selected from volume 50

Zhou Shu preserves a Northern Zhou and Tang-compiled view of the western and northern frontier: Tujue expansion, steppe institutions and funerary custom, the Hephthalite polity, Sogd as ancient Yancai, Anxi, and Persia.

The selected passages are translated as a source dossier. They are evidence for later Chinese historical memory and frontier classification, while keeping the peoples and periods distinct.

The English is a Good Works Translation from the Classical Chinese passages printed below.

Translation

Tujue Conquest Notice

Sijin, one of whose names was Yandu, had an appearance full of strange features. His face was more than a foot wide; its color was very red; his eyes were like colored glass. His nature was hard and violent, and he devoted himself to campaigns and attacks.

He then led troops to attack Deng Shuzi and destroyed him. Shuzi fled here with his remaining embers. Sijin also defeated the Hephthalites in the west, drove off the Khitan in the east, annexed the Qigu in the north, and made the states beyond the frontier submit to his authority. His land extended eastward from west of the Liao Sea, westward as far as the Western Sea, ten thousand li; southward from north of the desert, northward to the Northern Sea, five or six thousand li. All of it belonged to him.

Tujue Customs Notice

Their custom is to wear the hair loose and fasten the robe on the left. They live in domed felt tents and move in pursuit of water and grass. They devote themselves to herding, archery, and hunting. They despise the old and value the strong. They are few in modesty and shame, and have no ritual propriety or righteousness. In this they are like the Xiongnu of antiquity.

When their ruler is first installed, his close attendants and chief ministers carry him on felt and turn him nine times following the sun. At each circuit, the ministers below all bow. When the bowing is finished, they help him mount a horse. With silk they twist and constrict his neck, bringing him almost to the point of suffocation. Then they release him and urgently ask him, "How many years can you be qaghan?" Since the ruler's mind and expression are dazed and confused, he cannot determine the number clearly. The ministers then follow what he says and use it to test the number of years, long or short.

Among the great offices there is the yabghu; next is the shad; next is the tegin; next is the ilteber; next is the tudun; together with the remaining lesser offices, there are twenty-eight ranks in all, all hereditary.

Their weapons are bows and arrows, whistling arrows, armor, lances, knives, and swords. Among their pendants and ornaments they also have futu. On the tops of their banners they set golden wolf-heads. The men of the guard are called fuli; in the language of Xia this too means wolf. Since they were originally born from a wolf, their intent is not to forget the old source.

When they levy troops and horses, or assess taxes in various livestock, they always cut wood to make tallies. Together with the tally they put a golden-notched arrow, seal it with wax, and use it as a token of trust.

Their penal law is this: rebellion, killing a person, committing adultery with another man's wife, and stealing a hobbled horse are all punished by death. If a man commits adultery with another man's daughter, he is heavily fined in goods, and then that daughter is given to him as wife. If a man injures another in a fight, he pays goods according to the severity. If a man steals a horse or various goods, each thing is exacted at more than tenfold.

When a person dies, the corpse is kept in the tent. Sons, grandsons, and all male and female relatives each kill sheep and horses and arrange them before the tent as sacrifice. They ride horses around the tent seven circuits. Each time they arrive at the tent door, they cut their faces with knives and cry, so that blood and tears flow together. When they have done this seven times, they stop.

On a chosen day, they take the horse the dead person rode and the things he had regularly worn and used, and burn them together with the corpse. They gather the remaining ashes and wait for the right season to bury them. If the person died in spring or summer, they wait until grasses and trees turn yellow and fall. If the person died in autumn or winter, they wait until flowers and leaves are flourishing. Only then do they dig a pit and bury.

On the burial day, the relatives set out sacrifices, ride horses, and cut their faces, as in the rites at the first death. When the burial is finished, they set up stones and standards at the grave. The number of stones follows the number of people killed by the dead person during life. They also hang on the standards all the heads of the sheep and horses that were sacrificed.

On that day, men and women all gather at the burial place in full dress and ornaments. If a man has affection for a woman, after returning home he sends someone to make the marriage inquiry; her father and mother usually do not oppose it. When a father, elder brother, uncle, or father's younger brother dies, sons, younger brothers, and nephews marry the stepmother, the father's younger brother's wife, or the elder brother's wife. Only the honored may not be approached downward in sexual relation.

