After Zhang Qian visited present-day northern Afghanistan, he called this place "Great Xia", in order to attract the attention of the upper echelons of the Western Han Dynasty and serve the westward pioneering cause of Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty. But Zhang Qian also stressed that the ancient inhabitants of northern Afghanistan "all had deep eyes and beards." This is not the same as the "Great Xia" in North China in the pre-Qin period. Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty abandoned Zhang Qian's translation and translated it as "Seeing the Goods", which became a general knowledge in the history books of the Tang Dynasty. In today's research, it is inappropriate to equate the concepts of "Great Xia" in the Pre-Qin and Qin Dynasties Chinese historical texts with the concepts of "Daha" and "Tochari" (Tochari) in the Indo-European language family.
Afghanistan before the 2nd century BC, known in Western history as Bactria, was one of the colonies established in Central Asia after Alexander's Crusade, in Greek. In the middle of the 2nd century BC, nomads on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea moved south into Bactria. Among the nomadic people who went south, according to the Greek geographer Strapo in his geographical writings, the main one called itself the Tochari. [1] Since then, this land has been given the name "Tocharian". Shortly after this incident, the Ōtsuki clan entered the area. Zhang Qianxi, into Dawan (present-day Fergana Basin, Uzbekistan), and then into Kangju, Ōtsuki, and Bactria. Bactria ( Zhang Qian stressed that its territory was " south of the Amu Darya River ( Amu Darya River – introducer ) more than 2,000 miles southwest of Dawan " , from which we can clearly conclude that the geographical location of what Zhang Qian called " Bactria was just north of present-day Afghanistan.
Zhang Qian, on the orders of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, overcame the inexhaustible difficulties, and in the past 13 years, he had first-hand observation and understanding of the two river basins in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and made pioneering contributions. After returning to Chang'an, he would "speak for the Son of Heaven" from his investigation. One of the points of particular concern is that in the northern region of Afghanistan where Bactria, or Tocharo, is located, Zhang Qian uses the name "Bactria". Translating this land as "Bactria" seems to be the result of Zhang Qian's careful thinking. The translation of "Bactria" to refer to this area did have a huge and far-reaching impact on the Han Wudi Emperor Liu Che, who was very unfamiliar with Central Asia, and the upper political clique of the Western Han Dynasty. When the Chronology of the Princes Since the Jianyuan Dynasty is recorded in the Chronicle of The Chronicle of the Princes since jianyuan, zhang Qian's meritorious deeds of chiseling the air and preparing for hardships are not mentioned, and the words "Dawan, Dayueshi, Wusun, Kangju, etc.", emphasizing only the five words of his "making the great xia of the extinct territory"[4]; the "Book of Han shu chuanxia" deals with Zhang Qian's historical contribution, and the word is also "Bowang Staff Festival, Reaping The Great Xia"[5]. Focus, focus, emphasis, without exception, are all "big summer"! This fully shows that the translation of "Bactria", which is not bad at all, has become the most core summary of the dedication of the political and cultural circles of the Western Han Dynasty to Zhang Qianxi.
This is a historical and cultural phenomenon that deserves in-depth analysis.
The pronunciation of "Tochari" is closely the same as that of the old Chinese "dat-hea". Therefore, the transliteration of "Tocharo" into "Great Xia" is naturally not too much of a suffocation from a phonetic point of view; however, "Great Xia" is not a new word composed of the words "Great" and "Xia" after all, and it is already an ancient family, ancient country, and ancient land title with a specific concept of time and space in the ancient history of the Chinese nation, in the pre-Qin or even Qin Dynasty period. Zhang Qian's translation of "Tocharo" on the land of Afghanistan with such a special word will never be arbitrary and creative, but can certainly be given a specific pursuit and a specific meaning. This meaning and pursuit is a historical and cultural phenomenon that we should explore and analyze today.
