The Western Rong西戎
1The Di (氐) — they live mixed among the Chinese and use two tongues
《魏略西戎傳》曰：氐人有王，所從來久矣。自漢開益州，置武都郡，排其種人，分竄山谷間，或在福祿，或在汧、隴左右。其種非一，稱槃瓠之後，或號青氐，或號白氐，或號蚺氐，此蓋蟲之類而處中國，人即其服色而名之也。其自相號曰盍稚，各有王侯，多受中國封拜。近去建安中，興國氐王阿貴、白項氐王千萬各有部落萬餘，至十六年，從馬超爲亂。超破之後，阿貴爲夏侯淵所攻滅，千萬西南入蜀，其部落不能去，皆降。國家分徙其前後兩端者，置扶風、美陽，今之安夷、撫夷二部護軍所典是也。其（太）守善，分留天水、南安界，今之廣魏郡所守是也。其俗，語不與中國同，及羌雜胡同，各自有姓，姓如中國之姓矣。其衣服尚青絳。俗能織布，善田種，畜養豕牛馬驢騾。其婦人嫁時著衽露，其緣飾之制有似羌，衽露有似中國袍。皆編髮。多知中國語，由與中國錯居故也。其自還種落間，則自氐語。
The Wei lue (魏略), in the Account of the Western Rong (西戎傳), says: The Di (氐) people have had kings, and it has been so for a long time. After the Han opened Yizhou and set up Wudu commandery, they pushed that people aside, and they scattered and fled among the mountain valleys, some at Fulu, some to the left and right of Qian and Long.
Their kind is not one. They call themselves the descendants of Panhu (槃瓠). Some are called Qing Di (青氐), some Bai Di (白氐), some Ran Di (蚺氐). These are likely names of the crawling kind, and because they dwell in China the people named them after the colors of their clothes. Among themselves they call one another Hezhi (盍稚). Each has kings and marquises, and many have received enfeoffment from China.
Lately, in the Jian'an years, A'gui, the Di king of Xingguo, and Qianwan, the Di king of Baixiang, each led a tribe of more than ten thousand, and in the sixteenth year they followed Ma Chao and rose in revolt. After Ma Chao was broken, A'gui was attacked and destroyed by Xiahou Yuan, and Qianwan went southwest into Shu. His tribe could not leave and all surrendered. The state divided off those who had been at the two ends, front and rear, and moved them to Fufeng and Meiyang, and this is what the two garrison commanders of Anyi and Fuyi now have charge of. Those who kept to good order were divided off and left within the bounds of Tianshui and Nan'an, and this is what Guangwei commandery now guards.
In their customs their speech is not the same as China's, nor the same as the Qiang or the other Hu. Each of them has a surname, and the surnames are like the surnames of China. Their clothes favor blue and crimson. Their custom is that they can weave cloth and are good at plowing and sowing, and they raise pigs, cattle, horses, donkeys, and mules.
Their women, when they marry, wear the renlu (衽露). The way it is trimmed at the edges is like the Qiang, and the renlu is like a Chinese robe. All of them braid their hair. Many of them know the speech of China, because they live mixed among the Chinese. When they go back among their own kind, they use their own Di speech.
2The Zilu and the various Qiang
其嫁娶有似於羌，此蓋乃昔所謂西戎在於街、冀、豲道者也。今雖都統於郡國，然故自有王侯在其虛落間。又故武都地陰平街左右，亦有萬餘落。貲虜，本匈奴也，匈奴名奴婢爲貲。始建武時，匈奴衰，分去其奴婢，亡匿在金城、武威、酒泉北黑水、西河東西，畜牧逐水草，鈔盜涼州，部落稍多，有數萬，不與東部鮮卑同也。其種非一，有大胡，有丁令，或頗有羌雜處，由本亡奴婢故也。當漢、魏之際，其大人有檀柘，死後，其枝大人南近在廣魏、令居界，有禿瑰來數反，爲涼州所殺。今有劭提，或降來，或遁去，常爲西州道路患也。敦煌西域之南山中，從婼羌西至蔥領數千里，有月氏餘種蔥茈羌、白馬、黃牛羌，各有酋豪，北與諸國接，不知其道里廣狹。傳聞黃牛羌各有種類，孕身六月生，南與白馬羌鄰。西域諸國，漢初開其道，時有三十六，後分爲五十餘。從建武以來，更相吞滅，於今有二十道。
Their marrying is like that of the Qiang. These are likely the ones anciently called the Western Rong, who were at Jie (街), Ji (冀), and Huandao (豲道). Now, though they are all bound together under the commanderies and states, kings and marquises remain among their settlements as before. Also, to the left and right of Yinpingjie in the old land of Wudu, there are more than ten thousand settlements.