Although they move without fixed place, each has its assigned territory. The qaghan always dwells at Mount Dujin. The royal tent opens to the east, because they honor the place where the sun rises. Every year he leads the nobles to sacrifice at the cave of their ancestors. Again, in the middle of the fifth month, they gather at the river of others and bow in sacrifice to the heavenly spirit. Four or five hundred li from Dujin there is a high mountain, rising far apart, without grass or trees on top. They call it Bodeng Ningli; in the language of Xia this means earth spirit.

Their written signs resemble Hu writing, but they do not know calendars. They only mark time by the greening of the grass.

Hephthalites

The state of the Hephthalites is a kind of the Great Yuezhi. It lies west of Khotan, and eastward from Chang'an it is ten thousand one hundred li away. Its king governs at Badiyan City, probably Wangshe City. The city is more than ten li square.

Their penal law and customs are broadly the same as those of the Turks. Their custom also is that brothers jointly take one wife. If the husband has no brothers, his wife wears a one-horned hat. If there are brothers, then according to their number she adds more horns to the hat.

The people are fierce and violent, able to fight in battle. Khotan, Anxi, and more than twenty other states, large and small, are all subject to them.

In the twelfth year of Datong, they sent envoys and offered local products. In the second year of the deposed emperor of Wei, and again in the second year of Emperor Ming, they sent envoys to offer tribute. Later they were defeated by the Turks, their tribes scattered, and official tribute ceased.

Sogd

The state of Sogd lies west of the Congling Mountains. It is probably ancient Yancai, also called Wennasha. It governs by a great marsh, northwest of Kangju.

In the fourth year of Baoding, its king sent envoys and offered local products.

Anxi

The state of Anxi lies west of the Congling Mountains and governs at Weisou City. To the north it touches Kangju; to the west it adjoins Persia. Eastward from Chang'an it is ten thousand seven hundred fifty li.

In the second year of Tianhe, its king sent envoys to offer tribute.

Persia

The state of Persia is a separate kind of the Great Yuezhi. It governs at Suli City, the ancient state of Tiaozhi. Eastward from Chang'an it is fifteen thousand three hundred li. The city is more than ten li square, with more than one hundred thousand households. The king's surname is Bosidi. He sits on a golden ram couch, wears a gold-flower crown, and dresses in a brocade robe and a woven cape, all adorned with pearls and precious things.

Their custom is this: men cut their hair, wear white leather hats, and wear pullover shirts open near the bottom on both sides. They also have kerchiefs and capes, edged with woven work. Women wear large shirts and cover themselves with large capes. They arrange the front of the hair in a topknot and let the back hang down, adorning it with gold and silver flowers. They also string five-colored beads and bind them at the upper arm.

Within his state the king separately has more than ten small courts, like the detached palaces of China. Every year in the fourth month he goes out and travels among them, and only in the tenth month does he return.

After the king takes the throne, he chooses the worthiest among his sons, secretly writes down his name, and seals it in the storehouse. None of the sons or great ministers knows it. When the king dies, all together open the writing and look at it. The one whose name is inside the sealed document is immediately established as king. The remaining sons each go out to take offices on the frontier. Brothers do not see one another again.

The people of the state call the king Yizan, the consort Fangbushuai, and the king's sons Shaye. Among the great officials is Mohutan, who manages prisons and lawsuits within the state; Nihuhan, who manages storehouses, passes, and prohibitions; Dibeibo, who manages documents and the many affairs. Next is Eluohedi, who manages the king's internal affairs; and Sabobo, who manages the troops and horses of the four quarters. Beneath them all are subordinate officials, each dividing and overseeing his affairs.

Their weapons are armor, lances, round shields, swords, crossbows, bows, and arrows. In battle they also ride elephants; one hundred men follow each elephant.

Their penal law is this: for grave offenses, the offender is hung on a pole and shot to death. For the next grade, he is bound in prison and released only when a new king is installed. For light offenses, they cut off the nose, cut off the feet, shave the head, or cut half the beard, and hang a placard on the neck as humiliation. Those who commit armed robbery are imprisoned for life. If a man commits adultery with the wife of a noble, the man is exiled and the woman has her ears and nose cut off. Taxes are paid in silver money according to the land.

By custom they serve the god of fire and xian. In marriage they also do not choose according to honored and lowly rank. Among the various foreign peoples, this is regarded as most ugly and filthy. When daughters of the common people are more than ten years old and have beauty, the king takes and raises them; if there are men of merit, he distributes them as gifts.