Try to look at the concept of "Great Xia" in the pre-Qin and Qin dynasties: "Zuo Chuan Zhao's First Year" says "Moving The Truth to Sink in Bactria"[6]; "Guan Zi Feng Zen Chapter" Huan Gong "Western Expedition to Bactria, Wading in Quicksand"[7]; "Lü Shi Chunqiu Ben Wei Chapter" "The Beauty of Harmony... The Salt of Bactria "[8]; the Shi Ji Of Qin Shi Huang Benji "Yu Chiseled The Dragon Gate, Through daxia"[9]; and the "Yao Yue Tai Ming" composed by the First Emperor in the 28th year (219 BC) stated that "within the Liuhe, the land of the emperor." Wading through quicksand in the west, the north in the south, the East China Sea in the east, and the Bactria in the north. There are people who are not subjects"[10]; under the "Longxi County" in the Book of Hanshu And Geography, there are county names such as "Great Xia"[11], etc. "Great Xia", in the minds of people before the Qin Dynasty or before the Qin Dynasty, is the name of the place and the country on the land of China, and the people know it well. Zhang Qian and the intellectuals of the early Western Han Dynasty, who were not far from Qin, were naturally no strangers to this historical and cultural background and to the meaning of "Great Xia" in the Chinese motherland.
However, after Returning to Chang'an, Zhang Qian actually made it very clear, very clear, and even deliberately highlighted the pronunciation of "Tohuoluo", and without hesitation translated it into the "Great Xia" of the Central Plains, which was very familiar to the supreme ruler of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Che, and the upper political and cultural elites of the dynasty. There are too many documents and archaeological data to prove that the Great Xia that once appeared in the Central Plains was actually not the same as the "Tochara" that existed under the Hindu Kush Mountain and the Amu Darya River Valley; but Zhang Qian translated "Tocharian" into "Great Xia" with similar sounds and was quite well known to the political elites of the Western Han Dynasty.
In his article "Bumpy Road to Translation", Mr. Chen Yuan, a well-known scholar, once described that when translating an article or a book, translators will carefully consider the title of the book and the title of the article, which is very laborious and very careful. Between two different languages and different scripts, it is not only necessary to accurately convert their meaning and ideas, but also to attract the attention of readers of another language and text after conversion, and arouse their enthusiasm for reading, which is very laborious. He took the translation of the title of the book as an example, and used the experience of those who came over to say: "For example, the translation of the title of the book is really very knowledgeable. The title gives the reader an initial impression, whether it is attractive or not, in line with or without the requirements of the times and social habits, and to a considerable extent (though not absolutely) determines the fate of a book among the local readers at that time. [12] This is the heartfelt feeling of a multi-lingual scholar who understands the hardships of translation work. The translation and conversion of a book title, a region, a kingdom name, is naturally even more so, and it will not be done arbitrarily.
From this, thinking about how Zhang Qian entered Central Asia more than two thousand years ago and came into contact with political entities such as Dawan, Kangju, and Tochara, how to introduce the relevant situation to the highest ruling level of the Western Han Dynasty, who was still very unfamiliar with the region and almost a blank, and the political and cultural elites involved in decision-making, so that they could produce a clear and strong impression through translation, and arouse their enthusiasm for further understanding, understanding and even opening up the western region, he probably spent a lot of thought. He was well aware of Liu Che's desire to seek a feather alliance in the western wing of the Xiongnu and realize a strategy that could jointly resist the Xiongnu invasion; he also understood that the Great Moon Clan had settled on the fertile soil of Central Asia, and rarely had the enthusiasm to return to the East and fight the Xiongnu together with the Han Dynasty; in the face of different political entities with different cultures, races, and nationalities, in a kingdom that called itself "Tocharian", he heard a sound close to that of "Bactria", and the waves in his heart were probably unimaginable to today's people.