The Zilu (貲虜) were originally Xiongnu. The Xiongnu call a slave zi (貲). At the beginning of the Jianwu years, when the Xiongnu grew weak, their slaves split off and left, and fled and hid at Jincheng, at Wuwei, at the Black Water north of Jiuquan, and east and west of the Xihe. They pastured their herds after water and grass and plundered Liangzhou. Their settlements grew more and more, to several tens of thousands, and they are not the same as the eastern Xianbei. Their kind is not one: there are the Da Hu (大胡), there are the Dingling (丁令), and some have a good many Qiang mixed among them, because they were runaway slaves to begin with.
At the time when Han and Wei changed places, their great man was Tanzhe (檀柘). After he died, a great man of his branch was in the south, near the bounds of Guangwei and Lingju. One Tugui came and turned against them several times, and was killed by Liangzhou. Now there is Shaoti (劭提), who sometimes comes and surrenders and sometimes runs off, and he is a constant trouble on the roads of Xizhou.
In the southern mountains of Dunhuang and the Western Regions, from the Ruo Qiang (婼羌) west to the Congling (蔥領) for several thousand li, there are the Congzi Qiang (蔥茈羌), the Baima Qiang (白馬羌), and the Huangniu Qiang (黃牛羌), remnants of the Yuezhi, and each has its chief. To the north they adjoin the various states, but how broad or narrow the roads are is not known. It is heard by report that the Huangniu Qiang each have their own branches, that they give birth six months after conceiving, and that to the south they neighbor the Baima Qiang.
As for the states of the Western Regions, when the Han first opened the road to them there were thirty-six, and later they split into more than fifty. Since the Jianwu years they have swallowed and destroyed one another, and now there are twenty routes.
3The three roads into the Western Regions, and the Futu jing
從敦煌玉門關入西域，前有二道，今有三道。從玉門關西出，經婼羌轉西，越蔥領，經縣度，入大月氏，爲南道。從玉門關西出，發都護井，回三隴沙北頭，經居盧倉，從沙西井轉西北，過龍堆，到故樓蘭，轉西詣龜茲，至蔥領，爲中道。從玉門關西北出，經橫坑，辟三隴沙及龍堆，出五船北，到車師界戊己校尉所治高昌，轉西與中道合龜茲，爲新道。凡西域所出，有前史已具詳，今故略說。南道西行，且志國、小宛國、精絕國、樓蘭國皆並屬鄯善也。戎盧國、扞彌國、渠勒國、〔皮山國〕皆並屬於寘。罽賓國、大夏國、高附國、天竺國皆並屬大月氏。臨兒國，浮屠經云其國王生浮屠。浮屠，太子也。父曰屑頭邪，母云莫邪。浮屠身服色黃，髮青如青絲，乳青毛，蛉赤如銅。始莫邪夢白象而孕，及生，從母左脅出，生而有結，墮地能行七步。此國在天竺城中。天竺又有神人，名沙律。昔漢哀帝元壽元年，博士弟子景盧受大月氏王使伊存口受浮屠經曰復立者其人也。
Going into the Western Regions from the Yumen Pass at Dunhuang, there were formerly two roads, and now there are three.
Out west from the Yumen Pass, past the Ruo Qiang, then turning west, over the Congling, past Xiandu (縣度), and into the Great Yuezhi: this is the southern road.
Out west from the Yumen Pass, setting off from the Duhu Well (都護井), around the north head of the Sanlong Sands (三隴沙), past the Julu Granary (居盧倉), then from the Shaxi Well (沙西井) turning northwest, past the Longdui (龍堆), reaching old Loulan (樓蘭), then turning west to Qiuci (龜茲) and reaching the Congling: this is the middle road.
Out northwest from the Yumen Pass, past the Hengkeng (橫坑), avoiding the Sanlong Sands and the Longdui, out north of Wuchuan (五船), reaching Gaochang (高昌) within the bounds of Cheshi, where the Wuji colonel governs, then turning west to join the middle road at Qiuci: this is the new road.
