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On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6: Chapter III

On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6

Language
English

Contents

Chapter III

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FROM KAO-CH'ANG TO THE THOUSAND SPRINGS.

A-K'i-Ni (Yenk'i)

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The narrative in the Records now begins with this account,

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Going from what was formerly the land of Kao-ch'ang we begin with the country nearest to it and called A-k'i-ni: this is above 600 *li* from east to west and 400 *li* from north to south, its capital being six or seven *li* in circuit.

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In the Life we have a detailed account of the unpleasant and adventurous journey from the Chinese capital to the chief city of Kao-ch'ang. This city, we know, was in the district which is now called Turfan and it is said to be represented by the modern Huo-chow (火州) otherwise Karakhojo. At the time of our pilgrim's visit Kao-ch'ang was a thriving kingdom, and its king, though a vassal of China, was a powerful despot feared by the surrounding states. This king, whose name was Kü-wên-tai (麴文泰) or as it is also given, Kü-ka (嘉), had received Yuan-chuang on his arrival with great ceremony and kindness, had tried entreaty and flattery and even force to retain him, and had at last sent the pilgrim on his way with great honour, giving him presents and provisions and also letters of introduction to other sovereigns. Then why does Yuan-chuang here write of Kao-ch'ang as a state which had ceased to exist? The explanation is to be found in the great change which that kingdom had experienced between the years 630 and 646. We learn from history that in the year A. D. 639 the Chinese emperor T'ai Tsung sent an army to invade Kao-ch'ang and punish its ruler, who had dared to defy the imperial power. This ruler was the Kü-wên-t'ai who had been Yuan-chuang's host. He thought himself safe from Chinese invasion and boasted and swaggered at the threat of a Chinese army coming into his country until the invading force was actually within his borders. When he learned, however, that the hostile army was fast approaching his capital, he became so utterly possessed by abject fear that he became helpless. And his death soon followed. Hereupon his wise son and successor at once submitted to the Chinese general who, however, "extinguished Kaoch'ang"; whereupon T'ai Tsung made its territory a Prefecture of the Empire. This procedure called forth a generous protest from one of the Emperor's wise and faithful ministers, but the remonstrance was in vain and in 640 Kaoch'ang became the Chinese Hsi-chow (西州). Thus Yuan-chuang, writing under imperial orders and for the Emperor's reading, must needs take notice of the great political change which had taken place in the Kaoch'ang country since the date of his visit. The change proved bad for China and the new state of affairs did not last very long. For the present, however, our author has to describe the "Western Lands", that is, the countries which were outside of the western border of the Chinese empire. Up to 640 Kaoch'ang was one of these countries, but from that year the empire reached on the east to the ocean, and on the west to the kingdom which was the first to the west of Kaoch'ang, viz. the A-k'i-ni of this narrative.

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There cannot be any doubt that the country which Yuanchuang here calls A-k'i-ni (阿耆尼) was, as has been stated by others, that which is known in Chinese history as Yenki (焉耆). This state rose to power in the Han period, and from that time down to the T'ang dynasty it bore in Chinese treatises this name Yenki which is still its classical and literary designation in Chinese literature.

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Then why did Yuan-chuang use the name A-k'i-ni, a name for which he seems to be the sole authority?

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The explanation is simple. There was, we learn from an "interpolated comment" to the text, an old name for this country which is given as Wu-k'i (烏 or 焉耆). This seems to have been the name used by the translators of the sacred books and by Buddhist writers generally. Thus in the translation of the "Ta-pao-chi-ching" by Fa-hu of the Western Ch'in dynasty we find mention of Wuk'i along with Khoten and other countries. So also Tao-hsüan in his "Su-kao-sêng-chuan" mentions Wuk'i as the country between Kutzŭ (Kuchih) and Kaoch'ang. In the Fang-chih also we find the name given as Wuk'i, and Fa-hsien's Wu-i (烏夷) is apparently the country under consideration. The first character, wu, in each of these varieties of the name was probably pronounced a or o, and the second character represented a sound like k'i or gi, the whole giving us a name like akhi or agi. Thus we have at Yuan-chuang's time three different designations for this country:—the Yenki of Chinese historians, the Wuk'i of the Buddhist writers, and Y.'s own name for it, A-k'i-ni. The explanation of this variety is instructive, as the theory which underlies it applies to several other districts. In Yenki we have the local or Hu name. This apparently was (or was understood to be) Yanghi, a Turkish word for fire, the full name being perhaps something like Yanghi-shaher or "Fire-city". Now in all the Hu countries the Buddhist monks, we are told, used among themselves the language of India. In this language the correct Sanskrit name for fire is agni, the a-k'i-ni of our author. We find the three characters of the text used by Yuan-chuang in a translation of a sacred book to transcribe agni as the Sanskrit name for fire, and by Gunabhadra in one of his translations to transcribe this word in the proper name Agnidatta.¹ But the monks of the Hu countries did not all come from "Central India" and they did not talk Sanskrit. They spoke and wrote dialectic varieties with vernacular forms of Indian words, and they often used words which were foreign but were made to assume a Sanskrit garb. So the Brethren of the country with which we are now concerned had apparently used the Pali form Agi instead of Agni, and this had been used by others, but Yuan-chuang being a purist preferred to write the Sanskrit form.

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¹ A-pi-t'a-mo-ta-p'i-p'o-sha-lun, ch. 15 (Bun. No. 1263): Tsa-a-han-ching, ch. 25 (No. 544).

