Fan Chuo

“ To aid in identification, we could assert that a skin boat of the simple inflated type that is most likely referenced would have been most appropriate for relatively broad river in a relatively mountainous or remote location, given that a settled agricultural zone with higher population, specialist workers and frequent need to cross the water would likely provide rapidly for comfortable crossing by bridge or more permanent/sophisticated watercraft. ”

“ An earlier version of Hanoi, the dominant delta-region settlement for the Red River in what is now northern Vietnam. The route would almost certainly have involved descending to the Red River, probably down one of the valleys in the general vicinity of Jianshui or Gejiu, probably after moving south from the lakes of central Yunnan via Tonghai, then following the Red River either by foot and mule or perhaps even descending by boat. ”

“ Luce instead reads both as historic reference, which seems an odd sentence structure to take given the rest of the text.↑ Emperor Tang Xuán Zōng (玄宗) 's Tiānbǎo (天寶) reign lasted from 742–756. Emperor Xuanzong (唐玄宗) (8 September 685—3 May 762) , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang (唐明皇) , personal name Li Longji (李隆基) , known as Wu Longji (武隆基) from 690—705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712—756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty. In the early half of his reign he was a diligent and astute ruler. ”

“ An alternative and far less likely translation would be a place to collect men (with an emphasis on male) , perhaps with reference to the slave-taking traditions of the Yi people of the region or to a local mercenary tradition.1 2 The phrase is 過大嶺,險峻極 which was originally presumably without punctuation and could be interpreted a few ways from the basic components as follows: 過 (to cross) 大嶺 (the or a great mountain range) 險峻 (arduous/steep) 極 (extremely/top) . ”

“ In Luce's translation, a rope-bridge is ascribed to the Ch'ing-ch'u-p'u—T'sang-p'ang portion of the route. However, in the digital version of our Palace Museum Library edition source text, a firmly placed full stop attributes this bridge instead to the Jiā​pí​guǎn​ (伽毗館) —Qīngqúpù (清渠鋪) portion. Without additional sources, we err in favour of our edition but note this point of contention for future readers. Luce translates a phrase referring to a route stage in steep mountains as "dangerous and steep" where there is apparently no evidence for the "danger" concept in the text. ”

“ The structure of the metaphor perhaps suggests that — to the civilization-obsessed Chinese, who viewed literature as its cornerstone — being overrun by wild animals is fate worse than being overrun by a rival kingdom.↑ Strange as it seems, Fan Chuo here appears to liken the Nanzhao kingdom (and any allied tribes) to ants.↑ ie. Pacify.↑ The character 羌 represents the Qiang region (ie. the greater eastern Himalayan foothills, particularly from northern Yunnan through Sichuan to Gansu) . ”

“ All candidates are under the modern jurisdiction of Luzhou (泸州市; Lúzhōu shì) : two more westerly and thus perhaps more likely candidates are in its Xuyong county (泸州市叙永县; Xùyǒngxiàn) , and two are in its Gulin county (古蔺县; Gǔlìnxiàn) . ”

“ Other explanations are a mere transliteration, possibly in jest, of some form of endemic language such as Yi or Naxi.↑ The character 巂 has multiple pronunciations, however with the dictionary I am using this pronunciation is listed specifically as a Sichuan-related toponym, so seems the most likely candidate. Luce uses a more common reading of the character, sui, which is possibly wrong.↑ Literally 'new peaceful city'.↑ Literally 'thriving water', suggesting a fast-moving stream.↑ This toponym sounds suspiciously transliteration-like to me.↑ Unidentified. ”

“ Luce's translation opts for one of the fen options and calls it Li-wu-fen stockade.↑ The source writes Gǔ​nán (賈男) — this would mean 'merchant man' and is unidentified anywhere. However, it looks a lot like the place 賈勇 (lit. 'Brave Merchant') below, and is thus potentially a miswritten character for the same place. In Luce's translation, it is given the latter's written form and pronunciation (though erroneously granted a -pu suffix due to Luce's misunderstanding of this area of the text) . ”

“ Luce's translation specifies a character in note number 26, page 13 that is apparently not recognized in Unicode, that of 隹 ("a bird") at the top, and 又 ("a right hand") at the bottom. Fortunately, zhongwen.com has an entry for this under zhī, which appears to accord with Luce's Wade Giles romanization and clarify the mystery.↑ Guessing by distance, possibly a town in the northern Jianshui plateau, or Jianshui itself? Apparently Jianshui was called 惠历 (Huili) by Nanzhao, who established it in the year 810 under the command of Tonghai. ”

