DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36954#0209
mo-he" (^- ^ ^), together with a note that "it is also called
the state of Mi by the Tang people" in Xuan Zhuang's ( A
Da Tang Xiyu Ji ( A/% ^ ^ In Jiu Tang Shu, ch. 196,
XirongZhuan( ^ 7# ), there is no special item
for "the state of Mi", but it does occur under the headline of
"the state of Kang" (^_). Xin Tang Shu, ch.221B, Xiyu Zhuan
( ^j* . ^7 ^ ) reads, "Mi is also called Mi-mo
( or Mi-mo-he." It seems, therefore, that the translitera-
tion of the state's name as "Mi-mi" had been forgotten by the
time of the Sui Dynasty onwards.
So I conclude that the name "Mi-mi" was only used during the
North Wei Dynasty, and it is most likely that the "Da Wei" (the
Great Wei) in the inscription near the Hunza River referred to the
North Wei.
From the extant sources we know that the envoy from the state
of Mi-mi came to China only once during the North Wei Dynasty,
in the initial year of Zheng-ping. Therefore, it should be before,
or not long after, this year that the Envoy of the North Wei,
Gu Wei-long, went to Mi-mi. There are two possibilities here.
Firstly, the Wei Dynasty may have sent Gu Wei-long initially to
Mi-mi, and in return, Mi-mi dispatched envoy(s) following Gu to
Wei and presented a dromedary. Such things were common in
ancient times. If so,-the dispatch of Gu Wei-long to Mi-mi should
be dated at least one or two years earlier than the inaugural year
of Zheng-ping, because it would take a year or so to travel there
and back. We know that Mi-mi's envoy arrived at Dai in the first
month of the initial year of Zheng-ping (451 A.D.), thus Gu
Wei-long's mission to Mi-mi should not be dated later than the
tenth year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun ( ; 449 A.D.). In Wei
shu, ch.4B Shi-zu ji, we see that in the third month of the fifth
year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun (444 A.D.) "(Wei Dynasty) dispatched
envoys to the Western Regions four times." There is no record
about sending envoys to the Western Regions in the sources
during the period from the third month of the fifth year to the
tenth year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun. So it is very probable that Gu
Wei-long belonged to those envoys dispatched in 444 A. D. Six
years, from the fifth year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun to the initial year
of Zhengping, is not so long for envoys to go to and fro between
Dai and Mi-mi: especially if we think of the long distance they
147
the state of Mi by the Tang people" in Xuan Zhuang's ( A
Da Tang Xiyu Ji ( A/% ^ ^ In Jiu Tang Shu, ch. 196,
XirongZhuan( ^ 7# ), there is no special item
for "the state of Mi", but it does occur under the headline of
"the state of Kang" (^_). Xin Tang Shu, ch.221B, Xiyu Zhuan
( ^j* . ^7 ^ ) reads, "Mi is also called Mi-mo
( or Mi-mo-he." It seems, therefore, that the translitera-
tion of the state's name as "Mi-mi" had been forgotten by the
time of the Sui Dynasty onwards.
So I conclude that the name "Mi-mi" was only used during the
North Wei Dynasty, and it is most likely that the "Da Wei" (the
Great Wei) in the inscription near the Hunza River referred to the
North Wei.
From the extant sources we know that the envoy from the state
of Mi-mi came to China only once during the North Wei Dynasty,
in the initial year of Zheng-ping. Therefore, it should be before,
or not long after, this year that the Envoy of the North Wei,
Gu Wei-long, went to Mi-mi. There are two possibilities here.
Firstly, the Wei Dynasty may have sent Gu Wei-long initially to
Mi-mi, and in return, Mi-mi dispatched envoy(s) following Gu to
Wei and presented a dromedary. Such things were common in
ancient times. If so,-the dispatch of Gu Wei-long to Mi-mi should
be dated at least one or two years earlier than the inaugural year
of Zheng-ping, because it would take a year or so to travel there
and back. We know that Mi-mi's envoy arrived at Dai in the first
month of the initial year of Zheng-ping (451 A.D.), thus Gu
Wei-long's mission to Mi-mi should not be dated later than the
tenth year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun ( ; 449 A.D.). In Wei
shu, ch.4B Shi-zu ji, we see that in the third month of the fifth
year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun (444 A.D.) "(Wei Dynasty) dispatched
envoys to the Western Regions four times." There is no record
about sending envoys to the Western Regions in the sources
during the period from the third month of the fifth year to the
tenth year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun. So it is very probable that Gu
Wei-long belonged to those envoys dispatched in 444 A. D. Six
years, from the fifth year of Tai-ping-zhen-jun to the initial year
of Zhengping, is not so long for envoys to go to and fro between
Dai and Mi-mi: especially if we think of the long distance they
147