﻿434 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  Chinese, 
  must 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  common 
  abode 
  in 
  central 
  Asia 
  about 
  the 
  

   Pamir 
  Plateau, 
  the 
  former 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Tarim 
  Basin, 
  the 
  latter 
  

   to 
  the 
  east, 
  in 
  the 
  Yarkand 
  and 
  Khotan 
  region, 
  brings 
  the 
  Chinese 
  

   stage 
  by 
  stage 
  on 
  their 
  eastward 
  way, 
  first 
  into 
  modern 
  Kansu 
  Prov- 
  

   ince, 
  and 
  thence, 
  at 
  an 
  " 
  uncertain 
  epoch 
  " 
  but 
  prior 
  to 
  3000 
  B. 
  C, 
  

   into 
  the 
  Wei 
  Valley 
  in 
  Shensi.^ 
  From 
  this 
  region, 
  which 
  for 
  him, 
  

   too, 
  was 
  the 
  cradle 
  of 
  Chinese 
  civilization, 
  a 
  new 
  theory, 
  based 
  upon 
  

   his 
  own 
  personal 
  interpretation 
  of 
  the 
  Yii 
  Kung 
  or 
  " 
  Tribute 
  of 
  Yii," 
  

   a 
  brief 
  treatise 
  forming 
  a 
  chapter 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Classics," 
  the 
  Shu 
  

   Ching, 
  enabled 
  him 
  to 
  follow 
  their 
  further 
  movements. 
  According 
  

   to 
  him, 
  we 
  have 
  in 
  this 
  work 
  a 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  routes 
  followed 
  by 
  

   the 
  Chinese 
  from 
  their 
  primitive 
  abode, 
  eastward 
  to 
  Shensi, 
  along 
  

   the 
  lower 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  and 
  southward 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  Yangtse.* 
  This 
  

   interpretation, 
  however, 
  although 
  ingenious, 
  is 
  too 
  arbitrary 
  to 
  have 
  

   found 
  acceptance. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  Schlegel,^ 
  led 
  through 
  false 
  etymologies 
  into 
  

   regarding 
  the 
  " 
  primitive 
  roots 
  " 
  of 
  Chinese 
  and 
  Sanskrit 
  as 
  identical, 
  

   naturally 
  brought 
  the 
  Chinese 
  along 
  a 
  similar 
  road, 
  from 
  the 
  country 
  

   common 
  to 
  them 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  Indo-Europeans 
  in 
  primitive 
  times, 
  

   down 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  to 
  their 
  present 
  domain. 
  

  

  Terrien 
  de 
  Lacouperie 
  believed 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  proved 
  the 
  identity 
  of 
  

   ancient 
  Chinese 
  writing 
  with 
  cuneiform, 
  and 
  further 
  of 
  the 
  names 
  

   of 
  Shen-nung 
  and 
  Huang-ti, 
  two 
  mythical 
  Chinese 
  emperors 
  ascribed 
  

   to 
  the 
  thirtieth 
  century 
  or 
  thereabouts, 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  Sargon, 
  king 
  

   of 
  Agade 
  in 
  Bab3donia, 
  and 
  of 
  Kudur 
  Nakhkhunte, 
  king 
  of 
  Susa. 
  

   For 
  him 
  the 
  Chinese, 
  whom 
  he 
  calls 
  the 
  " 
  Bak 
  tribes," 
  taking 
  for 
  an 
  

   ethnic 
  name 
  the 
  expression 
  " 
  the 
  hundred 
  families 
  " 
  ° 
  by 
  which 
  they 
  

   often 
  designate 
  themselves, 
  were 
  a 
  tribe 
  of 
  emigrants 
  who 
  set 
  out 
  

   from 
  the 
  region 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Hindu 
  Kush 
  and 
  southeast 
  of 
  the 
  

   Caspian, 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Elam 
  (Susiana). 
  He 
  follows 
  them 
  clear 
  

   across 
  Asia, 
  regarding 
  all 
  the 
  place 
  names 
  containing 
  the 
  syllable 
  

   " 
  bak 
  " 
  as 
  traces 
  of 
  their 
  passage, 
  e. 
  g., 
  Bactriana, 
  Bagdad, 
  Bagistan, 
  

   etc. 
  He 
  makes 
  them 
  cross 
  the 
  Pamir 
  and 
  descend 
  upon 
  Kashgar 
  

   and 
  Khotan, 
  finally 
  bringing 
  them 
  to 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River 
  

   and 
  the 
  Lo 
  and 
  Wei, 
  in 
  Shensi 
  ; 
  he 
  even 
  claimed 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  fix 
  the 
  

   exact 
  date 
  of 
  this 
  migration, 
  which 
  he 
  assigned 
  to 
  the 
  years 
  2285- 
  

   2282 
  B. 
  C.^ 
  

  

  Thus, 
  whatever 
  their 
  opinion 
  regarding 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese, 
  

   these 
  writers 
  all 
  agree 
  in 
  bringing 
  them 
  into 
  China 
  from 
  the 
  north- 
  

  

  '^ 
  Richthofen 
  ; 
  China 
  I, 
  pp. 
  414, 
  415, 
  and 
  map 
  3. 
  

  

  * 
  Richthofen, 
  op, 
  cit., 
  I, 
  pp. 
  340-342 
  and 
  map 
  5. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Schlegel 
  ; 
  Sinico-Aryaca 
  ou 
  recherches 
  SHr 
  les 
  racines 
  primitives 
  dans 
  les 
  langues 
  

   chinolse 
  et 
  aryenne. 
  Batavia, 
  1872. 
  

  

  « 
  In 
  Chinese, 
  " 
  pai-hsing 
  " 
  ; 
  the 
  ancient 
  pronunciation 
  of 
  the 
  word 
  " 
  pai," 
  meaning 
  

   " 
  hundred," 
  was 
  incorrectly 
  restored 
  hy 
  Terrien 
  de 
  Lacouperie 
  as 
  " 
  balj." 
  

  

  ' 
  Terrien 
  de 
  Lacouperie 
  ; 
  Western 
  Origin 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  Civilization. 
  London. 
  1894, 
  

   pp. 
  26, 
  27, 
  302, 
  305, 
  309, 
  321, 
  etc. 
  

  

  