What comes out of the Western Regions the earlier histories have already set down in full, so only an outline is given here. Going west by the southern road, the states of Juzhi (且志國), Xiaowan (小宛國), Jingjue (精絕國), and Loulan (樓蘭國) all belong to Shanshan (鄯善). The states of Ronglu (戎盧國), Hanmi (扞彌國), Qule (渠勒國), and Pishan (皮山國) all belong to Yutian (于寘). The states of Jibin (罽賓國), Daxia (大夏國), Gaofu (高附國), and Tianzhu (天竺國) all belong to the Great Yuezhi.
Of the state of Lin'er (臨兒國) the Futu jing (浮屠經) says that the king of that state begot the Futu (浮屠). The Futu is the crown prince. His father is called Xietouye (屑頭邪) and his mother Moye (莫邪). The Futu's body is yellow in color, his hair blue like blue silk, his breasts blue-haired, his eyes red as bronze. At first Moye dreamed of a white elephant and conceived, and when he was born he came out from his mother's left side. He was born with a topknot, and when he fell to the ground he could walk seven steps. This state is inside the city of Tianzhu. In Tianzhu there is also a divine man named Shalü (沙律).
Long ago, in the first year of Yuanshou under Emperor Ai of the Han, Jing Lu, a disciple of the academicians, received the Futu jing by word of mouth from Yicun, an envoy of the king of the Great Yuezhi, and it said that "the one who is set up again" is this man.
4The saying that Laozi went out west and taught the Hu
浮屠所載臨蒲塞、桑門、伯聞、疏問、白疏間、比丘、晨門，皆弟子號也。浮屠所載與中國老子經相出入，蓋以爲老子西出關，過西域之天竺、教胡。浮屠屬弟子別號，合有二十九，不能詳載，故略之如此。車離國一名禮惟特，一名沛隸王，在天竺東南三千餘里，其地卑濕暑熱。其王治沙奇城，有別城數十，人民怯弱，月氏、天竺擊服之。其地東西南北數千里，人民男女皆長一丈八尺，乘象、橐扆以戰，今月氏役稅之。盤越國一名漢越王，在天竺東南數千里，與益部相近，其人小與中國人等，蜀人賈似至焉。南道而西極轉東南盡矣。中道西行尉梨國、危須國、山王國皆並屬焉耆，姑墨國、溫宿國、尉頭國皆並屬龜茲也。楨中國、莎車國、竭石國、渠沙國、西夜國、依耐國、滿犁國、億若國、榆令國、損毒國、休脩國、琴國皆並屬疏勒。自是以西，大宛、安息、條支、烏弋。烏弋一名排特，此四國次在西，本國也，無增損。
The Linpuse (臨蒲塞), Sangmen (桑門), Bowen (伯聞), Shuwen (疏問), Baishujian (白疏間), Biqiu (比丘), and Chenmen (晨門) set down in the Futu jing are all names of disciples. What is set down in the Futu jing runs in and out of China's Laozi jing (老子經), for they hold that Laozi went out west through the pass, passed through Tianzhu in the Western Regions, and taught the Hu. The other names of the disciples belonging to the Futu come to twenty-nine in all, and they cannot be set down in detail, so they are cut short like this.
The state of Cheli (車離國) is also called Liweite (禮惟特) and also Peiliwang (沛隸王). It lies more than three thousand li southeast of Tianzhu, and its land is low and damp and hot. Its king governs at the city of Shaqi (沙奇城), and there are several tens of other cities. The people are timid and weak, and the Yuezhi and Tianzhu struck them and brought them to submission. Its land is several thousand li east to west and north to south, and the people, men and women alike, are all eighteen feet tall. They ride elephants and camels into battle. Now the Yuezhi work them and levy taxes on them.
The state of Panyue (盤越國) is also called Hanyuewang (漢越王). It lies several thousand li southeast of Tianzhu, near to Yizhou. Its people are a little smaller, about like the people of China, and merchants of Shu seem to reach it. By the southern road one goes west to the farthest point, and turning southeast it comes to an end.