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In the periods of the Yuan and Ming dynasties the city and district called Yen-k'i, still retaining this name, were grouped with four others in the political aggregate called Bish-balik or Pentapolis. Hence we sometimes find it stated that Yen-k'i is Bishbalik, but this latter name is more frequently applied to Urumtsi.¹ At the present time the city called Kara- (or Khara-)shahr is generally taken to be the representative of the ancient capital of Yen-k'i. But the site of the latter was apparently somewhat to the west of the modern Kharashahr at a place which has several ancient ruins. This modern city is said to have received its name from the grimy appearance of its walls and houses, Karashahr in Turkic meaning "Black city", an etymology which is confirmed by Dr. Sven Hedin's account.²

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¹ Li-tai-yen-ko-piao (歷代沿革表) ch. 3: Med. Res. Vol. II, p. 229. But the name Bishbalik seems to have been applied to six cities regarded as forming a political unit.

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² Dr. Sven Hedin writes—"Kara-shahr (the Black Town) fully deserves its name: for it is without comparison the dirtiest zown in all Central Asia. It stands on the left bank of the river (the Hädick-or Khaidik-gol), on a level, barren plain, totally destitute of any feature of interest. Nevertheless it is a large town, very much larger than Korla, consisting of a countless number of miserable hovels, courtyards, bazaars, and Mongol tents, surrounded by a wall, and is the chief commercial emporium in that part of Chinese Turkestan." 'Through Asia', p. 859.

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Like many other states in this part of Asia Yen-k'i has had many ups and downs, passing several times from power and preeminence to subjection and vassalage. One of these vicissitudes was experienced by it in A. D. 643—644, when the Chinese emperor T'ai Tsung sent an army which invaded the country, conquered it, and made its king a prisoner for a time. A similar disaster befell it in A. D. 648, when its king was beheaded by the Turkish invader.¹ The country under the official designation Kharashahr (喀喇沙爾) is now a military station, and an important Sub-Prefecture of the Chinese empire.

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¹ T'ung-chien-kang-mu *ch.* 40 (18th year of T'ang T'ai Tsung by the Chinese, and 22d year by the Turks): Ma T. l. *ch.* 336.

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It is remarkable that neither in the Records, nor in the Life of our pilgrim, nor in the itinerary of Wu-k'ung, is the distance of Yen-k'i from Kao-ch'ang given, but we learn from other sources that it was 900 *li*.² In another account of the country the capital is described as being 30 *li* in circuit which is a much larger area than that given in our text, but another account makes it to be only two *li* square. The name of the capital also is given as Nan-ho-ch'êng (南河城) and also as Yun-k'ü (員渠) which is perhaps only another form of Yen-k'i.³ The city was situated 70 *li* south of the White Mountain and a few *li* from a lake.⁴ This lake, which is described as having salt and fish and as abounding in reeds, has many names. It is sometimes simply the "sea" or Dengir, and it is the Bostang, or Barashahr, or Bagrash Lake. The description in our text, proceeding, states that

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² Ma T. l. *c.*: T'ung-chih-liao, the 邑 喀 *ch.* 1.

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³ Ch'ien Han shu *ch.* 96: Wei shu *ch.* 102.

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⁴ Wei Shu l. c.: Ma T. l. c.: Ch'ien Han shu l. c.

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[the country] on four sides adjoins hills, with roads hazardous and easily defended. The various streams join in zones, and their water is led in for the cultivated land. The soil grows millet, spring wheat, scented jujubes, grapes, pears, and prunes. The climate is genial and the people have honest ways. Their writing is taken from that of India with slight modifications. Their garments are of fine and coarse woollen stuffs. The men cut their hair short and do not wear any head-dress. They use gold silver and small copper coins. Their king is a native of the country, who is brave, but without practical ability and conceited. The country

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is without a political constitution, and its laws are not reduced to order.

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The first sentence of this passage is not very clear as to whether the description is meant for the whole country or only for the district of the capital. Our pilgrim seems to have drawn his information partly from the source which supplied the author of the "Hou Han-Shu".¹ In that work, and in Ma Tuan-lin's treatise which follows it, it is the Yenki country which is described as being surrounded by hills or mountains. But there were apparently no mountains on the east side of Yenki, and the Life tells only of two cities which the pilgrim passed on his way from the capital of Kao-ch'ang, without any mention of a mountain. That the roads were dangerous and easily guarded is also stated in the Hou Han-Shu almost in the words used in our text, and this also seems to indicate that it is the country which is described. But the expression "on four sides adjoins (or abuts on) hills" (四面據山) is apparently more appropriate to a city than to a country. Then we have the statement that "the various streams join in zones" that is, unite to form belts or lines of water. For this the original is "ch'üan (in the B text chung-liu-chiao-tai (泉 in B 衆流交帶), and Julien translates "une multitude des courants qui viennent se joindre ensemble, l'entourent comme une ceinture." The term chiao-tai seems to have in some places the meaning here given to it by Julien, but it commonly means to join in forming a continuous line. Thus it is used of a series of tanks formed or connected by a river and of tears uniting to form streams on the cheeks. This sense of "joining and carrying on" the stream seems to suit our passage, and the circumstances of the district. In Yenki the becks of the mountains joined in forming the various rivers by which the country was watered. Thus the Khaidu, the principal river, was formed by the junction of a large number of tributary streams from the Northern or White mountain.

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¹ Ch. 88.

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In the passage of the Han-Shu already referred to we find the statement that the "water of the sea (that is the Bostang Lake to the south-east of the capital) was deflected into the four mountains and flowed all about the capital (其城) for above thirty li", a statement which is repeated by Ma Tuan-lin. And although the kingdom contained several (according to one account, ten) other towns, it was doubtless of the capital and the surrounding districts that the words of our text were written. The water from the various rivers was led in channels from the lines of current to irrigate the land devoted to the cultivation of crops and fruit-trees. This artificial irrigation mentioned by our pilgrim is not noticed in the Han-Shu, but it was known to the author of the "Shui-ching-chu" (水經注), and it is referred to in recent works such as the Travels of Timkowski.¹

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¹ Hsin-chiang ch. 3: Timkowski's Travels Vol. I, pp. 398, 410. The artificial irrigation is mentioned in the T'ang Shu ch. 221.

