，乃神會耳。每日正中，有一丈夫從日輪中乘馬會此。」使臣曰：「若然者，何以雪罪？歸必見誅，留亦來討，進退若是，何所宜行？」僉曰：「斯事不細，誰就深誅？待罪境外，且推旦夕。」於是即石峯上築宮起館，周三百餘步。環宮築城，立女為主，建官垂憲。至期產男，容貌妍麗。母攝政事，子稱尊號。飛行虛空，控馭風雲，威德遐被，聲教遠洽，隣域異國，莫不稱臣。其王壽終，葬在此城東南百餘里大山巖石室中。其屍乾腊，今猶不壞，狀羸瘠人，儼然如睡，時易衣服，恒置香花。子孫奕世以迄于今。以其先祖之世，母則漢土之人，父乃日天之種，故其自稱漢日天種。然其王族，貌同中國，首飾方冠，身衣胡服。後嗣陵夷，見迫強國。

This country is about 2000 li in circuit; the capital rests on a great rocky crag of the mountain, and is backed by the river Sita. It is about 20 li in circuit. The mountain chains run in continuous succession, the valleys and plains are very contracted. There is very little rice cultivated, but beans and corn grow in abundance. Trees grow thinly, there are only few fruits and flowers. The plateaux are soppy, the hills are waste, the towns are deserted; the manners of the people are without any rules of propriety. There are very few of the people who give themselves to study. They are naturally uncouth and impetuous, but yet they are bold and courageous. Their appearance is common and revolting; their clothes are made of woollen stuffs. Their letters are much like those of the Kie-sha (? Kashgar) country. They know how to express themselves sincerely, and they greatly reverence the law of Buddha. There are some ten sangharamas with about 500 followers. They study the Little Vehicle according to the school of the Sarvastivadas. The reigning king is of an upright and honest character; he greatly honours the three treasures; his external manner is quiet and unassuming; he is of a vigorous mind and loves learning. Since the establishment of the kingdom many successive ages have passed. Sometimes the people speak of themselves as deriving their name from the Chi-na-ti-po-k'iu-ta-lo (China-deva-gotra).

Formerly this country was a desert valley in the midst of the T'sung-ling mountains. At this time a king of the kingdom of Persia (Po-la-sse) took a wife from the Han country. She had been met by an escort on her progress so far as this, when the roads east and west were stopped by military operations. On this they placed the king's daughter on a solitary mountain peak, very high and dangerous, which could only be approached by ladders, up and down; moreover, they surrounded it with guards both night and day for protection. After three months the disturbances were quelled (they put down the robbers). Quiet being restored, they were about to resume their homeward journey. But now the lady was found to be enceinte. Then the minister in charge of the mission was filled with fear and he addressed his colleagues thus: "The king's commands were that I should go to meet his bride. Our company, in expectation of a cessation of the troubles that endangered the roads, at one time encamped in the wilds, at another in the deserts; in the morning we knew not what would happen before the evening. At length the influence of our king having quieted the country, I was resuming the progress homeward when I found that the bride was enceinte. This has caused me great grief, and I know not the place of my death. We must inquire about the villain who has done this (secretly), with a view to punish him hereafter.

If we talk about it and noise it abroad, we shall never get at the truth." Then his servant, addressing the envoy, said, "Let there be no inquiry; it is a spirit that has had knowledge of her; every day at noon there was a chief-master who came from the sun's disc, and, mounted on horseback, came to meet her." The envoy said, "If this be so, how can I clear myself from fault? If I go back I shall certainly be put to death; if I delay here they will send to have me punished. What is the best thing to do?" He answered, "This is not so complicated a matter; who is there to make inquiries about matters or to exact punishment outside the frontiers? Put it off a few days (from morning to evening)." On this he built, on the top of a rocky peak, a palace with its surrounding apartments; then having erected an enclosure round the palace of some 300 paces, he located the princess there as chief. She established rules of government and enacted laws. Her time having come, she bore a son of extraordinary beauty and perfect parts. The mother directed the affairs of state; the son received his honourable title; he was able to fly through the air and control the winds and snow. He extended his power far and wide, and the renown of his laws was everywhere known. The neighbouring countries and those at a distance subscribed themselves his subjects.

The king having died from age, they buried him in a stone chamber concealed with a great mountain cavern about 100 li to the south-east of this city. His body, being dried, has escaped corruption down to the present time. The form of his body is shrivelled up and thin: he looks as if he were asleep. From time to time they change his clothes, and regularly place incense and flowers by his side. From that time till now his descendants have ever recollected their origin, that their mother (or, on their mother's side), they were descended from the king of Han, and on their father's side from the race of the Sun-deva, and therefore they style themselves "descendants of the Han and Sun-god." The members of the royal family in appearance resemble the people of the Middle Country (China). They wear on their heads a square cap, and their clothes are like those of the Hu people (Uighurs). In after-ages these people fell under the power of the barbarians, who kept their country in their power.