Going west by the middle road, the states of Weili (尉梨國), Weixu (危須國), and Shanwang (山王國) all belong to Yanqi (焉耆), and the states of Gumo (姑墨國), Wensu (溫宿國), and Weitou (尉頭國) all belong to Qiuci. The states of Zhenzhong (楨中國), Shache (莎車國), Jieshi (竭石國), Qusha (渠沙國), Xiye (西夜國), Yinai (依耐國), Manli (滿犁國), Yiruo (億若國), Yuling (榆令國), Sundu (損毒國), Xiuxiu (休脩國), and Qin (琴國) all belong to Shule (疏勒).
West of these are Dayuan (大宛), Anxi (安息), Tiaozhi (條支), and Wuyi (烏弋). Wuyi is also called Paite (排特). These four states stand in order to the west. They are as they originally were, with nothing added and nothing lost.
5Da Qin — the state west of the sea
前世謬以爲條支在大秦西，今其實在東。前世又謬以爲強於安息，今更役屬之，號爲安息西界。前世又謬以爲弱水在條支西，今弱水在大秦西。前世又謬以爲從條支西行二百餘日，近日所入，今從大秦西近日所入。大秦國一號犁靬，在安息、條支西大海之西，從安息界安穀城乘船，直截海西，遇風利二月到，風遲或一歲，無風或三歲。其國在海西，故俗謂之海西。有河出其國，西又有大海。海西有遲散城，從國下直北至烏丹城，西南又渡一河，乘船一日乃過。西南又渡一河，一日乃過。凡有大都三，卻從安穀城陸道直北行之海北，復直西行之海西，復直南行經之烏遲散城，渡一河，乘船一日乃過。周回繞海，凡當渡大海六日乃到其國。國有小城邑合四百餘，東西南北數千里。其王治濱側河海，以石爲城郭。其土地有松、柏、槐、梓、竹、葦、楊柳、梧桐、百草。民俗，田種五穀，畜乘有馬、騾、驢、駱駝。
Earlier ages wrongly held that Tiaozhi lay west of Da Qin, but in truth it lies east. Earlier ages also wrongly held that it was stronger than Anxi, but now instead it is worked and bound by Anxi and is called the western bound of Anxi. Earlier ages also wrongly held that the Ruo River (弱水) lay west of Tiaozhi, but now the Ruo River lies west of Da Qin. Earlier ages also wrongly held that going west from Tiaozhi more than two hundred days brings one near where the sun sets, but now it is west of Da Qin that is near where the sun sets.
The state of Da Qin (大秦) is also called Lijian (犁靬), and it lies west of the great sea that is west of Anxi and Tiaozhi. Taking ship at the city of Angu (安穀城) within the bounds of Anxi and cutting straight west across the sea, with a good wind one arrives in two months, with a slow wind it may take a year, and with no wind three years. Because that state lies west of the sea, the world calls it Haixi (海西).
There is a river that comes out of that state, and to the west there is another great sea. West of the sea is the city of Chisan (遲散城). From the state one goes straight north to the city of Wudan (烏丹城), and to the southwest one crosses a river, passing it by boat in a day. To the southwest one crosses another river, passing it in a day.
There are three great cities in all. From the city of Angu one goes by the land road straight north to the north of the sea, then straight west to the west of the sea, then straight south past the city of Wuchisan (烏遲散城), and crosses a river, passing it by boat in a day. Going around the circuit and about the sea, one must cross the great sea for six days to reach that state.
The state has more than four hundred small walled towns in all, and it is several thousand li east to west and north to south. Its king governs beside the river and the sea, and they make their walls of stone. Their land has pine, nut pine, pagoda tree, catalpa, bamboo, reed, weeping willow, paulownia, and every kind of grass. In the customs of the people they sow the five grains, and among the beasts they raise and ride are horses, mules, donkeys, and camels.
6When there is a disaster they set up another king
桑蠶。俗多奇幻，口中出火，自縛自解，跳十二丸巧妙。其國無常主，國中有災異，輒更立賢人以爲王，而生放其故王，王亦不敢怨。其俗人長大平正，似中國人而胡服。自云本中國一別也，常欲通使於中國，而安息圖其利，不能得過。其俗能胡書。其制度，公私宮室爲重屋，旌旗擊鼓，白蓋小車，郵驛亭置如中國。從安息繞海北到其國，人民相屬，十里一亭，三十里一置，終無盜賊。但有猛虎、獅子爲害，行道不群則不得過。其國置小王數十，其王所治城周回百餘里，有官曹文書。王有五宮，一宮間相去十里，其王平旦之一宮聽事，至日暮一宿，明日復至一宮，五日一周。置三十六將，每議事，一將不至則不議也。王出行，常使從人持一韋囊自隨，有白言者，受其辭投囊中，還宮乃省爲決理。以水晶作宮柱及器物。作弓矢。其別枝封小國，曰澤散王，曰驢分王，曰且蘭王，曰賢督王，曰汜復王，曰于羅王，其餘小王國甚多，不能一一詳之也。
There are mulberry trees and silkworms. In their customs there are many strange tricks: they bring fire out of their mouths, they bind themselves and free themselves, and they toss twelve balls with skill.
