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6
EAST ASIA.
" Snowy Mountains," where travellers are exposed to the attacks of the " dragons,"
those mystic animals which may possibly symbolize nothing more than the sufferings
entailed by snow and ice. Like the other Buddhist pilgrims of this epoch, H'wen-
Tsmg skirted the Tibetan plateaux, where the Buddhist religion had only just been
introduced, and reached India through the Oxus valley and Afghanistan. But
some twenty years after his return, in G67 or 668, Chinese armies had already
traversed Tibet and Nepal, thus penetrating directly into India, where they captured
over six hundred towns. At this time the Chinese Empire comprised, with
the tributary states, not only the whole depression of Eastern Asia, but also all the
C oFG '
Fig.
1. ITINERARY OF II'wEN-TsASG.
Scale 1 : 30,000,000.
70 90'
CD
to 10,000 Feet. 10,000 to 1G.500 Feet. 16,500 Feet and upwards.
_^-^^__ COO Miles.
outer slopes of the highlands and plateaux surrounding it as far as the Caspian.
It was also during this period that the Nestdrian missionaries introduced Chris-
tianity into the empire.
The progress of Islam in the west of Asia and along the shores of the Medi-
terranean necessarily isolated China, and long rendered all communication with
Europe impossible. But in the northern regions of the Mongolian steppes warlike
tribes were already preparing for conquest, and thanks to their triumphant march
westwards to the Dnieper, they opened up fresh routes for explorers across the whole
of the Old World. In order to protect themsohes from these northern children of