314 east turkestan
restricted missions from Khotan to one a year (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao337:
42a). Missions are recorded for 1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1092, and
- The conclusion must be that for Sui and T’ang, the statistices
are incomplete. The caravan traffic to China on the Silk Routes must
have been so intense that the historians only noted the most impor-
tant arrivals. For Sung, on the other hand, the statistics seem to be
relatively comprehensive.
Missions from East Turkestan arrived at the Chinese courts through-
out the year, but the preference was for the 11th, 12th and 1st months
in order to attend the New Year ceremonies. The 2nd month also had a
high frequency, whereas the 3rd to the 10th months had the lowest.
This is the distribution by 20-year periods of the 150 recorded
missions from Turfan, Karashahr, Kucha, Kashgar, Chu-chü-po,
and Khotan to Sui, T’ang, Later Chin, Later Han, Later Chou and
Sung:
Northern Silk Route Southern Silk Route587- 606: 0 0
607- 626: 14 1
627- 646: 24 10
647- 666: 3 3
667- 686: 2 3
687- 706: 2 0
707- 726: 4 3
727- 746: 2 0
747- 766: 5 2
767- 786: 0 0
787- 806: 0 0
807- 826: 0 0
827- 846: 0 0
847- 866: 0 0
867- 886: 0 0
887- 906: 0 0
907- 926: 0 0
927- 946: 0 3
947- 966: 3 6
967- 986: 4 3
987-1006: 6 0
1007-1026: 8 3