張騫 Zhang Qian. The Secret Envoy of Han Emperor Wu in Search of the Arsi (Yuezhi) and the Fall of the Græco-Bactrian Kingdom. (Annotated Compilation of Eastern and Western Sources)

southwards till they had overrun in succession Eastern Baktriana, the basin of the Kôphês,
the basin of the Etymander with Arakhôsia, and finally the valley of the Indus and Syras-
into several tribes, whereof the most pow-
trênê. This great horde of the Yetha was divided erful was that called in the Chinese annals Kwei-shwang. It acquired the supremacy over
the other tribes, and gave its name to the kingdom of the Kushâns ... These Kushâns of the
Panjâb and the Indus are no others than the
Indo-Skythians of the Greeks. In the ›Râjatara„gi‡î‹
they are called Sâka and Turushka ( Turks) ...
This is one example of how the early translations of Shiji 123 — at that time availthe
desk of an English scholar: the broad
able in French and Russian only — reached
outline is there, but the details are in shambles. The geography in the Chinese narra-
This is strange because the Chinese his-
tive is better understood than the chronology.
torians are extremely careful and efficient
in their methods of dating important facts
and events. But it is there all given more si nico — that is the greatest barrier. In this
short exposé the Eastern Ruzhi 月 氏 merge with the Central Asian Sakas. In this way
the 月 氏 become the conquerors of Sakastana (Arachosia) and later the Indo-Scythians
of the Panjab. It took time to correct these early confused misconceptions.
MCCRINDLE, I like to note here, has one rare observation to offer: he states that the
Ruzhi 月 氏 conquered, not Bactria, but Eastern Bactriana — or Ta-hia/Daxia 大 夏 .
SPECHT’s equation Ta-hia = Bactriana is of course a great improvement over RÉMU-
SAT’s first guess Ta-hia = Massagètes or “Grands Gètes” (Goths). Short two years later
MCCRINDLE comes close to hitting upon a perfect Ta-hia = Eastern Bactriana — if only
he had been able to read Zhang Qian’s report in the Shiji himself. Instead, from now
on Ta-hia = Bactria will be repeated by just about every author. However, in order to
understand the complex story of the Ta-hia (Daxia 大 夏 ) or Tochari properly, the
equation with Bactria is not good enough: indeed it is still misleading. It suggests that
the Ruzhi 月 氏 conquered the whole of Bactria which — as this study will show —
they were unable to do for a long time (see below, p. 56). Ta-hia 大 夏 cannot be the
Chinese transcription of the name Bactria. Ta-hia ( Daxia), the Chinese Standard Histous,
was later called Tu-ho-lo (Tuhuoluo) 吐 火 羅 =
ries (e.g. the New Tangshu) tell
Tocharistan.
NEUMANN, 1837: 181, translated:
Tu ho lo … vor Al ters war dies das Land der Ta hia —
in the Chinese original text very clearly given as:
吐 火 羅 … 古 大 夏 地 or: Tu-ho-lo ... (is) the country of the old Ta-hia.
Tu-ho-lo, it was soon universally recognized, is the Chinese name for To-cha-ra. It
is not Bactria, but only the easternmost part of it, the country later called Toxårestån
(and also Taxårestån) by Arab authors. That this very important clarification has constantly
been overlooked has greatly helped to confuse the issue. But what is of interest
for us here, is indeed Specht’s statement that Zhang Qian arrived at the Oxus River in
the year 126. Coming from a Sinologist, this is disappointing. It is unfounded and not
much more than a guess.
In another posthumously published work, the Non-sinologist VON G UTSCHMID, 1888:
59– 62, explains his own understanding of the Chinese sources:
Es stünde schlimm um unser Wissen von dem Untergange jenes in ferne Lande versprengten
Bruchtheils des griechischen Volkes, wenn nicht die Politik der chinesischen Regierung
ein sehr lebhaftes Interesse an den Bewegungen der innerasiatischen Nomaden
genommen hätte: diesem Interesse verdanken wir den Bericht eines chinesischen Agenten
… Nach diesen Quellen wohnten die Yue-tshi, ein den Tibetanern verwandtes Nomadenvolk,
ehedem zwischen Tun-hwang (d.h. Sha-tscheu) und dem Ki-lien-shan und wurden
hier, wie alle ihre Nachbarvölker, 177 von dem türkischen Volke der Hiung-nu unterjocht.
Eine Erneuerung des Kampfes zwischen 167–161 bekam ihnen übel: Lao-shang, der
Shen-yu oder Gross-chan der Hiung-nu, erschlug ihren König Tshang-lun [the name of this
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