Liang Shu Zhuyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Various Foreign Peoples in the Book of Liang) 梁書 諸夷傳 · Yao Silian · 636 (Tang, 10th year of the Zhenguan era) · 1 passages · 122 Chinese characters · reading time 0.5 min
Liang Shu Zhuyi Zhuan (Accounts of the Various Foreign Peoples in the Book of Liang) Complete in one volume Thirty-six kingdoms as the Liang of the Southern dynasties saw them. The memorial in which King Muryeong of Baekje announced that his land had become a strong kingdom once more; the record in which Silla first appears under its own name; the tale of the Buddha's hair and the stupa of King Ashoka; and the legends from the far end of the sea, of Fusang and the Kingdom of Women — from the Southern Sea to the Western Regions, this is the broadest of all the accounts of the various foreign peoples.
The kingdom of Wenshen lies more than seven thousand li northeast of the kingdom of Wa. The people have marks on their bodies like the markings of beasts, and on the forehead there are three marks. Those whose marks are straight are noble, and those whose marks are small are base. Their customs are merry, goods are plentiful and cheap, and a traveler carries no food with him. They have houses but no city walls. The place where their king dwells is adorned with gold and silver and rare and lovely things. A ditch a fathom wide is dug around the house and filled with quicksilver, and when it rains the rain runs off over the quicksilver. In the market they use precious things. One who commits a light offense is beaten with the whip and the rod. One who commits a capital offense is set before fierce beasts to be eaten, and if he has been wronged the beasts turn aside and do not eat him, and when a night has passed he is pardoned.