That state has no fixed ruler. Whenever there is a disaster or a strange portent in the state, they set up a worthy man in his place as king and turn the old king out alive, and the king does not dare to resent it.
Their people are tall and well-formed, like the people of China, but they wear Hu clothes. They say of themselves that they were originally a branch split off from China, and they have always wished to send envoys through to China, but Anxi seeks the profit of it and does not let them pass. In their customs they can write the Hu script.
In their institutions the houses of state and of private people alike are two-storied. They raise standards and beat drums, they use small carriages with white canopies, and they set up post stations and rest houses as China does. From Anxi around the north of the sea to that state the people are settled one after another, with a rest house every ten li and a post station every thirty li, and there are no robbers at all. Only fierce tigers and lions do harm, so that one cannot pass along the road except in a company.
That state has set up several tens of lesser kings. The city where its king governs is more than a hundred li around, and it has offices and records. The king has five palaces, each ten li from the next. At daybreak the king goes to one palace and hears affairs, and at sundown he stays the night there. The next day he comes to another palace, and in five days he goes around them all. He has set up thirty-six generals, and whenever affairs are discussed, if one general does not come, they do not discuss them.
When the king goes out, he always has an attendant carry a leather bag and follow him. If there is anyone with something to say, he takes his words and puts them in the bag, and when he returns to the palace he looks them over and gives judgment. They make the pillars of the palace and their vessels of crystal. They make bows and arrows.
Among the small states enfeoffed as its branches there are the king of Zesan (澤散王), the king of Lüfen (驢分王), the king of Julan (且蘭王), the king of Xiandu (賢督王), the king of Sifu (汜復王), and the king of Yuluo (于羅王). The rest of the small kings' states are very many and cannot be set down one by one in detail.
7The Haixi cloth and the nine-colored stone
國出細絺。作金銀錢，金錢一當銀錢十。有織成細布，言用水羊毳，名曰海西布。此國六畜皆出水，或云非獨用羊毛也，亦用木皮或野繭絲作，織成氍毹、毾㲪、罽帳之屬皆好，其色又鮮于海東諸國所作也。又常利得中國絲，解以爲胡綾，故數與安息諸國交市於海中。海水苦不可食，故往來者希到其國中。山出九色次玉石，一曰青，二曰赤，三曰黃，四曰白，五曰黑，六曰綠，七曰紫，八曰紅，九曰紺。今伊吾山中有九色石，即其類。陽嘉三年時，疏勒王臣槃獻海西青石、金帶各一。又今西域舊圖云罽賓、條支諸國出琦石，即次玉石也。大秦多金、銀、銅、鐵、鉛、錫、神龜、白馬、硃髦、駭雞犀、玳瑁、玄熊、赤螭、辟毒鼠、大貝、車渠、瑪瑙、南金、翠爵、羽翮、象牙、符采玉、明月珠、夜光珠、真白珠、虎珀、珊瑚、赤白黑綠黃青紺縹紅紫十種流離、璆琳、琅玕、水精、玫瑰、雄黃、雌黃、碧、五色玉、黃白黑綠紫紅絳紺金黃縹留黃十種氍毹、五色毾㲪、五色九色首下毾㲪、金縷繡、雜色綾、金塗布、緋持布、發陸布、緋持渠布、火浣布、阿羅得布、巴則布、度代布、溫宿布、五色桃布、絳地金織帳、五色鬥帳、一微木、二蘇合、狄提、迷迷、兜納、白附子、薰陸、郁金、芸膠、薰草木十二種香。
Fine hemp cloth comes out of that state. They make gold coins and silver coins, and one gold coin matches ten silver coins. There is a fine woven cloth, said to be made from the down of a water sheep, and it is called Haixi cloth (海西布). It is said that all six of that state's domestic beasts come out of the water. Some say they do not use sheep's wool alone, but make it also from tree bark or the silk of wild cocoons. The woven qushu (氍毹), the tadeng (毾㲪), the woolen curtains and the like are all good, and their colors are brighter than what the states east of the sea make.