What is the basis for boldly saying that Zhang Qian "heard a sound close to 'Bactria' in a kingdom that called himself 'Tocharian'"? This is from the teachings of Professor Liu Xinru. Professor Liu Xinru, a well-known scholar and now teaching in the United States, has a deep study of Indian language and Indian culture, and in June 2014, she gave a lecture on "Ancient Religion and Culture in India and Afghanistan" in the Department of Archaeology, School of History, Chinese Min University, and the existence of Indo-European languages in South Asia, Southwest Asia, and Afghanistan can clearly see the differences in the field of linguistics due to regional ethnic differences and social value orientations. The same word, such as "Ahura", is "god" in ancient Iranian and "Ashura" in Indian Vedics, "ghost". At that time, the indigenous peoples of Afghanistan (Bactria, Tocharian) were called "Daha" in Indo-European, which was slightly derogatory and had a low social status. The title of "Daha" and "Tocharo" are in harmony with each other. It's just that in the Indian Vedic literature, this "Daha" person, who is not high in identity, stirs up another historical and cultural wave that has no contempt in the depths of Zhang Qian's heart! [13]
Zhang Qian translated "Daha" and "Tocharo" as "Bactria", and his heart was based on a clear reality political culture, and he hoped to find a new foothold in "Bactria" to complete the mission of going west. From the observation of the historical process and social impact that has actually been carried out, he urgently hopes to arouse the psychology of Liu Che and his upper ruling elites who are cordial and identify with the history and culture of China, and further promote the desire to contact the "Great Xia" at the political and economic levels. When evaluating the historical merits of Zhang Qian's westward journey, the "Records of History" and the "Book of Han" discarded many labor achievements and just bit the "Great Xia" to make an article, and we can clearly see that this translated name did win unexpected propaganda benefits for Zhang Qian in the supreme ruling group of the Western Han Dynasty, and played a positive role in promoting Liu Che's many measures to expand ties with Central Asia. In the Western Han Dynasty's development of the traffic roads in the Southwest Yi region, it also played a major role in the "Great Xia". This is all found in the Records of History and the Book of Han.
Zhang Qian, as an explorer and diplomat who not only faced the Western world in the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, but also dared to enter the Western world, did see people and was brave and courageous. He deeply respected the strategy of emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty to open up to the west, and devoted his life to practicing it unswervingly. Although the storms and rains of Central Asia for 13 years have paid a heavy price, the western region is a world of different colors, material and cultural life, and can be handed over and exchanged, which has also become his firm belief. After returning to Chang'an, he not only continued to promote, organize, and implement the great practice of a group of emissaries to go to the western regions, cross the green mountains, and go to Central Asia, and helped achieve the grand cause of the Western Han Dynasty in opening up the "Silk Road"; he also suggested that the highest-ranking rulers of the Western Han Dynasty open up Sichuan and Yunnan again and again, and seek another passage to South Asia and Central Asia. These major strategic designs and practices have been carried out and gradually completed in the name of opening up and building links with the "Great Xia." These historical facts can show to a certain extent that he translated the northern region of Afghanistan, where Tocharo is located, as "Bactria", and once played a major political, ideological and cultural role.
The benefits of the times and the social benefits achieved by Zhang Qian in the translation of "Bactria" cannot be underestimated. However, Zhang Qian's "Great Xia", in Zhang Qian's concept, is by no means an entity closely related to the ancient Chinese people and ancient Chinese civilization. He was very clear that the "Bactria" on Afghan soil, "its customary indigenous peoples", and "the same customs as Dawan" are countries with different nationalities and languages; if it is related to the Chinese nation, language, and culture, Zhang Qian will never skimp on his own pen and ink and language when he goes all out to promote his great cause of investigation in Central Asia. He did not say this word for word, but only said that Bactria was the same as the Great Moon Clan, the Great Wan, and the Kangju. "From the west of the image to the rest of the peace, although it is quite different, it is the same... His people are all deep-eyed and bearded"[14], which clearly shows that although the words used to be the same as the "Great Xia" that once existed on the land of China in the ancient Chinese texts, he knew in his heart that they were essentially not connected and identical.
