A walled town of Chinese captives taken by the Turks
Editorial contextA little south of the merchant city of Taraz stood a small walled town of some 300 households whose people were originally Chinese. They had been carried off by the Turks, then gathered their countrymen together and held this town. They had taken up Turkish dress and ways, though the next page adds that they still kept the speech and manners of their homeland. A glimpse of who actually lived in towns under steppe rule.
Ten li or so to the south is a small isolated town of more than 300 households. They were originally people of China, carried off long ago by the Turks. Later they gathered together their fellow countrymen and jointly hold this town, living inside it. In clothing and bearing they have become like the Turks.
Working translation
Original wording
南行十餘里有小孤城三百餘户本中國人也昔為突厥所掠後遂鳩集同國共保此城於中宅居衣服去就遂同突厥
About Chinese captives living under the Western Turks
Continue in this sourceXuanzang's Records of the Western Regions629 to 645 · 12 passagesA city of red stone and mounds like the Big Dipper
Editorial contextRiding west along the mountains beyond the old Karakhitai lands, the travellers saw a city built of red stone and the traces of an ancient military camp. To the west stood great grave mounds arranged like the stars of the Big Dipper, and they went on over a stone bridge. The diarist names no builders and does not say whether the city was lived in.
After seven or eight days' journey, the mountains suddenly turned to the south. We saw a city built of red stones, and there were the traces of an ancient military encampment. To the west we saw great grave-mounds, which resembled the tou sing (the constellation of Ursa major).
About Unknown builders, on the Mongol road west
Keep in mind
The site is uncertain: Schuyler took the red city for Talas (Taraz), but Bretschneider rejects his evidence. The diarist does not say who built the city or raised the mounds.
The Turkish khan's tame deer at the Thousand Springs
Editorial contextThe meadows of the Thousand Springs were where the khan of the Western Turks came every summer to escape the heat. Herds of deer there wore bells and rings and were so tame they barely ran from people, because the khan loved them and decreed death without pardon for anyone who killed one. Xuanzang passed this way on his outward journey.
The khan of the Turks comes here every year to escape the summer heat. There are herds of deer, many decorated with bells and rings, so tame with people that they hardly startle and run. The khan loves them and has ordered his followers that anyone who dares to kill one will be executed without pardon, so these deer live out their natural lives.
Working translation
Original wording
突厥可汗每来避暑中有羣鹿多飾鈴鐶馴狎於人不甚驚走可汗愛賞下命羣屬敢加殺害有誅無赦故此羣鹿得終其夀
About Western Turks and their khan
Continue in this sourceXuanzang's Records of the Western Regions629 to 645 · 12 passages