They also always find profit in getting silk from China and unraveling it to make Hu damask (胡綾), and so they often trade with Anxi and the other states out in the sea. The sea water is bitter and cannot be drunk, so those who come and go seldom reach the inside of that state.
Out of the mountains comes a second-grade jade stone (次玉石) of nine colors: the first blue, the second red, the third yellow, the fourth white, the fifth black, the sixth green, the seventh purple, the eighth scarlet, the ninth dark blue. Now in the mountains of Yiwu (伊吾) there is a nine-colored stone, and it is of that kind. In the third year of Yangjia, Chenpan, the king of Shule, presented one blue stone of Haixi and one gold belt. Also, the old maps of the Western Regions now say that a qi stone (琦石) comes out of Jibin and Tiaozhi and the other states, and this is the second-grade jade stone.
In Da Qin there is much gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin, and the divine tortoise (神龜), white horses, zhumao (硃髦), the haiji rhinoceros (駭雞犀), tortoise shell (玳瑁), black bears, red hornless dragons, the poison-warding rat (辟毒鼠), great shells, chequ (車渠), agate, southern gold (南金), kingfishers, quills, ivory, fucai jade (符采玉), bright-moon pearls (明月珠), night-shining pearls, true white pearls, amber, and coral. There are ten kinds of colored glass — red, white, black, green, yellow, blue, dark blue, pale blue, scarlet, and purple — and there are qiulin (璆琳), langgan (琅玕), crystal, meigui (玫瑰), realgar, orpiment, green jade, and five-colored jade. There are ten kinds of qushu in the liuhuang (留黃) colors — yellow, white, black, green, purple, scarlet, red, dark blue, gold, and pale blue — and five-colored tadeng, and shouxia (首下) tadeng of five colors and of nine colors, and gold-thread embroidery and damask of mixed colors. There are jintu cloth (金塗布), feichi cloth (緋持布), falu cloth (發陸布), feichiqu cloth (緋持渠布), huohuan cloth (火浣布), aluode cloth (阿羅得布), baze cloth (巴則布), dudai cloth (度代布), Wensu cloth (溫宿布), and five-colored tao cloth (桃布), and curtains of red ground woven with gold, and five-colored dou curtains (鬥帳). For perfumes there are twelve kinds: yiweimu (一微木), ersuhe (二蘇合), diti (狄提), mimi (迷迷), douna (兜納), baifuzi (白附子), xunlu (薰陸), yujin (郁金), yunjiao (芸膠), and xuncaomu (薰草木).
8The small states belonging to Da Qin
大秦道既從海北陸通，又循海而南，與交趾七郡外夷比，又有水道通益州、永昌、故永昌出異物。前世但論有水道，不知有陸道，今其略如此，其民人戶數不能備詳也。自蔥領西，此國最大，置諸小王甚多，故錄其屬大者矣。澤散王屬大秦，其治在海中央，北至驢分，水行半歲，風疾時一月到，最與安息安穀城相近，西南詣大秦都不知里數。驢分王屬大秦，其治去大秦都二千里。從驢分城西之大秦渡海，飛橋長二百三十里，渡海道西南行，繞海直西行。且蘭王屬大秦。從思陶國直南渡河，乃直西行之且蘭三千里。道出河南，乃西行，從且蘭復直西行之汜復國六百里。南道會汜復，乃西南之賢督國。且蘭、汜復直南，乃有積石，積石南乃有大海，出珊瑚，真珠。且蘭、汜復、斯賓阿蠻北有一山，東西行。大秦、海西東各有一山，皆南北行。賢督王屬大秦，其治東北去汜復六百里。汜復王屬大秦，其治東北去于羅三百四十里渡海也。
The road to Da Qin already goes through by land from the north of the sea, and going south along the sea it borders on the outer Yi of the seven commanderies of Jiaozhi. There is also a water road that goes through to Yizhou and Yongchang, and this is why strange goods come out of Yongchang. Earlier ages spoke only of a water road and did not know there was a land road. Now the outline of it is as above, but the number of households of its people cannot be set down in full. West of the Congling this state is the greatest, and the small kings it has set up are very many, so only the greater of them are recorded.
