On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c8.s13.4

v1.c8.s13.4

In this passage the words for "every one attends to his patrimony" are in the original chü-t'ien-k'ou-fên (俱田口分), and Julien translates "tous cultivent la terre pour se nourrir". This is not a correct rendering of the words and is at variance with what follows about the traders. The k'ou-fên in China was originally the farm of 100 mou given out of government lands to a married couple to maintain the family and keep up the ancestral worship. This farm was called k'ou-fên-shih-ye-chih-t'ien (口分世業之田) or "the arable land which is hereditary property for the maintenance of the family". Then t'ien (田) which means "to cultivate", means also "to administer" or "manage", and t'ien-k'ou-fên is "to look after the family property", k'ou-fên being used in a general sense.