Most of the dead are abandoned on the mountains. Mourning garments are prepared for one month. Outside the city there are people who live apart and know only the affairs of mourning and burial; they are called unclean people. If they enter the city or market, they shake bells to distinguish themselves.

They take the sixth month as the beginning of the year. They especially value the seventh day of the seventh month and the first day of the twelfth month. On those days, from the common people upward, each summons and invites the others, sets out gatherings, and makes music, reaching the height of pleasure. Again, each year on the twentieth day of the first month, each person sacrifices to the ancestors who have died.

The climate is hot. Each household stores ice for itself. The land has much sand and gravel, and they draw water for irrigation. Their five grains and birds and beasts are broadly the same as those of the Middle Kingdom, except that they have no rice, broomcorn millet, or glutinous millet. The land produces famous horses and camels; wealthy households may have several thousand head. It also produces white elephants, lions, eggs of great birds, pearls, lizhu, glass, coral, amber, colored glass, agate, crystal, sese stones, gold, silver, brass, diamond, fire-jewel, fine iron, copper, tin, cinnabar, mercury, damask, brocade, white folded cloth, haircloth, rugs, tabeng cloth, red deer hide, and aromatics such as xunlu, turmeric, storax, and qingmu, as well as pepper, long pepper, rock honey, thousand-year dates, cyperus, haritaki, gallnut, green salt, and orpiment.

In the second year of the deposed emperor of Wei, its king sent envoys to offer local products.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was made from selected Classical Chinese passages from Zhou Shu, volume 50.

The English translation is independently derived from the Classical Chinese source body.

Compiled for the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Classical Chinese

### Tujue Conquest Notice

俟斤一名燕都，狀貌多奇異，面廣尺餘，其色甚赤，眼若瑠璃。性剛暴，務於征伐。乃率兵擊鄧叔子，滅之。叔子以其餘燼來奔。俟斤又西破囐噠，東走契丹，北并契骨，威服塞外諸國。其地東自遼海以西，西至西海萬里，南自沙漠以北，北至北海五六千里，皆屬焉。

### Tujue Customs Notice

其俗被髮左衽，穹廬氈帳，隨水草遷徙，以畜牧射獵為務。賤老貴壯，寡廉恥，無禮義，猶古之匈奴也。其主初立，近侍重臣等輿之以氈，隨日轉九回，每一回，臣下皆拜。拜訖，乃扶令乘馬，以帛絞其頸，使纔不至絕，然後釋而急問之曰：「你能作幾年可汗？」其主既神情瞀亂，不能詳定多少。臣下等隨其所言，以驗修短之數。大官有葉護，次（沒）〔設〕，次特（勒）〔勤〕，次俟利發，次吐屯發，及餘小官凡二十八等，皆世為之。兵器有弓矢鳴鏑甲矟刀劍，其佩飾則兼有伏突。旗纛之上，施金狼頭。侍衞之士，謂之附離，夏言亦狼也。蓋本狼生，志不忘舊。其徵發兵馬，科稅雜畜，輒刻木為數，并一金鏃箭，蠟封印之，以為信契。其刑法：反叛、殺人及姦人之婦、盜馬絆者，皆死；姦人女者，重責財物，即以其女妻之；鬭傷人者，隨輕重輸物；盜馬及雜物者，各十餘倍徵之。死者，停屍於帳，子孫及諸親屬男女，各殺羊馬，陳於帳前，祭之。繞帳走馬七匝，一詣帳門，以刀𠢐面，且哭，血淚俱流，如此者七度，乃止。擇日，取亡者所乘馬及經服用之物，并屍俱焚之，收其餘灰，待時而葬。春夏死者，候草木黃落，秋冬死者，候華葉榮茂，然始坎而瘞之。葬之日，親屬設祭，及走馬𠢐面，如初死之儀。葬訖，於墓所立石建標。其石多少，依平生所殺人數。又以祭之羊馬頭，盡懸挂於標上。是日也，男女咸盛服飾，會於葬所。男有悅愛於女者，歸即遣人娉問，其父母多不違也。父〔兄〕伯叔死者，子弟及姪等妻其後母、世叔母及嫂，唯尊者不得下淫。雖移徙無常，而各有地分。可汗恆處於都斤山，牙帳東開，蓋敬日之所出也。每歲率諸貴人，祭其先窟。又以五月中旬，集他人水，拜祭天神。於都斤四五百里，有高山迥出，上無草樹，謂其為勃登凝黎，夏言地神也。其書字類胡，而不知年曆，唯以草青為記。