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In the list of products here given the term translated "millet" is mi-shu (糜黍) which Julien renders "millet rouge", the same rendering being given for the one character mi in the next page. Instead of this character the D text has in both places the word mei (or meh 穈) the name of a kind of millet "with reddish culms". The texts may be corrupt and Yuan-chuang may have written mei (糜) which, we learn from the "Yü-pien" was a synonym for Chi (禾黍) a kind of panicled millet much cultivated in the north and northwest of China. By "spring wheat" (宿麥) is meant the wheat which is sown in autumn and ripens in the following spring. This spends the winter in the ground; and in this way it passes from one year into the next, and hence its distinctive name.

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The sentence 'Their writing is taken from that of India with slight modifications: their garments are of fine and coarse woollen stuffs' is in the original wên-tzŭ-chü-tsê-yin-tu-wei-yu-tsêng-chüan-fu-shih-tieh-ho (文字取則印度微有增損服飾氈罽) in the A, B, and C texts. The D text has differences and it reads—"The writing is modeled after that of India. There is little of silk stuffs, the dress is of felt and serge." Here we have tsêng-chüan (繒 絹) "silk stuffs" instead of the other tsêng-chüan meaning "addings to and takings from" or "modifications", and we have chan (氈) "felt" or "coarse woollen stuff" instead of the tieh of the other texts. All the texts, we see, agree in the statement that the writing of this country was taken from that of India, and the Wei-Shu makes the same statement. If we are to take the author as adding that slight changes had been made in the Indian writing in Yenki the information may be regarded as correct.

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So also if the D text is genuine and we are to substitute for "there are slight modifications" the words "there are few silks" we have a statement which is confirmed by other accounts. The people of Yenki had the silkworms, but they did not know how to make silk, and the only silk-stuffs they used were imported. So they did not wear silk, and their dress was of woollen material. Julien translates the four words fu-shih-tieh-ho by "Les vêtements sont faits de coton ou de laine". But the reading should probably be chan as in the D text. This reading of chan instead of tieh is supported by the epithet "Wearers of felt and serge" which the Chinese applied to the Hu and Jung in contrast to themselves as "silk-wearers". Then we have also the testimony of I-ching that the inhabitants of the countries with which we are concerned used mainly felt and fur as clothing, and that they had little cotton cloth (少有劫貝). But even if we take tieh to be the reading in the passage before us, it is at least doubtful whether it should be translated here by cotton. The word did come to be used as a name for cotton; and Yuan-chuang seems to employ it, in other passages, to denote something like fine cotton or muslin. In the T'ang-Shu we find pai-tieh described as the name of a plant of Kao-ch'ang from the flowers of which a cloth was made, and in this treatise tieh is cotton. But on the other hand the word is explained in old glossaries and dictionaries as denoting a "cloth made of hair (or wool)", and the formation of the character seems to point to such material. Then we find such expressions as *pai-chan-tieh*, "white felt-cloth", and *tieh* alone, mentioned along with the *kieh-pei* or Kibat (Karpura) "cotton-cloth" as different materials. Moreover the modern equivalent for *tieh* in Chinese books about the Mongols, Tibetans, and peoples of Turkestan is *p'u-lu*, which is the name of a woollen fabric manufactured in the "west countries".¹ There is great confusion in the use of *chan* and *tieh* (not only in these Records, and the Life, but also in many other works,) and we have often to make the context decide whether the author meant cotton or woollen.

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¹ Nan-hai-ch'i-kuei ch. 2: Yü-pien s. v. *Tieh*: Sung Shih ch. 489.

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The king of Yenki whose character is briefly described in the passage before us was *Lung-T'uk'ichi* (龍突騎支) of which Lung was the surname and T'uk'ichi (Dughitsi?) the name. This prince secretly renounced his duty and allegiance to China, and entered into an engagement with the West Turks to harass China. So the emperor T'ai Tsung in 643 sent an army to invade Yenki and punish its perfidious ruler. The latter was dethroned and taken prisoner in 644, but in the course of a few years the Chinese found it necessary to restore him to the throne.²

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² T'ung-chien-kang-mu l. c.

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For the words—"The country is without a political constitution, its laws are not reduced to order" the text is *Kuo-wu-kang-chi-fa-pu-chêng-su* (國無綱紀法不整肅). Julien translates this—"Ce royaume ne possède point de code, l'ordre et la paix se maintiennent sans le secours des lois." The latter clause of this sentence does not seem to be possible as a rendering of the Chinese. Moreover in the term *Kang-chi* are included not merely a code, but also the ethical and political maxims which form the basis of the political system, and give the state enactments their sanction. Then *Kang-chi* comes to denote the general principles or essentials of goverment, and the particular rules or institutions of a State or Empire. Thence the term was extended to the constitution and laws of any system political or religious, and Yuan-chuang, for example, uses it with reference to Buddhism. As to Yenki, the author states, it had no fundamental statutes or national political regulations, and it was also without any system of definite laws in force among the people. This is a reproach which we find brought against the Country also in the Wei-Shu which writes of it as "without a political system and laws (無 綱 紀 法 今)".¹

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¹ The *kang* of *kang-chi* is originally the large thick rope of a fisherman's casting-net and the *chi* are the small cords of the same. Then *kang-chi* (or *chi-kang*) came to be applied to the established controlling principles of government, the codified means of preserving order in a state. From this use the term came to be extended to social institutions and to systems of religion and philosophy.

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The pilgrim's description proceeds—

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"There are above ten Buddhist monasteries with above 2000 ecclesiastics of all degrees, all adherents of the Sarvāstivādin school of the "Small Vehicle" system. Since as to the sūtra teachings and vinaya regulations they follow India, it is in its literature that students of these subjects study them thoroughly. They are very strict in the observance of the rules of their order but in food they mix (take in a miscellaneous way) the three pure [kinds of flesh] embarrassed by the 'gradual teaching.'"

