The Greeks in Bactria and India c10.s5.166

c10.s5.166

The true explanation is very different. Already in 1904 it had been shown that the name Ta-hia occurs in Chinese texts long before the time of Chang-k’ien;¹ and though this was at first taken to mean that the Chinese had known the Tochari in the twelfth century B.C.,² it has since been explained³ that, though the name Ta-hia may once have represented some real people in the north, in the third and second centuries B.C. the Ta-hia had become a people of fable on the western edge of the world,⁴ and that when Chang-k’ien reached Bactria he thought he had found the mythical Ta-hia.⁵ The fabulous nature of these Ta-hia comes out clearly in the story of the envoy sent to them to fetch bamboos for the emperor; the bamboo grew freely in China, but these were magical bamboos which, apart from their size, could only grow in fairy-land, seeing that he who owned a pipe made from them was privileged to hear and imitate the twelve notes of the song of the mythical phoenix, six sung by the male and six by his mate.⁶