DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36954#0211
The question of Gu Wei-long's travel route merits further study.
Before resolving this question, I shall give a brief description of
Mi-mi's geography.
Mi-mi was almost certainly the Mi Country ( Jfk fgj) of the later
Sui and Tang periods, as has been discussed above. Mi Country
was one of the Nine Zhao-wu Countries (sg ^4^!^}) and had
frequent contacts with China. The people from this country
living in China all had the surname of Mi ( A-). There are many
famous people who have such a surname in Chinese tradition.
Scholars who specialize in the early history of Sino-foreign rela-
tions have a relatively clear conception of the place where this
country should lie: it was not far to the south-east of Kand Coun-
try ( ' today's Samarkand). Mi-mi was called "Maymurgh"
in classical Arabic tradition. Xuan Zhuang's ( ^ %_) transliter-
ation of it as Mi-mo-he (^- seems to be slightly more
precise. The alternative transliteration of "Mi-mi" ( ^ ^ ) or
"Mi-mo" 3^) occurs because of the conventional omission of
suffix consonants and it is not incorrect. As for "Mi" ( 3jC), it is
only the transliteration of its first syllable, convenient in being a
common Chinese surname. According to the Arabic geographers
of ancient times, Maymurgh was the name of a region south-east
of Samarkand: where the soil was fertile, the forests were dense,
and where villages and towns were scattered here and there (LE
STRANGE 1966: 465; MA Xiao-he, forthcoming). Sui Shu, Xi-
yu Zhuan ( ^ $* . ): "Mi Country is where the
ancient Kang-ju ^ ) Country was situated and its capital is
by the western bank of the Na-mi River 3°f). There is no
king in the country. The head of the city is a branch of the king
of Kang Country and his surname is Zhao-wu i^), his
personal name Bi-zhuo ( ^ ^). The area of its capital is two
square /z. There are several hundreds of persons able to bear arms.
To the north-west, it is a distance of 100/?' to Kang Country,
500 /z to Su-dui-sha-na ( ^ , i-e. Sutrishna) Country in
the east, 200 /z to Shi ( i.e. Kesh) Country in the south-west,
and 6.400 /z to Gua ( %y_) State in the east." Under the heading
of "Mi Country" in Xin Tang Shu, Xiyu Zhuan ( yj? .
^ ^ ), one reads: "(The country) is distant by 100/z to
Kang Country in the north. The seat of its government is at Bo-
xi-de ( ^- ) city."
149
Before resolving this question, I shall give a brief description of
Mi-mi's geography.
Mi-mi was almost certainly the Mi Country ( Jfk fgj) of the later
Sui and Tang periods, as has been discussed above. Mi Country
was one of the Nine Zhao-wu Countries (sg ^4^!^}) and had
frequent contacts with China. The people from this country
living in China all had the surname of Mi ( A-). There are many
famous people who have such a surname in Chinese tradition.
Scholars who specialize in the early history of Sino-foreign rela-
tions have a relatively clear conception of the place where this
country should lie: it was not far to the south-east of Kand Coun-
try ( ' today's Samarkand). Mi-mi was called "Maymurgh"
in classical Arabic tradition. Xuan Zhuang's ( ^ %_) transliter-
ation of it as Mi-mo-he (^- seems to be slightly more
precise. The alternative transliteration of "Mi-mi" ( ^ ^ ) or
"Mi-mo" 3^) occurs because of the conventional omission of
suffix consonants and it is not incorrect. As for "Mi" ( 3jC), it is
only the transliteration of its first syllable, convenient in being a
common Chinese surname. According to the Arabic geographers
of ancient times, Maymurgh was the name of a region south-east
of Samarkand: where the soil was fertile, the forests were dense,
and where villages and towns were scattered here and there (LE
STRANGE 1966: 465; MA Xiao-he, forthcoming). Sui Shu, Xi-
yu Zhuan ( ^ $* . ): "Mi Country is where the
ancient Kang-ju ^ ) Country was situated and its capital is
by the western bank of the Na-mi River 3°f). There is no
king in the country. The head of the city is a branch of the king
of Kang Country and his surname is Zhao-wu i^), his
personal name Bi-zhuo ( ^ ^). The area of its capital is two
square /z. There are several hundreds of persons able to bear arms.
To the north-west, it is a distance of 100/?' to Kang Country,
500 /z to Su-dui-sha-na ( ^ , i-e. Sutrishna) Country in
the east, 200 /z to Shi ( i.e. Kesh) Country in the south-west,
and 6.400 /z to Gua ( %y_) State in the east." Under the heading
of "Mi Country" in Xin Tang Shu, Xiyu Zhuan ( yj? .
^ ^ ), one reads: "(The country) is distant by 100/z to
Kang Country in the north. The seat of its government is at Bo-
xi-de ( ^- ) city."
149