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One of the large monasteries in this country was that known as the Aranya-vihāra: here Dharmagupta lodged in the year A. D. 585 when on his way to China. The Sarvāstivādin school to which the Brethren in Yenki belonged was a branch from the ancient Sthavira school It had its name from its *assertion* that all were real, viz. past, present, future, and intermediate states. Its adherents claimed to represent the original teaching of the Master, as it was delivered, and as settled in Council by the "Elders" (Sthaviras) who had heard it from his lips. So they considered themselves strictly orthodox, and they were zealous enthusiastic adherents of what they regarded as the simple primitive religion. The Brethren in Yenki followed the teachings of the Buddha as recorded in the Indian scriptures of which they were diligent students.

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The next part of this paragraph has received bad treatment at the hands of the translators. Julien's version of it is—"Les religieux s'acquittent de leurs devoirs et observent les règles de la discipline avec un pureté sévère et un zèle persévérant. Ils se nourrissent de trois sortes d'aliments purs, et s'attachent à la doctrine graduelle." The words of the original are Chie-hsing-lü-i-chie-ch'ing-chin-li-jan-shih-tsa-san-ching-chih-yü-chien-chiao-i (戒行律儀潔清勤勵然雜三淨滯于漸教矣). It is not easy to conjecture why chie-hsing should be here rendered "s'acquittent de leurs devoirs". The term is part of the clause which tells us that the Brethren were careful observers of the Vinaya commands to do and abstain from doing. Then the translation leaves out the important words jan meaning "but" and tsa meaning "to mix", and it renders chih-yü, "to stick in" or "be detained in" by "s'attachent surtout à". Then Julien did not know what was meant by the "trois sortes d'aliments purs", so he gives us in a note an account of certain five "aliments purs" derived from another treatise. What the pilgrim tells us here is plain and simple. The Buddhist Brethren in the monasteries of Yen-k'i were pure and strict in keeping all the laws and regulations of their order according to their own Vinaya. But in food they took, along with what was orthodox, the three kinds of pure flesh, being still held in the "gradual teaching". The student will be helped in understanding this passage if he turns to the account of the next country, Kuchih, and to the pilgrim's experience in that country as set forth in the Life, and to the account of the Swan Monastery in Chuan IX of the Records (Julien III. p. 60) and Chuan III of the Life (ib. I. p. 162).

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The explanation of the san-ching or "three pure kinds of flesh" is briefly as follows. In the time of Buddha there was in Vaiśāli a wealthy general named Siha who was a convert to Buddhism. He became a liberal supporter of the Brethren and kept them constantly supplied with good flesh food. When it was noised abroad that the bhikshus were in the habit of eating such food specially provided for them the Tirthikas made the practice a matter of angry reproach. Then the abstemious ascetic Brethren, learning this, reported the circumstance to the Master, who thereupon called the Brethren together. When they were assembled, he announced to them the law that they were not to eat the flesh of any animal which they had seen put to death for them, or about which they had been told that it had been killed for them, or about which they had reason to suspect that it had been slain for them. But he permitted to the Brethren as "pure" (that is, lawful) food the flesh of animals the slaughter of which had not been seen by the bhikshus, not heard of by them, and not suspected by them to have been on their account.¹ In the Pali and Ssŭ-fên Vinaya it was after a breakfast given by Sīha to the Buddha and some of the Brethren, for which the carcase of a large ox was procured, that the Nirgranthas reviled the bhikshus and Buddha instituted this new rule declaring fish and flesh "pure" in the three conditions.² The animal food now permitted to the bhikshus came to be known as the "three pures" or "three pure kinds of flesh", and it was tersely described as "unseen, unheard, unsuspected", or as the Chinese translations sometimes have it "not seen not heard not suspected to be on my account (不見不聞不疑爲我)". Then two more kinds of animal food were declared lawful for the Brethren, viz. the flesh of animals which had died a natural death, and that of animals which had been killed by a bird of prey or other savage creature. So there came to be five classes or descriptions of flesh which the professed Buddhist was at liberty to use as food.³ Then the "unseen, unheard, unsuspected" came to be treated as one class, and this together with the "natural death (自死)" and “bird killed (鳥殘)” made a *san-ching*. It is evidently in this latter sense that the term is used in these Records.

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¹ Shih-sung-lu *ch.* 26 (No. 1115): Sêng-ki-lü *ch.* 32 (No. 1119).

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² Vin. Mah. V. 31: Ssŭ-fên-lü *ch.* 42 (No. 1117).

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³ Shou-lêng-yen-ching-hui-chie *ch.* 12 (Nos. 446 and 1624): Lung-shu-ching-t'u-wên (龍舒淨土文) *ch.* 9. The number of kinds of "pure flesh" was afterwards increased to nine, these five being included.

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Then we have the “gradual teaching” which to Yuan-chuang’s mind was intimately connected with the heresy of sanctioning flesh-food. Here we have a reference to an old division of the Buddha’s personal teachings into “gradual (or progressive)”, *chien* (漸) and “instantaneous”, *tun* (頓).¹ Of these the former, according to the Mahāyānists, contained all those scriptures which gave the Buddha’s early teaching, and also the rules and regulations which formed the Vinaya. The Buddha suited his sermons and precepts to the moral and spiritual attainments and requirements of his audience. Those who were low in the scale he led on gradually by the setting forth of simple truths, by parable and lesson, and by mild restrictions as to life and conduct. At a later period of his ministry he taught higher truths, and inculcated a stricter purity and more thorough self-denial. Thus in the matter of flesh-food he sanctioned the use of it as an ordinary article of food by his own example and implied permission. Afterwards when he found that some of his disciples gave offence by begging for beef and mutton, and asking to have animals killed for them, and eating as daily food flesh which should only be taken in exceptional circumstances he introduced restrictions and prohibitions. But the “Instantaneous Teaching”, which took no note of circumstances and environments, revealed sublime spiritual truths to be comprehended and accepted at once by higher minds, taught for these a morality absolute and universal, and instituted rules for his professed disciples to be of eternal, unchanging obligation.