In the 7th century, the Buddhist thinker Xuanzang entered the Indo-Rinpoche Sutra and, after personally experiencing the land of Afghanistan, clearly and unambiguously abandoned Zhang Qian's use of the translation of "Bactria" to "Toholuo". In the "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", he very carefully translated "Tocharo" as "seeing the goods", and strived to translate it accurately. Xuanzang's translation had a major impact in the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty, both inside and outside, accepted the new translation of "Seeing the Goods". Moreover, the Tocharot region of this period has become the state of the Tang Dynasty, and the political, economic, and cultural relations with each other are far closer than those of the Han Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty's understanding of this area, including the self-designation and understanding of the kingdoms and nationalities in this land, is naturally more accurate. Collectively, it is called Tohuoluo, which specifically shows that the Tang Dynasty completely held a negative attitude toward Zhang Qian's translation of "Tohuoluo" as "Great Xia". This land was once called "Bactria", and it should be possible to completely turn the pages of the past.
Unexpectedly, this public case, which should have turned the page of the past, could not be completely turned over. At the beginning of the last century, because of this "great summer", a new discussion was triggered.
In 1907, German scholars excavated ancient Hu inscriptions on the 8th and 9th century Uighur Buddhist scriptures excavated by Western explorers in ancient Buddhist temples in Xinjiang, including the word "Toχri". It is also conceived as "Tocharian" and associated with the ancient "Bactria". Mr. Wang Guowei was in the trend of "Chinese culture speaking in the West" or even "Chinese kinds of Western culture" at that time, smelled the taste of "Chinese kinds" and "Chinese culture" coming from the west behind this new compilation of this story, and quickly wrote "Xi Hu Kao", proposing that the "Tocharians" on the land of Afghanistan were for the "Great Xia"; then they were the historical facts that appeared only after the Great Xia on the Central Plains went west, and put forward the eye-catching "Tocharian People Speaking east". [15] This can be said to be the way it is to treat others in the same way as they are. I have a negative attitude toward Mr. Wang Guowei's "Xi Hu Kao" view of Tohuo Luoxi. However, this view, before modern archaeology has emerged, has not yet been understood the archaeological and cultural remains in the northern Shanxi, Ganlong, Xinjiang and even Afghanistan in the pre-Qin period, and in the same period, of course, it is even more impossible to carry out comparative research in the combination of excavated cultural relics and documents, and it is naturally an understandable argument when it can only be analyzed according to individual texts in ancient documents.
If today's scholars carry out research on related issues, they are still confined to the thinking of a hundred years ago, do not pay attention to the collection of relevant archaeological data, and conduct comprehensive analysis, seriously and comprehensively carry out comparative research on the historical and cultural relics of two or more spaces in a specific period of time, or just start from the "Bactria" and "Tocharo", lay out relevant views, wear the clothes of the ancients, and sing their own heart songs, that is, they should not continue to neglect, but unfortunately, this is really a phenomenon that can be found in many articles and even monographs today. It is difficult to say that it is a desirable scientific method to use only one word in ancient literature as a basis for argument and research. It is impossible for a nation to migrate without leaving behind all kinds of material, spiritual, and cultural scales and claws on the way to the long way. Only by studying, corroborating, and explaining the very limited records of ancient literature and the material remains lost in the ground can it be said that the records in ancient documents are records that can be trusted. This is the research path that can be carried out today and should be followed, although the work of data collection (especially the collection of related archaeological data) will be difficult and laborious, but it is possible to achieve.
It should also be emphasized that the discussion of "Bactria" and "Tocharian" is really not over at present. Since the 1980s, "Tocharian" has become a lively and highly concerned topic in the study of the history and culture of the Western Regions in China, especially in the Western Regions. The Indo-European research community, the archaeological community, the ethnic history research community, the physical anthropology community, and even the molecular biology research community have expressed extraordinary enthusiasm for this concept. Of course, it is always linked to the concept of "Bactria" in the ancient books of the pre-Qin Dynasty and even the Han Dynasty. This new cultural phenomenon, its emergence, is also not accidental, and it can even be clearly seen that the West, especially the United States, has pinned new pursuits on it. It's just that the problem is very widespread, and this small article cannot be fully expanded. However, to make a distinction between the appearance of the translated name of "Bactria" in the Han Dynasty and its subsequent abandonment is always of some benefit to the so-called relationship between Tocharian and Bactria and to the current study of Tocharian.