“ This is also the last place that is shared between the two routes (to Vietnam and to Sichuan) described within the text, thus we may assume that it is in an eastward direction from the Dali area but not significantly north or south. The place known in the 20th century as Pǔ​péng​jiē​ (普淜街; lit. 'Roaring [like waves] street' — possibly implying busyness) seems to be a strong candidate, lying at the natural topographic intersection of the east-south-easterly route toward Kunming and the north-easterly route to the upper Yangtse or Jinshajiang.↑ Literally 'great storm (postal or relay) station'. ”

“ He also erroneously provides this mistaken version in handwritten Chinese. Luce reads the ancient Sichuan prefecture toponym 巂 as sui instead of xī, which according to my dictionary should be the correct reading. Luce misreads the description of inspectors on the Sichuan portion of the Chengdu to Yunnan route as "official civil and military". [2] Luce runs together the interpretation of subsequent statements regarding areas "beyond" (meaning under non-Chinese control — ie. west of) Yaozhou (modern Yaoan, north-west of Chuxiong) and the roads to the modern Guizhou and Guangxi regions. ”

“ To possibly further underscore the importance of this 'southern orientation', the relatively southerly location of the Dian king's tomb (ie. at 石寨山; shizhaishan) — favourable for taxation and defence of this passage — lies at the mountains southeast of Dianchi, as opposed to anywhere near modern Kunming (then Shanchan/Tuodong) city in the north of the basin... ”

“ The bronze drum industry quite likely used tin from the famous vein of Gejiu, which is located en-route between the lake-plateaux of central Yunnan and Jiāozhǐ.↑ Fan Chuo is writing in the 9th century, thus the walls and inscriptions were allegedly about 800 years old.↑ From Jiāozhǐ to the modern Dali region (Nanzhao's seat) via Kunming. A shared passage northward from the Red River valley to Kunming, then under only ten days between the two, which is quite fast. ”

“ He was blamed, however, for over-trusting Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan during his late reign, with Tang's golden age ending in the Anshi Rebellion. This marked the beginning of the Tang dynasty's decline.1 2 We interpret 陀附蠻所陷 as 陀 (fell or lost-out) 附 (to) 蠻 (barbarian) 所 ('s) 陷 ( [via] defeat in battle) . Luce however tacks the first character on to the general's name, probably in error.↑ This place name could mean 'outer' or 'external' 彌蕩, however this feels like an overly modern interpretation. ”

“ We side with our source edition's interpretation and consider this character separately. Distances within Yunnan and at its Borders (云南界内途程; yúnnán jiè nèi túchéng) Jiāozhǐ (交阯城) to Yángxiefai (陽苴咩城) Photo toward the Tonghai plain (and the 'ocean'-like lakes) from a temple on a mountain, taken 2009 by Christopher, Tania and Isabelle Luna. Chéngdū (成都府) to Yángxiefai (陽苴咩城) Note that the borderland region between modern Yunnan proper and the Sichuan basin through which this section's route passes is historically inhabited by the Yi. ”

“ References and notes
↑ The original Chinese uses the two characters 界内 (jiè nèi) — meaning literally (border) (internal) . Luce has interpreted this literally as a compound noun phrase (NP) , whereas we have interpreted it as a list. Our rationale is straightforward: many distances are described under foreign administrations (eg. well within Annam and Sichuan) , thus a list-based interpretation makes more sense.↑ From 將軍專知 which can be conceived as (challenge) (particular or focus) (knowledge) .. ”

“ Míngshǐlù (明史录; usually in English Records of the Ming Dynasty; lit. Historical Records of the Ming Dynasty) .↑ Possibly modern day Hekou, ie. the modern China/Vietnam border.↑ Unidentified.↑ Unidentified.↑ Apparently previously identified as about 2/3 of the way to the modern border, beyond the town of Yên Bái but not close to the town of Lào Cai. French maps seem to confirm the identification of the site as Bảo Hà, Bảo Yên District, the very first place one comes to after entering Lào Cai Province. ”

“ While Hanoi's environs were extremely wet — in fact essentially swamp-like — this is not present in the text, which literally says (city) (pond or lake) . Hanoi's water bodies have reduced significantly over time as drainage has occurred — these developments are reviewed cartographically in Jim Goodman's A Dragon Still Ascending: 1000 Years of Hanoi, Thé̂ Giới Publishers (2010) , ISBN: 9786047700967 (paperback; 260 pp., ill., maps) .↑ ie. ”