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¹ Hua-yen-yi-shêng-chiao-yi-fên-chi-chang (No. 1591): Ssŭ-chiao-yi (No. 1569). In the Chung-a-han-ching (No. 542) *ch.* 9 Buddha’s dharma and vinaya are described as *gradual*.

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The “Gradual Teaching” is practically coextensive with the Hīnayāna system, and the Buddha describes his teaching and Vinaya as *gradual*, growing and developing like the mango fruit according to some scriptures. The "Instantaneous Teaching" is the Mahāyāna system as found in those scriptures of the Buddhists which are outside of the Hinayānist Tripitaka. This distinction, derived from a passage in the Laṅkāvatāra sūtra, is ascribed to Dharmapāla (Hu-fa 護法). The Nirvāṇa sūtras are quoted as specimens of the Gradual Teaching and the Avatamsaka sūtras are given as examples of the Tun-chiao or "Instantaneous Teaching".

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Our pilgrim being an adherent of the Mahāyānist system refused to admit the validity of the "three-fold pure" flesh-food indulgence which the excellent Hinayānist Brethren of Yen-k'i followed. The Buddhist Scriptures to which Yuan-chuang adhered prohibit absolutely the use of flesh of any kind as food by the "sons of Buddha".¹ This prohibition is based on the grounds of universal compassion, and the doctrine of karma. Mahāyānism teaches that the eating of an animal's flesh retards the spiritual growth of the Brother who eats it, and entails evil consequences in future existences. Some Mahāyānists were strict in abstaining, not only from all kinds of flesh food, but also from milk and its products. In this they agreed, as we shall see, with the sectarians who were followers of Devadatta. There have also, however, been Mahāyānists who allowed the use of animal food of certain kinds, and we find wild geese, calves, and deer called san-ching-shih or "Three pure (lawful) articles of food". It was a common occurrence for a Hinayānist to be converted and "advance" to Mahāyānism, but the Yen-k'i Brethren were still detained or embarrassed in the "Gradual Teaching" of the Hinayāna. The word for detained is chih (滯) which means to be fretted, or delayed, as a stream by an obstacle in its course. Then it denotes the mental suspense caused by doubts and difficulties, and the check given by these to spiritual progress; it is often associated with the word for doubt.

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¹ Fan-wang-ching ch. 2 (No. 1087): Ta-pan-nie-p'an-ching ch. 4 (No. 114): Ju-lêng-ka-ching ch. 8 (No. 176): Shou-lêng-yen-ching-hui-chie, l. c.

Kuchih

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The pilgrim now goes on to tell us that from Yenk'i he went south-west above 200 *li*, crossed a hill and two large rivers west to a plain, and after travelling above 700 *li* from that he came to the Ku-chih country. This country was above 1000 *li* from east to west and 600 *li* from north to south: its capital being 17 or 18 *li* in circuit.

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According to the account in the Life the pilgrim passed only one large river in the journey from Yenk'i to Kuchih. In other works the distance between these two places is somewhat greater, and the area of the capital of Kuchih is much less than in our text.

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The Chinese annotator here tells us that the old name of Ku-chih (屈支) was Ku-tse (龜茲), as we are told to pronounce these characters. This is not only the old name but also the only one by which the country was known to the Chinese until a comparatively modern time.¹ A Sanskrit-Chinese Vocabulary gives Kuchina (俱支那) as its Sanskrit designation; but the word does not seem to be otherwise known. There are various transcriptions of the sound Ku-tse, but Wu-k'ung tells us that Ku-chih is the correct form of the name.² The modern Chinese official name of the district and its capital is *K'u-ch'ê* (庫車), the Kuchah and Kocha of our maps. This term is explained as meaning the "Dry well of K'u", but the etymology cannot be accepted.³ In modern Tibetan books the name is given as Khu-chhu or Khu-the. This country was known to the Chinese from the early Han time, and in A. D. 435 it became a vassal to China.¹ The old Kutse embraced, not only the district now called K‘u-ch‘ê, but also that of the present Sairam and other territory. It was an ancient state, and its extent varied at different periods. In a translation of a Buddhist book we find it mentioned as one of the parts of his great empire which Asoka proposed to give over to his son Kunāla.² The capital of Kutse was at one time (in the 1st cent. A. D.) the Yen (延) city, and afterwards it was Yi-lo-lu (伊 羅 盧).³ In the Yuan period it was a constituent part of the Bishbalik territory, and it was also called I-li-pa-li or Il-balik.⁴ We find it described as being 200 or 170 li south of the Ak-tagh or White Mountains which emitted fire and smoke and yielded sal-ammoniac.⁵

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¹ An old variety of the name is *K'ucha* (苦叉). As Goez calls the country Cucia the modern official name was apparently in use before the Manchu conquest of China (See Yule's Cathay p. 573). Ku-tsang (姑臧), which is sometimes identified with Kutse, was the name of an old district in what is now the Province of Kansu.

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² The first syllable is found written also 丘 邱, and 屈, and the second syllable is sometimes 慈. See Shih-li-ching, and J. A. T. VI. p. 363 and note.

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³ Hsin-chiang *ch.* 3. Here it is stated that the country got its name from the "dry wells" in it.

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¹ T‘ung-chien-kang-mu ch. 25 (Sung Wên Huang Ti Yuan-chia 12th year.

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² A-yü-wang-hsi-huai-mu-yin-yuan-ching (No. 1367).

