On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6.s7: The Khan

On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6.s7

Language: English

The Khan

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Before leaving this district we must take notice of the short description which the Life gives of the pilgrim's meeting with the Khan of the Turks.

It relates that at the Su-she-water city, called here the *Su-she* city, the pilgrim met with the Turk Sh'eh-hu Khan then on a hunting expedition. His military equipment, we are told, was very grand. The Khan wore a green satin robe; his hair which was ten feet long was free: a band of white silk was wound round his forehead hanging down behind. The ministers of the presence, above 200 in number, all wearing embroidered robes and with plaited hair stood on his right and left. The rest of his military retinue clothed in fur, serge, and fine wool, the spears and standards and bows in order, and the riders of camels and horses stretched far away out of ken. The Khan was delighted to meet Yuan-chuang and invited him to stay in the encampment during his absence which would be only for two or three days, giving him into the charge of a Minister of the presence named Ha-mo-chih. After three days the Khan returned and Yuan-chuang was taken to his tent. The gold embroidery of this grand tent shone with a dazzling splendour; the ministers of the presence in attendance sat on mats in long rows on either side all dressed in magnificent brocade robes while the rest of the retinue on duty stood behind. You saw that although it was a case of a frontier ruler yet there was an air of distinction and elegance. The Khan came out from his tent about thirty paces to meet Yuan-chuang who after a courteous greeting entered the tent. As the Turks are fire-worshippers they do not use wooden seats, we are told, as wood has the principle of fire, and they use double mats as seats: but for the pilgrim the Khan provided an iron-framed bench with a mattress. After a short interval envoys from China and Kao-ch'ang were admitted and presented their despatches and credentials which the Khan perused. He was much elated and caused the envoys to be seated, then he ordered wine and music for himself and them and grape-syrup for the pilgrim. Hereupon all pledged each other and the filling and passing and draining of the winecups made a din and bustle, while the mingled music of various instruments rose loud: although the airs were the popular strains of foreigners yet they pleased the senses and exhilarated the mental faculties. After a little, piles of roasted beef and mutton were served for the others, and lawful food such a cakes, milk, candy, honey, and grapes for the pilgrim. After the entertainment grape-syrup was again served and the Khan invited Yuan-chuang to improve the occasion, whereupon the pilgrim expounded the doctrines of the "ten virtues", compassion for animal life, and the Paramitas and emancipation. The Khan raising his hands bowed and gladly believed and accepted the teaching. He detained the pilgrim some days and wanted to keep him permanently. "You need not go to the In-t'ê-ka country", he urged, "that land is very hot, its 10th month being the 5th of this place; judging from your appearance I fear you will not survive a visit; its people are contemptible being black and uncivilized". But the pilgrim replied that notwithstanding all this he wanted to seek the traces of the Buddha and learn his religious system. Then the Khan sought out among his retainers a young man who had spent some years in Ch'ang-an and could speak Chinese and other languages. This young man he made Mo-to-ta-kuan and appointed him to go with the pilgrim as far as Kapistet entrusting him also with despatches about the pilgrim. The Khan, moreover, gave Yuan-chuang a dark-red silk monk's suit and fifty webs (p'i 疋) of soft silk, and he and his ministers escorted the pilgrim above ten li on his way.

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The "Sheh-hu Khan" of this passage was probably a relative of that To-lu (咄陸) Khan of the West Turks who died in A. D. 635. His title is written Ye-hu (葉護), in other places also 灺護, but we are always told that the characters are to be read Sheh-hu. This term, which is of very frequent occurrence in historical works treating of the Turks, is generally interpreted as meaning ta-ch'ên (大臣) or "high official". We are told that it denoted the highest rank of Turkish officials under the Khan, and the person bearing this title was usually a son, brother, or other near relative of the Khan.¹ He was commonly the satrap or governor of a Province, but we read also of the Right and Left Shehhu at the Khan's court.² There is much probability in the supposition that the word represents the old Turkic Yabgu or Jabgu found in certain old inscriptions, and this word also denotes a viceroy or Governor.¹

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¹ Ma I. l. ch. 343. 344.

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² Ma I. l. ch. 347: T'angshu ch. 217. Here it is Uigour dignitaries who style themselves "Left and Right Sheh-hu". In the Life

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¹ Thomsen's Inscriptions de l'Orkhon, pˢ 102, 146, 192: Hirth's Nachworte &c. op. c. S. 22, 45.

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For the words "his military equipment was very grand" the Chinese is *Jung-ma-chên-shêng* (戎馬甚盛) which Julien translates—"Les chevaux de ces barbares étaient extrêmement nombreux." This rendering seems to be faulty and to spoil the description. *Jung-ma* is originally a "war-horse", and the term is used in this sense in classical literature. Then it came to denote the army and all the material equipment for a war, and it is also used to denote "a campaign," a "state of active warfare."² As the context here shews the pilgrim found reason to admire the army which attended the Khan and the army included soldiers mounted on elephants and horses along with standard-bearers and others. It seems better, accordingly, to translate the clause by some such words as "his military equipment was magnificent." In the Records we find the expression *ping-ma-ch'iang-shêng* (兵馬強盛) with a similar meaning.

