絹馬交易と「禺氏の玉」 : 最古のシルク・ロードについて

Abstract

The term, "exchange of silk with horse", means the normal relation long existent between a nomadic country in north Mongolia and an agricultural country in south China, with the Great Wall of China in between. An upset of balance of the relation resulted in the invasion of the nomads upon China. The relation between the two peoples is an old one and goes back to the days when they got in touch with each other, but its entry into historical records was observed much late. The statement of Lo 倮 by Wushi 烏氏 recorded in a chapter on the economical facts in the Si-ma Qian's History is of much significance as the oldest historical materials, clearly describing the trace of exchange of silk with horse. The location of Wu-shi has been not distinct so far, but my research shows that Wu-shi was located in an important spot for the north-south transportation connecting the Jing-he 涇河 a branch of Wei-he 渭河, and the Qing-shui-he 清水河 which rose in the southern mountains of 甘肅省 and poured into Huang-he, and it was in the watershed district where the two rivers rose. And it leads to the clarification that the road was already in use down from the Pre Qin age and that consequently An-ding-qun 安定郡 was established with this traffic road as its centre. It is to be noted that the road branched off a little north of Gu-yuan (present Hei-cheng-zhen 黑城鎭) and led to the West. It went west, north of Liu-pan 六盤 Mountain range, and across the Huang-he around Qing-yuan 靖遠 in 甘肅省 and extended to Liang-zhou 涼州 (Wu-wei 武威) via the point of contact of Alashan desert and Wu-shao-Ling , 烏鞘嶺 range. "Yue-shi-dao 月氏道" observed in 21 provinces of An-ding-qun in the Former Han period was possibly located around Wu-Ian-xian 烏蘭縣 in Hui-zhou 會州 of the Tang Dynasty, an important crossing point of Huang-he on the road. Until the early part of the Former Han period, "Kansu oases bridge", west of Liang-zhou, was a base of Yue-shi (Yu-shi) and was named "Yue-shi-dao" after the important negotiation place with Yue-shi. Yue-shi was transmitting nephrites, hence the term, "nephrite of Yu-shi", which was of frequent employment in Chinese classics. The nephrites transmitted to China were believed to be sent to the valley of ling-he via Yue-shi-dao by Wu-shi. Therefore, the term "exchange of silk with horse" (which was conducted by Wu-shi) covers not only the north-south but the east-west relation, as is indicated by the transmittance of the products of the Western provinces. The road, thus instrumental in linking China and Liang-zhou was an important east-to-west traffic road prior to the flourishment of the arterial road via Lan-zhou and indeed the oldest "silk road", so to speak