The king of Zesan belongs to Da Qin. The place he governs is in the middle of the sea. Going north to Lüfen takes half a year by water, and when the wind is swift one arrives in a month. It is nearest of all to the city of Angu in Anxi. The number of li southwest to the capital of Da Qin is not known.
The king of Lüfen belongs to Da Qin. The place he governs is two thousand li from the capital of Da Qin. To go west from the city of Lüfen to Da Qin one crosses the sea, and the flying bridge (飛橋) is two hundred and thirty li long. Crossing the sea, the road goes southwest, and rounding the sea it goes straight west.
The king of Julan belongs to Da Qin. From the state of Sitao (思陶國) one goes straight south across the river, then straight west, and it is three thousand li to Julan. The road comes out south of the river and then goes west. From Julan one goes straight west again, and it is six hundred li to the state of Sifu (汜復國). The southern road meets it at Sifu, and from there one goes southwest to the state of Xiandu (賢督國).
Straight south of Julan and Sifu there is Jishi (積石), and south of Jishi there is a great sea, where coral and pearls come out. North of Julan, Sifu, Sibin (斯賓), and Aman (阿蠻) there is a mountain that runs east and west. East of Da Qin and east of Haixi there is one mountain each, and both run north and south.
The king of Xiandu belongs to Da Qin. The place he governs is six hundred li northeast from Sifu. The king of Sifu belongs to Da Qin. The place he governs is three hundred and forty li northeast from Yuluo, and one crosses the sea.
9Xiwangmu and beyond the flowing sands
于羅屬大秦，其治在汜復東北，渡河，從于羅東北又渡河，斯羅東北又渡河。斯羅國屬安息，與大秦接也。大秦西有海水，海水西有河水，河水西南北行有大山，西有赤水，赤水西有白王山，白玉山有西王母，西王母西有脩流沙，流沙西有大夏國、堅沙國、屬繇國、月氏國、四國西有黑水，所傳聞西之極矣。北新道西行，至東且彌國、西且彌國、單桓國、畢陸國、蒲陸國、烏貪國，皆並屬車師後部王。王治于賴城，魏賜其王壹多雜守魏侍中，號大都尉，受魏王印。轉西北則烏孫、康居，本國無增損也。北烏伊別國在康居北，又有柳國，又有岩國，又有奄蔡國一名阿蘭，皆與康居同俗。西與大秦東南與康居接。其國多名貂，畜牧逐水草，臨大澤，故時羈屬康居，今不屬也。呼得國在蔥嶺北，烏孫西北，康居東北，勝兵萬餘人，隨畜牧，出好馬，有貂。堅昆國在康居西北，勝兵三萬人，隨畜牧，亦多貂，有好馬。
Yuluo belongs to Da Qin. The place it governs is northeast of Sifu, and one crosses a river. From Yuluo one goes northeast and crosses a river again, and from Siluo (斯羅) one goes northeast and crosses a river again. The state of Siluo belongs to Anxi and adjoins Da Qin.
West of Da Qin there is sea water, and west of the sea water there is river water. West of the river water there is a great mountain that runs north and south, and to the west there is the Chishui (赤水). West of the Chishui is Mount Baiyu (白玉山), and on Mount Baiyu is Xiwangmu (西王母). West of Xiwangmu are the long flowing sands (流沙), and west of the flowing sands are the states of Daxia, Jiansha (堅沙國), Shuyao (屬繇國), and Yuezhi. West of these four states is the Heishui (黑水), and this is the farthest west of what is heard by report.
Going west by the new northern road, one comes to the states of Dongjumi (東且彌國), Xijumi (西且彌國), Danhuan (單桓國), Bilu (畢陸國), Pulu (蒲陸國), and Wutan (烏貪國), which all belong to the king of the rear division of Cheshi. The king governs at the city of Lai (賴城). Wei had its king Yiduoza hold the post of palace attendant of Wei, called him Grand Commandant, and had him receive the seal of the king of Wei. Turning northwest there are Wusun and Kangju, which are as they originally were, with nothing added and nothing lost.