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² Two examples may suffice. In the 46th chapter of the Tao-tê-ching we find the draught-horse of peace and the *Jung-ma* or "war-horse" used in an illustration of the effects of good government and of disorder respectively. The words of this passage *Jung-ma-shêng-yü-chiao* (戎馬生于郊), "the war steeds are born on the wild frontiers," often shortened to *Jung-ma-tsai-chiao* are often used to denote the existence of a state of border warfare. Then "in the midst of war" is expressed by 在戎馬之間.

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As to the Khan's hair the D text makes it to have

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also we have the Governor of Tokhara, a grandson of the "Sheh-hu Khan" assuming the title of "Sheh-hu" (Life *ch.* 5: Julien I. p. 268). The pilgrim seems to have made a distinction between the "Sheh-hu Khan" or Governor of several Provinces and the "Sheh-hu", the Governor of one Province under the former. This distinction, however, is not strictly observed by him and it seems to be unknown to others.

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been above ten feet long,¹ but the C text, which Julien seems to have had, was taken by him to mean that it was the silk band which was ten feet long. This reading, however, is evidently wrong, the word *i* (以), as the parallel clause shews, being an improper interpolation.

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¹ Cf. Ogilby's Persia p. 81.

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The term here rendered “Ministers of the presence” is *ta-kuan* (達官) for which Julien gives “officiers” and “officiers de haut rang,” but neither of these is so good as his discarded rendering “officiers introducteurs.” In a Chinese-Sanskrit Vocabulary this word is given as the equivalent of the Sanskrit word *Sammata* in the sense of “held in esteem” or “honoured.” It is also given as the rendering of the Sanskrit *Amantrayitā* and of the Turkish equivalent *Tasrifatyi*. But the word, which is also written *Ta-kan* (達干) is evidently, as has been conjectured, the Turkish word Tarkhan or Darghan. The *Ta-kuan* or Tarkhan were not necessarily officials of high degree, but they were men whom the Khan delighted to honour, who attended him on state occasions and introduced those summoned or invited to his presence. They had the right of entry to the Khan’s presence, and they had also the privilege of sitting in his presence at an audience, banquet, or other state function.² When the pilgrim is leaving, the Khan, as we have seen, appoints a young retainer to be *Mo-to* (摩咄)-*ta-kuan* and accompany the pilgrim to Kapis. This word *Moto*, which we sometimes find used as if it were a personal name, is perhaps for the Turkish word *Mutarjinn* which means “an interpreter”.

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² De Courteille Dict. Turk. or e. p. 318: Hirth, op. c. p. 55: Thomsen op. c. ps. 59, 185: Schlegel, Die Chin. Ins. ad. d. Uigur Denkmal, S. 9 et al.

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The words here rendered “spears and standards” are *sho-tu* (槊纛), but it seems to be possible that the writer used them in the sense of “raised standard”. The word *tu* is the Turkish *tūgh*, a standard formed by a long pole surmounted by a receptacle containing a yak’s tail. This standard was one of the insignia of relatives of the Khan and distinguished military officers.

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The author of the Life tells us, we have seen, that the Khan had a fine bearing and presence "although he was a frontier ruler." In the original the words for "frontier ruler" are K'ung-lü-chih-chün (穹廬之君) which Julien translates—"un prince barbare, abrité sous une tente de feutre", which seems to be a double translation. K'ung-lü is a well-known literary term for Pien-ti or "border land" as contrasted with Shên-chou or China. But it is also used to denote "a felt tent," and then "an encampment," "camp-life."¹ As K'ung means "vast" or "lofty" and lü means a "hut" or "cottage" we may with some probability regard the compound in the sense of a "felt tent" as a foreign word. We find it also written Kung-lü (穹廬) and these two terms may perhaps represent the Turkish word Külube which means a "tent of felt." But in phrases like that of our text the term should perhaps be regarded as having the signification of "outlying," that is, "barbarous territory."

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¹ Ku-shih-yuan (古詩原) ch. 6 and ch. 2: Ch'ien Han-shu ch. 96. Jih-chih-lu (日知錄) ch. 29. With the description of the Khan given in our text we may compare Master A. Jenkinson's account of Solyman the Great Turke in Hakluyt's Principall Voyages, &c. p. 81 (1st ed.).

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We come next to the words here loosely rendered by "the mingled music of various instruments." These are K'in-mei-tou (or tu)-li (懃昧兜(或都)離) which Julien renders—"la musique des barbares du midi et du nord, de l'orient et de l'occident," but this is evidently not correct. We know that the old term for the music of the north barbarians was k'in (懃), for that of the East barbarians mei (昧 or 昧), for that of the southern barbarians jen (任), and for that of the west barbarians chu-li (侏 or 栒離).² It will be seen that our passage has not the word jen, and that its characters are not those of the rest of the description here quoted. A glossary to the passage tells us that *k'in-mei* is the name of a barbarian music, and our *tu-li* is the recognized transcription of the Sanskrit word *turyā* meaning “music.” This last word had been known to the Chinese for some centuries before Yuan-chuang’s time. It is possible the *k'in*, *mei*, and *tu-li* of our passage may be the *k'in*, *mei*, and *chu-li* of other books and that the words are used here in a peculiar manner. Our four characters may thus mean simply “the music of the foreign instruments” or something similar.