[1] The Geography of Strabo，transby H.L.Jones and J.R.S Sterrett，London：Heinemann，1917，p.261.
[2] History, vol. 123, The Biography of Dawan Lie, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1959, p. 3164.
[3] The Chronicle of History, vol. 123, "The Biography of Dawan Lie" says: "The dawan, the great moon, the great xia, and the Kangju, and it is rumored that the five or six countries next to them are said to be the son of heaven." Say:...... Bactria is more than 2,000 miles southwest of Dawan and south of the water. He also said: "Qian Yue: 'When the subject was in the great summer, he saw the Qiong bamboo staff and the Shu cloth.' See pp. 3160, 3164, 3166. See also Book of Han, vol. 61, "The Biography of Zhang Qian and Li Guangli", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1962, p. 2689.
[4] Historia, vol. 20, p. 1037.
[5] Book of Han, vol. 100, p. 4256.
[6] Yang Bojun: Notes on the Spring and Autumn Left, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1990, p. 1128.
[7] Li Xiangfeng: Notes on the Proofreading of Pipes, vol. 16, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2004, p. 953.
[8] Xu Weisuan: Collected Interpretations of Lü's Spring and Autumn Collection, vol. 14, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2009, pp. 318-319.
[9] Historia, vol. VI, p. 271.
[10] Historia, vol. VI, p. 245.
[11] Book of Han, vol. 28, p. 1610.
[12] Chen Yuan: "Books and People and Me", Sanlian Publishing House, 1994, pp. 99-102.
[13] Professor Xinru was asked to look at the relevant views and writings. Prof. Shinru immediately sent an e-mail with the following quotation for reference:
Indo-Iranian and Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-European language family split in Afghanistan. The former entered the Iranian plateau, while the latter entered the South Asian subcontinent. Both retain the vocabulary of the mother tongue, some of which have the same meaning in both places, and some in Iran and India, although pronounced similar or even identical, but antonyms. This is the result of the social split of the same cultural system, which produces opposing cosmology and value systems.
The Iranian-speaking people call Ahura a god and daeva a ghost; the Indian Vedic society calls deva a god and ashura a ghost. In Indian history, Indians call all Iranians as asura, which is actually a manifestation of alien alienity and fear, which is a common phenomenon all over the world and on the mainland.
At the same time, because the two are from the same cultural origin, the social structure is originally very similar, and some words have similar meanings:
The Iranian language calls the elder family line airiia, extending to calling the superior person airiia; calling the juvenile family line daha, extending to calling the inferior person daha; Indians calling the elder family line ariya, extending to calling the superior person ariya; calling the juvenile family line dasa, extending to calling the inferior person daasa.
From this linguistic analysis, there is an Indo-European tribe distributed in the northern Afghanistan region, known as Daha. These people have split from the Iranian-speaking community and do not consider the name pejorative to themselves. The tribe Daha is also mentioned in Greek literature. I think Zhang Qian's Bactria is closer to Daha, and it may be that this tribe and its language have the upper hand here. Nor can we rule out that Daha and Tochara are different ways of saying the same word, Afghanistan is a place where multiple languages coexist in parallel, and differences in pronunciation are common phenomena. Xuanzang was a very real person, and every syllable had to be uttered. In conclusion, Bactria refers to the local tribes of Afghanistan and the place names from which they are derived, which I fully agree with Sir.
[14] Book of Han, vol. 96, "The Tale of the Western Regions," p. 3896.
[15] Wang Guowei: Xi Hu Kao, Guantang Jilin, Hebei Education Publishing House, 2003, pp. 309-312.
Author Affilications:College of State Studies, Chinese Min University