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³ Ch‘ien Han Shu ch. 96: Wei-Shu ch. 102: Ma T. l. ch. 336. It was in the T‘ang period that the capital was Yi-lo-lu.

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⁴ Li-tai-yen-ko-piao, l. c.: T‘ung-chien-kang-mu. ch. 25.

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⁵ Sui Shu ch. 83: Ta-ch‘ing-yi-t‘ung-chih ch. 351: See also Timkowski's Voyage Vol. I. p. 398.

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This country, the pilgrim continues, yielded millet, wheat, rice, grapes, pomegranates, and plenty of pears, plums, peaches, and apricots. It produced also gold, copper, iron, lead, and tin: its climate was temperate and the people had honest ways: their writing was taken from that of India but had been much altered; they had great skill with wind- and stringed-musical instruments; they dressed in variegated woollen cloth, cut their hair short, wore turbans, used coins of gold and silver and small copper ones, and they flattened the heads of their babies. Their king was a Kuchih man, he had few intellectual resources, and was under the sway of powerful statesmen.

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The word here rendered “millet” is the mi (糜) of the previous section. But instead of this character the C text has ma (麻), “hemp”, and the D text has mei as before. The word hsing (杏) here rendered by “apricots” is translated “almonds” by Julien although in his “Documents Geographiques” he has given the correct rendering “abricots”. The skill of the Kuchih people in music is mentioned by other writers, and their music and musical instruments became well known to the Chinese. So also the woollen cloths and good rugs of this country were known to the Chinese before the time of our pilgrim, as were also its iron and copper products. We learn also that its king had a golden throne, and wore a magnificent turban with a long streamer hanging down behind. The reigning sovereign at the time of Yuan-chuang's visit had the surname Pai (白) and was a lineal descendant of the man whom Lü kuang (呂光) had put on the throne more than 200 years before Yuan-chuang's time. This king showed his want of political wisdom in renouncing Chinese suzerainty in favour of an alliance with the Turks, who in A. D. 648 invaded his country and took him prisoner.¹

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¹ Wei Shu, l. c.: Sui shu l. c.: T'ung-chien-kang-mu ch. 40.

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The pilgrim's description proceeds to relate that there were in this country more than 100 Buddhist monasteries with above 5000 Brethren who were adherents of the Sarvāstivādin branch of the "Little Vehicle" and studied the books of their religion in the language of India. These Brethren also were held in the "gradual teaching", and took along with other food the "three pure" kinds of flesh, but they were extremely punctilious in observing the rules of their code of discipline.

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As we learn from other sources the people of this country were good Buddhists, and the number of Buddhist images and buildings throughout the land was very great.² Our pilgrim passed more than one monastery in it on his way to the capital, and he spent his first night there with the Kao-ch'ang Brethren in their monastery. That the lay people, or at least the king, kept the vows of lay disciples we may infer from the Life's account of the king's breakfast to the pilgrim. It is specially mentioned that among the food served at this entertainment were the "three pure" kinds of meat; Yuan-chuang partook of the rest of the food but declined these, explaining that although they were allowed by the "gradual teaching" they were forbidden by the “Great Vehicle” of which he was an adherent. The Brethren, who were all Hīnayānists, gave the pilgrim in their several monasteries as light refreshment grape-syrup which was a strictly orthodox beverage for all. Ku-chih had long been converted to Buddhism but it had not always been Hīnayānist as we read of one of its former kings being a devoted Mahāyānist.

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² Fang-chih ch. 1: Chin (晉) Shu ch. 97: Tarikh-i-Rashid by Elias and Ross p. 124 note.

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The pilgrim's description proceeds to relate that in the eastern part of Kuchih was a large Dragon-Tank in front of a Deva-Temple to the north of a city. The dragons of this tank changed themselves into horses and then coupled with mares: the offspring of this union was a fierce intractable breed, but the next generation formed fine horses patient of harness, and of these there were very many. Local tradition told of a king in recent times named Gold-Flower who by his regal ordinances and judicial impartiality moved the dragons to become his vehicles, and when he wanted to die he touched the dragon's ears with a whip, whereupon he sank out of sight with them to the present time. There were no wells in the city and the people drew water from the Tank: the dragons now changed themselves into men and had intercourse with the women: the offspring of this union became daring and fleet as horses, and all the inhabitants gradually came to have a mixture of the dragon in them; trusting to their might they made themselves feared, and came to slight the king's commands, whereupon the king brought in the Turks who slew all the living creatures in the city, and this was now a jungle without human inhabitants.

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This interpretation of the story about king Gold-Flower differs from the translation of the passage given by Julien which does not seem to be correct. It reads—“Le roi montrait, dans ses lois, une rare pénétration. Il sut toucher les dragons et les atteler à son char. Quand il voulait se rendre invisible, il frappait leurs oreilles avec son fouet et disparaissait subitement. Depuis cette époque, jusqu'à ce jour, la ville ne possède point de puits, de sorte que les habitants vont prendre dans le lac l'eau dont ils ont besoin.” By a comparison of this with the original¹ we see that Julien did not notice that it was the secret influence of the king's wise and impartial government which moved the dragons to become his vehicles, and *Kan-lung-yü-shêng* cannot be made to mean "Il sut toucher les dragons et les atteler à son char." Then "se rendre invisible" is not right for *chung-mê* which means "to die"; the word *yin*, "hereupon" is omitted, and the words *yi-chi-yü-chin*, "down to the present" are divorced from their proper connection. This version also makes the author state that the inhabitants still "vont prendre" water and yet a few lines after we learn that the city was utterly uninhabited.

