Irano-Sinica— The Chinese in the Alexander Romance 571 



in weight, two hundred tents, men-servants and maid-servants, two 

 hundred shields of elephant-hide, as many Indian swords mounted in 

 gold and ornamented with gold and precious stones of great value, 

 as many horses suitable for kings, and one thousand loads of the finest 

 gold and silver, for in this country are situated the mountains where- 

 from they dig gold. The wall of that city is built of gold ore, and like- 

 wise the habitations of the people; and from this place Solomon, the 

 son of David, brought the gold with which he built the sanctuary, and 

 he made the vessels and the shields of the gold of the land of China. 1 

 In the history of Alexander the Great contained in the "Universal His- 

 tory" of al-Makin, who died at Damascus in 1273-74, a distinction is 

 made between the kings of Nearer China and Farther China. 2 



The most naive version of Alexander's adventures in China is con- 

 tained in the legendary "History of the Kings of Persia," written in 

 Arabic by al-Ta'alibi (961-1038) . 3 Here, the king of China is taken 

 aback, and loses his sleep when Alexander with his army enters China. 

 Under cover of night he visits Alexander, offering his submission in order 

 to prevent bloodshed. Alexander first demands the revenue of his 

 kingdom for five years, but gradually condescends to accept one third 

 for one year. The following day a huge force of Chinese troops surrounds 

 the army of Alexander, who believes his end has come, when the king 

 of China appears, descending from his horse and kissing the soil (!). 

 Alexander charges him with perfidy, which the king of China denies. 

 "What, then, does this army mean? "-"I wanted to show thee," the 

 king of China replied, "that I did not submit from weakness or owing 

 to the small number of my forces. I had observed that the superior 

 world favored thee and allowed thee to triumph over more powerful 

 kings than thou. Whoever combats the superior world will be van- 

 quished. For this reason I wanted to submit to the superior world 

 by submitting to thee, and humbly to obey it by obeying thee and 

 complying with thy orders." Alexander rejoined, "No demand should 

 be made of a man like thee. I never met any one more qualified as a 

 sage. Now I abandon all my claims upon thee and depart." The king 

 of China responded, "Thou wilt lose nothing by this arrangement." 

 He then despatched rich presents to him, like a thousand pieces of silk, 

 painted silk, brocade, silver, sable-skins, etc., and pledged himself to 

 pay an annual tribute. Although the whole story, of course, is pure 

 invention, Chinese methods of overcoming an enemy by superior 

 diplomacy are not badly characterized. 



1 Ibid., p. 179. 



* Ibid., pp. 369, 394. 



* H. Zotenberg, Histoire des rois des Perses, pp. 436-440. 



