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Art. XI.—On two Stones with Chinese Inscriptions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
In the last number (vol. v. parts ii.–iv.) of the Zapiski of the Oriental Section of the Russian Archæological Society (St. Petersburg, 1891), we find an account of two stones inscribed with Chinese characters, discovered on the Upper Orkhon, near the ruins of Kara Balgassun, among a quantity of other remains, by M. Yadrintsef, during his expedition last summer in North-eastern Mongolia, and forwarded by him to St. Petersburg. Here they were carefully examined by M. E. Koch, who reports that the stones are unfortunately only fragments of a much larger monument, and that it is impossible to say whether they both formed part of the same though they were found in close juxtaposition and their contents would apparently support such a conjecture. Most of the characters are easily legible, being very similar in style to those in present use in China, but owing to the fact of the stones being of grey granite, much weatherworn in places, and the age of the inscriptions (upwards of one thousand years old), there are difficulties in deciphering them. They refer to the period of the T'ang dynasty, or, to be more precise, to the time when the Uighurs were dominant in Northern Mongolia; The characters differ in some instances from those in general use and a few are quite illegible. Where these occur dots are inserted in the text. All the lines want both beginning and end.
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- Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1891
References
page 452 note l Cf. Sin T'ang shu (New History of the T'ang Dynasty), Geographical summary. [Chang gan “was probably the most celebrated city in Chinese history and the capital of several of the most potent dynasties.” But it is chiefly remarkable as the site of the discovery of the stone Christian monument dating from the eighth century, cf. Yule's Marco Polo, second edition, vol. ii. p. 21.—M.]
page 453 note 1 Or Hakas, known in the West as ‘Kazaks.’ Howorth identifies them with the Oghuz Turks. (Geogr. Mag., vol. ii. p. 150.) The Hakas inhabited that part of Asia now known as the government of Tomsk and the southern limits of the government of Yeniseisk. Cf. Hyacinthe, , Svédeniya o narodakh obitavshikh v Srednei Azii, part i. p. 443, note.— MGoogle Scholar.
page 453 note 2 A Hunnish tribe who derived their descent from a wolf. They founded the dynasty of Tugiu, known to the Mongols as Dủlga, whose principal tribe Ashina was settled at the foot of the Altai mountains. When the Huns were completely subjugated by the Chinese in a.d. 92, in the neighbourhood of Tarbagatai, these Dulgasses undertook to supply the Chinese court with iron. Hence their legendary origin from the mountains. Cf. Hyacinthe, Père, op. cit. part i. pp. 256–266.—MGoogle Scholar.
page 453 note 3 Cf. Howorth's, History of the Mongols, part i. p. 21Google Scholar.
page 455 note l The text of this manifesto is to be found in the collection of elegant extracts of the T'aug dynasty, Tsiuan Tang Yen.