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¹ The original of the passage quoted from Julien is:—政教明察感龍馭乘王欲終沒鞭觸其耳因即潛隱以至于今城中無井取汲池水

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Our narrative proceeds to relate that above forty *li* north of the depopulated city at the slopes of the hills, and separated by a river, were two monasteries which bore the common name *Chao-hu-li* distinguished respectively as Eastern and Western. The images of the Buddha in these monasteries were beautiful almost beyond human skill; and the Brethren were punctilious in discipline and devoted enthusiasts. In the Buddha-Hall of the East *Chao-hu-li* monastery was a slab of Jade-stone above two feet wide, of a pale yellow colour, and like a clam, and on it was an impress of Buddha's foot; this was one foot eight inches long by above eight (in the D text, six) inches wide, and on fast days it sent forth a brilliant light.

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The *Chao-hu-li* (昭 or 照 怙 釐) of this passage is apparently a foreign, perhaps an Indian word, but we have no hint as to its meaning. In other works we read of a great *Chio-li* Buddhist monastery in this¹ country, but we also find *Chio-li* Buddhist buildings in other places. This *Chio-li* is perhaps another form of the word transcribed *Chao-hu-li*, although I-ching tells us it is Chinese.² As a Chinese term transcribed 雀 離 *Chio-li* would mean "small birds such as sparrows and finches", but it is also written *Chio-li* (鳥 梨) and this seems to be a foreign word. Our pilgrim's *Chao-hu-li* and the *Chio-li* of other writers may perhaps represent the Indian word *Chūri* which denotes a small bird like the sparrow. But the tope at the place where the brahmin carrying a sparrow interrogated the Buddha is the only one of the Buddhist buildings called Chio-li to which this interpretation can be applied with any probability. Another suggestion is that Chio-li and Chao-hu-li may be the foreign term represented by the common transcription Chu-li (侏離) which means motley or particoloured, of mixed bright and dark colours. This interpretation would evidently suit some, and perhaps would apply to all, of the buildings to which the terms in question are applied.

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¹ Shui-ching-chu: Kao-sêng-chuan *ch.* 2 (No. 1490).

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² Shih-li-ching and J. A. T. VI. p. 363.

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Outside of the west gate of the capital, the narrative relates, were two standing images of the Buddha, above ninety feet high, one on each side of the highway. These images marked the place where the great quinquennial Buddhist assemblies were held, and at which the annual autumn religious meetings of clergy and laity occurred. The latter meetings lasted for some tens of days, and were attended by ecclesiastics from all parts of the country. While these convocations were sitting the king and all his subjects made holiday, abstaining from work, keeping fast, and hearing religious discourses. All the monasteries made processions with their images of Buddha, adorning these with pearls and silk embroideries. The images were borne on vehicles, and beginning with a thousand, they became a great multitude at the place of meeting. North-west from this place of assembly and on the other side of a river was the A-shê-li-yi (阿奢理貳 or 兒) Monastery. This had spacious halls and artistic images of the Buddha: its Brethren were grave seniors of long perseverance in seeking for moral perfection and of great learning and intellectual abilities: the monastery was a place of resort for men of eminence from distant lands who were hospitably entertained by the king and officials and people. The pilgrim then gives the curious legend about the origin of the monastery.

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We know from the Life that our pilgrim’s account of the Buddhist procession of images here was derived from his own experience as he reached the country in time to witness one of these processions. The native annotator explains the A-shê-li-yi here by “marvellous” and it is evidently a transcription of the Sanskrit word āscharya, meaning a marvel or miracle.¹ According to the legend related by the pilgrim the monastery was erected by a king to commemorate the miracle which was wrought on his pure and noble-minded brother. One of its chief monks at this time, we learn from the Life, was the Brother known in religion by the name Mokshagupta, a Hinayānist who had studied above twenty years in India, and had acquired a great reputation in Kuchih, especially for his knowledge of the commentaries and etymology. When Yuan-chuang arrived Mokshagupta treated him merely with the ordinary courtesy due to any guest, but when the pilgrim exposed the ignorance of his host the latter came to treat him as his master in religion. This monastery is mentioned in Wu-k'ung's itinerary by the name *A-shê-li-yi*. It is also perhaps the Wang-Ssŭ or Royal Vihāra of other writers, and we find Dharmagupta lodged in the Royal Vihāra about A. D. 585 while he stayed in this country. The Miracle Monastery, Yuan-chuang tells us, drew learned Brethren from distant places to it, and it seems that these men came chiefly to study the Vinaya. One of these great students was Vimalāksha, popularly known as the "Dark-eyed Vinaya-Master", a contemporary of Kumārajīva.²

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¹ The character here read yi is 貳 and Julien transliterates it ni, but the old and correct sound of the character is yi, and in the Life

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¹ Su-kao-sêng-chuan ch. 2 (No. 1493).

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² K'ai-yuan-lu ch. 3 (No. 1485).

Poh-Lu-Ka

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Our pilgrim continuing his narrative tells us that from this (viz. Kuchih city) a journey of above 600 *li* west across a small desert brought him to the *Poh-lu-ka* country. This was above 600 *li* from east to west by more than 300 *li* from north to south, and its capital was five or six *li* in circuit. In general characteristics this country and its people resembled Kuchih and its people, but the spoken language differed a little. The fine cloth and serge of the district were esteemed by the neighbouring countries. There were some some tens of monasteries with above 1000 Brethren all adherents of the Sarvāstivādin school.

