Chau Ju-Kua - University of Oregon Libraries

,:106 BAOnDAD. l,20
tine to the current tradition of these Christians, that the Apostle Thomas planted the seeds of
the Gospel among them, so much may be considered established beyond contradiction, that
they existed in Travancor as a flourishing people, connected with the Syrian church, from
the first centuries of the Christian Era» (op. cit., II, 234); atheir liturgy is that which was formerly
road in the churches of the Patriarch of Antioch, and their language is the Syriac» (237); «they 5
hold in the highest respect theii; Patriarch of Antioch, or Mosul, and make mention of him in
their prayer* (239). These relations between Chau Ju-kua's India and his Ta-ts'in were first
pointed out by Hirth, aChao Ju-kua's Ethnography)), in J. E. A. S., 1890,496—499. ThougJi
the Antiochian patriarch is referred to in these records, the main fact to us is the position
of the one of Baghdad as the immediate chief of the Indian Christians. It seems, therefore, that 10
Ch6u K'il-feii's Ta-ts'in is not the ancient Ta-ts'in as far as its territory is concerned, and that
Antioch or An-tu, though referred to by Chau Ju-kua as its capital on the groijnd of former
statements, cannot be the place «where the foreign merchants of the Ta-shi assemble ». This
remark is much more likely to apply to Baghdad, in 1178 A. D. the seat of the Nestorian
patriarch. Here indeed was athe point of junction where all the great trade-routes of .Western 15
Asia united)) (von Kremer, Culturgesch. des Orients, 11,47), which in those days could not quite
so well be said of Antioch. See also Hirth, The Mystery of Fu-lin, in J. A. 0. S., XXX, 1—31.
, 3) «He wears a turban of silk with gold embroidered characters)). According to Assemani
III B, 389) the Nestorian patriarchs did not wear a mitre like other church dignitaries of this
rank, but an embroidered turban, called birima («Biruna, hoc est, Cidaris, phrygio opere ornata, 20
qua caput tegitur, instar Amictuso). It appears, however, that scholars disagree as to the meaning
of this word Mruna, which according to some must have been a kind of burnoose rather than a
turban, if not even a gown of considerable length. See infra, p. 107.
4) The first four words (in Chinese ^W WJ) may also be rendered athere is a wall
(around the city)i). This reference to the use of plaster is not original with Ch6u K'u-fei, he found 25
it in the Kiu T'ang-shu, 198 (see Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, 53). The reference to the
use of crystal is taken from H6u Han-shu, 118. (See Hirth, op. cit., 40, 44, 51). On the 'Seven
gates', cf. Le Strange, Eastern Caliphate, 30, 31, his description of Baghdad.
5) Quotation from H6u Han-shu, 118. See Hirth, op. cit., 40, 44, 50, 70, 78.
0) This paragraph is substantially a quotation from Wei-lio, 30, and Hou Han-shu, 118. 30
See Hirth, op. cit., 70 and 40, 55, 58. The custom of wearing short hair is referred to in the
oldest Ta-ts'in texts. aDiiferent from the custom both of the Greeks and the Egyptians, that of
the Hebrews was to wear their hair generally short, and to check its growth by the application
of scissors onlyn. Kitto, Cyclopsedia of Biblical Literature, s. v., 'Hair'.
7) Ch6u K'u-fei and our author make frequent use of Buddhist terms when speaking of 35
other religions. See supra, p. 73, note 1, p. 93, et passim.
BenjaminofTudela, who visited Baghdad in the middle of the twelfth century, says of the
Caliph: aBut in that Palace of the mightie king, there are buildings of an admirable greatnesse,
the Pillars whereof are of silver and gold, and the inner parts of the houses are over-laide
with these metals, and beautified with all kind of Precious stones and Pearles: out of the which 40
Palace he goeth forth once only in the yeere, on that festival day or Easter, which they call
llamadan. And on that day, great multitudes of men from divers and remote Countries, flocke
together to see his face. And he is carried upon a Mule, attired in princely garments, intermingled
with gold and silver, having his head adorned with a Myter, shining with stones of incomparable
price: but he weareth a blacke Handkerchiefe upon the Myter, ... But he commeth forth of his 45
Palace to the great house (as they call it) of Prayer, built in the gate Bosra: for that is a,ccounted
their greatest home of Prayer. ... All that whole yeere after he is conteyned within the Palace,
never to goe forth to any other place ». And of the chief of the small Jewish community dwelling
in Baghdad, the aChief of the Captivity», as he was called, he says: «But when he commeth forth
to visit the Great king, he is guarded with a great number of Horse-men, Jewes and gentiles 50
accompanying him, a Cryer going before him. ... 3ut he is carried upon an Horse cloathed with
silken and embroydered garments, he adometh his head with a Miter, upon the Miter he weareth
a white Shash, and upon the Shash a Chainea. Purchas, His Pilgrimes, VIII, 559—562. Conf.