236 Sino-Iranica 



distilled from the other. This process, of course, is purely fantastic, 

 and described as a magical feat; there is no reality underlying it. 



The word boradsa, in my opinion, is derived from the Turkish word 

 bor discussed by Pelliot; there is no Mongol word from which it could 

 be explained. In this connection, the early Chinese account given 

 above of foreign grape-wine among the Mongols gains a renewed 

 significance. Naturally it was a rare article in Mongolia, and for this 

 reason we hear but little about it. Likewise in Tibet grape-wine is 

 scarcely used, being restricted to religious offerings in the temples. 1 



The text of the Geser Romance referred to is also important from 

 another point of view. It contains the loan-word ariki, from Arabic 

 'araq, which appears in eastern Asia as late as the Mongol epoch 

 (below, p. 237). Consequently our work has experienced the influence 

 of this period, which is visible also in other instances. 2 The foundation 

 of the present recension, first printed at Peking in 17 16, is indeed trace- 

 able to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; many legends and 

 motives, of course, are of a much older date. 



Marco Polo relates in regard to T'ai-yuan fu, called by him Taianfu, 

 the capital of San-si Province, "There grow here many excellent vines, 

 supplying a great plenty of wine; and in all Cathay this is the only place 

 where wine is produced. It is carried hence all over the country." 3 

 Marco Polo is upheld by contemporary Chinese writers. Grape-wine 

 is mentioned in the Statutes of the Yuan Dynasty. 4 The Yin $an ten 

 yao ffc H IE H£, written in 133 1 (in 3 chapters) by Ho Se-hwi ^P $? W, 

 contains this account: 5 "There are numerous brands of wine: that 

 coming from Qara-Khoja (Ha-la-hwo &o B#J ^C) 6 is very strong, that 

 coming from Tibet ranks next. Also the wines from P'ih-yah and T'ai- 



1 Cf. T'oung Pao, 1914, p. 412. 



2 Cf. ibid., 1908, p. 436. 



8 Yule and Cordier, The Book of Ser Marco Polo, Vol. II, p. 13. Klaproth 

 (cf. Yule's notes, ibid., p. 16) was quite right in saying that the wine of that locality- 

 was celebrated in the days of the T'ang dynasty, and used to be sent in tribute to the 

 emperors. Under the Mongols the use of this wine spread greatly. The founder of 

 the Ming accepted the offering of wine from T'ai-yuan in 1373, but prohibited its 

 being presented again. This fact is contained in the Ming Annals (cf. L. Wieger, 

 Textes historiques, p. 201 1). 



4 Yuan tien Ian jq -fill jf£, Ch. 22, p. 65 (ed. 1908). 



6 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 25, p. 14 b. Regarding that work, cf. the Imperial 

 Catalogue, Ch. 116, p. 27 b. 



6 Regarding this name and its history see Pelliot, Journal asiatique, 1912, I, 

 p. 582. Qara-Khoja was celebrated for its abundance of grapes (Bretschneider, 

 Mediaeval Researches, Vol. I, p. 65). J. Dudgeon (The Beverages of the Chinese, 

 p. 27), misreading the name Ha-so-hwo, took it for the designation of a sort of wine. 

 Stuart (Chinese Materia Medica, p. 459) mistakes it for a transliteration of "hoi- 