The state of Beiwuyibie (北烏伊別國) lies north of Kangju. There is also the state of Liu (柳國), and the state of Yan (岩國), and the state of Yancai (奄蔡國), which is also called Alan (阿蘭), and all of them have the same customs as Kangju. To the west it adjoins Da Qin and to the southeast Kangju. That state has many famous sables. They pasture their herds after water and grass, and they lie beside a great marsh. In earlier times they were haltered and bound to Kangju, but now they do not belong to it.
The state of Hude (呼得國) lies north of the Congling, northwest of Wusun and northeast of Kangju, and it has more than ten thousand men able to bear arms. They follow their herds, good horses come out there, and there are sables. The state of Jiankun (堅昆國) lies northwest of Kangju and has thirty thousand men able to bear arms. They follow their herds, and there too are many sables, and there are good horses.
10The people with horses' shanks
丁令國在康居北，勝兵六萬人，隨畜牧，出名鼠皮，白昆子、青昆子皮。此上三國，堅昆中央，俱去匈奴單于庭安習水七千里，南去車師六國五千里，西南去康居界三千里，西去康居王治八千里。或以爲此丁令即匈奴北丁令也，而北丁令在烏孫西，似其種別也。又匈奴北有渾窳國，有屈射國，有丁令國，有隔昆國，有新梨國，明北海之南自復有丁令，非此烏孫之西丁令也。烏孫長老言北丁令有馬脛國，其人音聲似雁騖，從膝以上身頭，人也，膝以下生毛，馬脛馬蹄，不騎馬而走疾馬，其爲人勇健敢戰也。短人國在康居西北，男女皆長三尺，人衆甚多，去奄蔡諸國甚遠。康居長老傳聞常有商度此國，去康居可萬餘里。
The state of Dingling (丁令國) lies north of Kangju and has sixty thousand men able to bear arms. They follow their herds, and famous rat skins come out there, and the skins of the white kunzi (昆子) and the blue kunzi.
Of these three states above, Jiankun is in the middle. All of them are seven thousand li from Anxishui (安習水), the court of the Xiongnu Chanyu, five thousand li south to the six states of Cheshi, three thousand li southwest to the bounds of Kangju, and eight thousand li west to the seat of the king of Kangju.
Some hold that this Dingling is the Dingling north of the Xiongnu, but the northern Dingling lie west of Wusun, so their kind seems to be a different one. Also, north of the Xiongnu there are the states of Hunyu (渾窳國), Qushe (屈射國), Dingling, Gekun (隔昆國), and Xinli (新梨國), so it is clear that there is another Dingling south of the northern sea, and that it is not this Dingling west of Wusun.
The elders of Wusun say that among the northern Dingling there is a state of Majing (馬脛國), that the sound of its people is like a wild goose or a duck, and that above the knee their bodies and heads are human, but below the knee hair grows and they have the shanks and hooves of horses. They do not ride horses, yet they run faster than horses, and as men they are brave and strong and do not fear a fight.
The state of Duanren (短人國) lies northwest of Kangju. Men and women are all three feet tall, the people are very many, and it is very far from Yancai and the other states. The elders of Kangju have it by report that merchants always pass through this state, and that it is some ten thousand li and more from Kangju.
11Yu Huan's discourse — the fish in the puddle
魚豢議曰：俗以爲營廷之魚不知江海之大，浮游之物不知四時之氣，是何也？以其所在者小與其生之短也。餘今氾覽外夷大秦諸國，猶尚曠若發蒙矣，況夫鄒衍之所推出，《大易》、《太玄》之所測度乎！徒限處牛蹄之涔，又無彭祖之年，無緣讬景風以迅遊，載騕褭以遐觀，但勞眺乎三辰，而飛思乎八荒耳。
Yu Huan discourses and says: The world holds that the fish of a puddle in the yard does not know the greatness of the rivers and the sea, and that the mayfly does not know the airs of the four seasons. Why is this? Because the place it is in is small and its life is short.
Now that I have looked broadly over the outer Yi, over Da Qin and the other states, it is as bright as having a blindfold taken off. How much more so for what Zou Yan reasoned out, and what the Da yi (大易) and the Tai xuan (太玄) measured out!
But I am penned in the water standing in an ox's hoofprint, and I do not have the years of Pengzu. I have no way to ride the great wind and travel fast, or to mount a steed like Yaoniao (騕褭) and look far off. I only strain my eyes toward the sun and the moon and the stars, and send my thoughts flying to the eight ends of the earth.