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A Chinese note to our text tells us that old names for *Poh-lu-ka* were *Ki-mê* and *Ku-mê* in some we have instead of this character another also read *yi*, viz. 兒. Wu-k'ung's transcription of the name is 阿遮哩貳.

v1.c6.s3.3

copies 姑 by mistake). This Ku-mê is found in the Han-Shu and is subsequent histories as the name of a state to the west of Kuchih. It had a capital called Nan-ch‘êng or “South city”, and it yielded copper, iron, and orpiment.¹ M. V. de St. Martin makes Ku-mê or Poh-lu-ka correspond to the modern district of Aksu and this identification has been adopted by others. Some Chinese writers identify it with the modern Bai city (拜城), while others more correctly regard it as represented by the present Yurgun or Khara-yurgun (哈拉玉爾滾), the Karayalghan or Khara-yurgun of our maps, which is within the political district of Aksu.² It seems that Yuan chuang was the first to use this name Poh-lu-ka, and it is known only through these Records and the Life, for the “T‘ang-Shu” evidently derived its information direct from the Records.³ The explanation of its use is apparently simple. The Ku-mê of the Histories transcribes the Turkish word Kum (or Qum) which means “sand” or “a desert”, a word of frequent occurrence in names of places in Central Asia. Then the Buddhist Brethren from India substituted for Kum its Sanskrit equivalent Bālukā which in our pilgrim’s transcription became Poh-lu-ka.

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¹ Ch‘ien Han-Shu, ch. 96: Wei-Shu, ch. 102 where Ku-mê is a dependency of Ku-tse.

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² Hsin-ch‘iang, ch. 1, 3. According to this treatise the “small desert” is the modern Ch‘a-êrh-chih-ko, the Charchik of our maps. See Proceedings of R. G. S. Vol. XII, No. 2, p. 86.

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³ T‘ang-Shu, ch. 221. But the P‘o-lu-ka (婆樓迦) or Bāluka of the Ta-fang-têng-ta-chi-ching ch. 55 (No. 62) is evidently the Bāluka of our text.

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The word translated in the above passage by “cloth” is tieh in the B text and chan or “felt” in the C and D texts. The latter in the sense of “woollen cloth” is probably here, as in other passages, the correct reading, and it was the reading in the text of the Record used by the compiler of the T‘ang-Shu”. It was the fine woollen fabrics of this district which were held in esteem by the surrounding countries.

The Ice Mountain and Clear Lake

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The pilgrim goes on to relate that going north-west from Poh-lu-ka above 300 *li* passing along (or crossing) a stony desert he came to the *Ling-shan* (Ice Mountain). This was the north beginning of the Ts'ung-Ling and most of the streams from it flowed east. The gorges of the mountain accumulated snow and retained their coldness spring and summer, and although there was the periodical melting the freezing set in immediately; the path was dangerous, cold winds blew fiercely. There were many troubles from savage dragons who molested travellers: those going by this road could not wear red clothes or carry calabashes or make a loud noise; a slight provocation caused immediate disaster; fierce winds burst forth and there were flying sand and showers of stones, those who encountered these died, life could not be saved. A journey of over 400 *li* brought the pilgrim to a great clear lake above 1000 *li* in circuit, longer from east to west than from north to south. The lake had hills on all sides and was the meeting-place for various streams; its waters were of a deep azure hue and had a sharp brackish taste; it was a vast expanse with tumultuous billows. Fish and dragons lived in it pell-mell, and supernatural prodigies appeared in it occasionally. So travellers prayed for good luck, and although fish abounded no one would venture to catch them.

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From the Life we learn that Yuan-chuang was seven days in crossing the Ice Mountain, and from the Fang-chih we learn that he travelled in a western direction across it. The term which he uses for the Ice Mountain is *Ling-shan* (凌山), *ling* being the classical word for "ice". The modern Chinese name is *Ping-shan* with the same meaning, the Turkish designation being Musur-dabghan. According to the Life the mountain was high as the heavens and covered with eternal snow, and the Pass was extremely difficult and hazardous on account of its blocks of ice and masses of rock. Our pilgrim's *Ling-shan* regarded as a Pass has been identified with the present Muzart or Ice-Pass, and there is much in favour of this identification although there are also difficulties in the way of its acceptance. Thus our pilgrim says he went north-west from the Kum or Kharayurgun district, but the Muzart is due north of that. M. St. Martin, accordingly, has to change the direction of the pilgrim’s route and he tells us that “Hiouen-thsang, en quittant Po-lou-kia (Aksou), se porte au nord vers de grandes montagnes, qui forment, dit-il, l’angle (l’extrémité) septentrionale des monts Tsong-ling.”¹ Some Chinese writers on the subject also describe the great mountain range south of Ili as the north “corner” (or “beginning”) of the Ts‘ung-Ling. But the Musur-dabghan is said to belong to a different range, not to the Ts‘ung-Ling. The Muzart was and perhaps still is used by the traders passing between Kulja (Ili) and the districts of Kashgar, Yarkhand, and Khoten.² It is still very difficult and hazardous to cross the Muzart from the south side, aud the trading caravans go from Kashgar to Kulja by other Passes, and take this one only on the return journey. Moreover our pilgrim’s account of his journey over the Ling-shan Pass agrees well with the descriptions we have of the Muzart. But the Pass by which he crossed the great mountain may have been the Bedal, or one between that and the Muzart, or he may have gone north to the last and then in a westerly direction over the mountain to the “great clear lake”.

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¹ Julien III. p. 266.

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² Hsin-ch‘iang, chs. 1. 3. 4.

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A note to the text here tells us that this lake was the Hot Sea (熱海) and Salt Sea (鹹海) of others. It is the Issik-kül or Hot Lake of the Turkic-speaking people and the Temurtu-nor or Ferruginous Lake of the Mongols. It is explained that the water of the Lake is not actually hot, but that the Lake was called “Hot Sea” because although girt by snow-clad mountains its waters never froze. It was called Temurtu-nor on account of the abundant presence of flakes of iron brought down by the tributary streams.³

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³ See Reclus L’Asie-Russe p. 350: Procˢ. R. G. S. Vol. XVIII, p. 249: Hsin-ch‘iang, chs. 1. 4: T‘ung-chien-kang-mu, ch. 41: Sven Hedin’s Through Asia, Vol. II, p. 858. Description of Issik Kul in Schuyler’s Turkestan, Vol. II, p. 128.

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