### Hephthalites

囐噠國，大月氐之種類，在于闐之西，東去長安一萬百里。其王治拔底延城，蓋王舍城也。其城方十餘里。刑法、風俗，與突厥畧同。其俗又兄弟共娶一妻。夫無兄弟者，其妻戴一角帽；若有兄弟者，依其多少之數，更加帽角焉。其人兇悍，能戰鬭。于闐、安息等大小二十餘國，皆役屬之。

大統十二年，遣使獻其方物。魏廢帝二年，明帝二年，竝遣使來獻。後為突厥所破，部落分散，職貢遂絕。

### Sogd

粟特國在葱嶺之西，蓋古之庵蔡，一名溫那沙。治於大澤，在康居西北。

保定四年，其王遣使獻方物。

### Anxi

安息國在葱嶺之西，治蔚搜城。北與康居、西與波斯相接，東去長安一萬七百五十里。

天和二年，其王遣使來獻。

### Persia

波斯國，大月氐之別種，治蘇利城，古條支國也。東去長安一萬五千三百里。城方十餘里，戶十餘萬。王姓波斯氐。坐金羊床，戴金花冠，衣錦袍、織成帔，皆飾以珍珠寶物。其俗：丈夫剪髮，戴白皮帽，貫頭衫，兩廂近下開之，並有巾帔，緣以織成；婦女服大衫，披大帔，其髮前為髻，後被之，飾以金銀華，仍貫五色珠，絡之於膊。

王於其國內別有小牙十餘所，猶中國之離宮也，每年四月出遊處之，十月乃還。王即位以後，擇諸子內賢者，密書其名，封之於庫，諸子及大臣皆莫之知也。王死，乃眾共發書視之，其封內有名者，即立以為王，餘子各出就邊任。兄弟更不相見也。國人號王曰翳囋，妃曰防步率，王之諸子曰殺野。大官有摸胡壇，掌國內獄訟；泥忽汗，掌庫藏關禁；地卑勃，掌文書及眾務。次有遏羅訶地，掌王之內事；薩波勃，掌四方兵馬。其下皆有屬官，分統其事。兵器有甲矟圓排劍弩弓箭。戰竝乘象，每象百人隨之。其刑法：重罪懸諸竿上，射而殺之；次則繫獄，新王立乃釋之；輕罪則劓、刖若髠，或翦半鬚，及繫排於項上，以為恥辱；犯彊盜者，禁之終身；姦貴人妻者，男子流，婦人割其耳鼻。賦稅則准地輸銀錢。

俗事火祆神。婚合亦不擇尊卑，諸夷之中，最為醜穢矣。民女年十歲以上有姿貌者，王收養之，有功勳人，即以分賜。死者多棄屍於山，一月治服。城外有人別居，唯知喪葬之事，號為不淨人。若入城市，搖鈴自別。以六月為歲首，尤重七月七日、十二月一日。其日，民庶以上，各相命召，設會作樂，以極歡娛。又以每年正月二十日，各祭其先死者。

氣候暑熱，家自藏冰。地多沙磧，引水溉灌。其五穀及禽獸等，與中夏畧同，唯無稻及黍秫。土出名馬及駞，富室至有數千頭者。又出白象、師子、大鳥卵、珍珠、離珠、頗黎、珊瑚、琥珀、瑠璃、馬瑙、水晶、瑟瑟、金、銀、鍮石、金剛、火齊、鑌鐵、銅、錫、朱沙、水銀、綾、錦、白疊、毼、氍毹、𣰅㲪、赤麞皮，及薰六、鬱金、蘇合、青木等香，胡椒、蓽撥、石蜜、千（牛）〔年〕棗、香附子、訶棃勒、無食子、鹽綠、雌黃等物。

魏廢帝二年，其王遣使來獻方物。

Source Colophon

The Classical Chinese source body was extracted from the local Zhou Shu source dossier and copied for this translation pass at Tulku/Tools/scythian/sources/expansion_bench_2026-05-11/zhoushu_hephthalites_sogd_anxi_persia_chinese_source_manual85.txt.

The local source dossier identifies the route as Wikisource raw text for Zhou Shu volume 50, with local raw, HTML, and selected source captures preserved for verification.

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