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沙州記

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Text ID
KR2k0191
Date
350–550
Dynasty
十六國–南朝

Shāzhōu jì 沙州記

Records of Shazhou Anonymous — Sixteen Kingdoms to Southern Dynasties period (c. 350–550 CE)

About the work

A fragmentary geographic record of Shāzhōu 沙州 (the Shazhou/Dunhuang administrative zone in modern Gansu) and the adjacent western regions. Anonymous; no author attribution survives. The text is organized into named topographic sections, each headed with a place name (Lóng Hé 龍涸, Báimǎ Guān 白馬關, etc.). The reference to the Tuyuhun 吐谷渾 building a bridge over the Yellow River (hé lì 河厲) provides a key dating criterion: the Tuyuhun kingdom flourished ca. 285–663 CE, with its peak activity in the Gansu corridor from the late 4th to early 6th century, placing composition roughly in the range 350–550 CE.

Abstract

The text is organized into topographic sections:

  1. Lóng Hé 龍涸 (Dragon Well?): An expedition note dated the 26th day of the sixth month: “Departing Longhuo, day and night constantly cold. We cannot remove our padded trousers. Among the seventy-two in my party, all have black and withered faces, dark and blue-bruised lips and eyes.” A vivid first-person account of altitude/cold exposure.

  2. White Horse Pass 白馬關: “Forty lǐ north of Longhuo is White Horse Pass, extremely steep and precipitous. Eighteen men hold the narrow point; even ten thousand cannot advance.” A strategic pass of the Gansu corridor.

  3. River Ford 河厲: “The Tuyuhun 吐谷渾 built a bridge over the river, called the Hé Lì 河厲 (River Ford), one hundred fifty paces long, with ornamental railings.” This is the key dating clue — the Tuyuhun bridge over the Yellow River in the Gansu area.

  4. Táo River 洮水 (Tao River): “The Tao River 洮水 issues from Qiángtái Mountain 強臺山, also called the east of the mountain — that is the Tao River source; south of the mountain is the Diǎn River 墊江 source.”

  5. Má Lěi 麻壘 (Hemp Rampart): “West of Bào Hǎn city 抱罕城 is the Hemp Rampart, capable of holding ten thousand troops.”

  6. Chóu Chí Mountain 仇池山 (Chouchi Mountain): “Chouchi Mountain has a hundred-qǐng plateau at its summit — the Hundred-Qǐng Pool; its walls rise sheer a hundred rèn; one man guarding the road, ten thousand cannot pass.” The Qiuchi Mountain was the stronghold of the Di 氐 people’s Chouchi state (296–553 CE), providing a further dating context.

  7. Bird-Mouse Shared Burrow Mountain 鳥鼠同穴山: “The birds are like grave sparrows, slightly white; the mice are small and yellow with no tail. Wherever they share burrows, the soil is fertile, all loose and soft as if plowed, and yellow flowers and purple grasses grow abundantly.” A natural-history note on the burrowing owl / prairie dog-like symbiosis reported in northwest China, referenced in the Shānjīng tradition.

The text is a rare witness to the experience of traversing the western corridor and its strategic landscape during the tumultuous period of the Sixteen Kingdoms and early Southern Dynasties.

Translations and research

No substantial secondary literature located.

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