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² Ma T. l. ch. 148: Kanghsi Dict. s. v. 懃.

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It will be noticed that among the “pure food” of which the pilgrim partakes at the Khan’s banquet was a preparation of milk. In taking this he was not acting in strict accordance with Mahāyānist discipline, and I-ching states positively that milk was not a lawful article of food to a bhikshu.¹

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¹ Nan-hai-ch'i-kuei, *ch.* 1.

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When the feast was over the pilgrim, at the Khan’s request, as we have seen, gave him an exposition of some of the leading features of Buddhism. The first in the list of subjects is the *shih-shan* (十善) or “Ten Virtues” that is, the ten excellent precepts which the Mahāyānist undertook to observe. These were not to kill, not to steal, not to commit impurity, not to be false in language, not to be double-tongued, not to use bad language, not to use fine glosing speech, not to covet, not to be angry, not to take heretical views.²

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² Fa-kie-tzŭ-ti-chu-mên, *ch.* 1 (No. 1572).

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The narrative in the Life with which we are now concerned gives us a very interesting picture of that strange people called by the Chinese *Tu-küe*, Turks. This people had a remarkable but short career the main incidents of which are well known. In the 5th century of our era the Turks were slaves in the iron mines and forges of another tribe, the *Juan-juan* or *Niu-yen*, on the south of the Gold mountain near the modern Barkul. They rebelled against their masters and were successful. Their dash and prowess soon made them a power, and they harried the surrounding regions to the borders of China. Then we find a king in China sending an envoy to them in A. D. 545 and this is the first appearance of the Turks in Chinese history.¹ A few (24) years afterwards envoys from the rulers of Persia and the Roman Empire arrived at the seat of government of these Turks.² About this time also the Wei king in China received and entertained magnificently a Turkish ambassador with a large suite at Ch'ang-an-foo and gave a princess to the Khan in marriage. The splitting up of the great Turkish host occurred a few years afterwards, about the end of the sixth century, and the term "West Turks" began to be used from that time. The power of the Turks grew rapidly until it extended from Liao-tung to the West (Caspian) Sea, but within little more than two centuries it passed away.

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¹ T'ung-chien-kang-mu, ch. 32, p. 62.

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² Gibbon. Decline and Fall, ch. xlii.

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The account of the Khan and his doings here reminds one of descriptions of Persian chiefs in other books, and this Khan seems to be in some respects rather Persian than Turkish. We see him, for example, like a satrap, a Persian "Prefectus Provinciæ," practising his soldiers in hunting; and the chase is with him apparently a military exercise. The "Thousand Springs" was a Paradeisos with plenty of water, thickly grown with trees and full of wild animals. The pretty story in the Records about the deer in this place going about free and secure, adorned with bells and rings, shews us that the Khan did not hunt merely for the game to be taken. But the story may be a misinterpretation of an old Persian custom to which the Khan adhered. Of this custom we find mention by Ogilby in the following passage—"In the beginning of the month Ramadhan, which is our Lent, the king goes to Abicurong in the mountains to take the fresh air, and to hunt, in which sport he spends several days, attended by some thousands of people. At the ears of those beasts which the king takes alive he hangs golden plates, on which are engraven certain marks, and then setting them at liberty again, often he retakes them; nay some have been taken who have had the marks of king Thamas, Ismail Sefi, and other ancient princes.” ¹

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¹ Ogilby's Persia p. 79.

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The Life represents the West Turks as fire-worshippers and as abstaining from the use of wooden seats on account of their reverence for the element of fire inherent in wood. But here there is evidently a mistake. The Persians were fire-worshippers, but we read of the Turks as worshipping the “blue heaven,” their ancestors, and other objects, and as miners and blacksmiths they cannot have been fire-worshippers. But it is acknowledged that some at least of the Turks, perhaps under Persian influence, became worshippers of fire: and a Turkish tribe, the Karakirghiz, although nominally Mahometan still adheres to rites of the old worship.² The Turks at the Su-she city sat cross-legged on mats or cushions because it was their custom. Out of consideration for the Chinese guest the Khan ordered a bench for him such as was used by Buddhist monks. In like manner the king of Hyrcan in 1566 shewed courtesy to Mr A. Jenkinson when the latter was presented to him. The king “kept his court at that time in the high mountains in tents”; he was “richly apparelled with long garments of silke and cloth of golde imbrodered with pearls and stone.” Mr Jenkinson proceeds—“Thus the king with his nobilitie sitting in his pavilion with his legs acrosse, and perceiving that it was painefull for me so to sit, his highnesse caused a stoole to be brought in and did will me to sit thereupon after my fashion.” ³

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² Schuyler's Turkistan Vol. II. p. 137.

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³ Hakluyt op. c. p. 367.

Cites (1)

Ātappakaraṇīyasutta — Pāli