CHANG
CHUN, KIU (1148-1227), Chinese Taist sage and traveller,
was born in 1148. In 1219 he was invited by Jenghiz Khan, founder of the
Mongol empire and greatest of Asiatic conquerors, to visit him. Jenghiz’
letter of invitation, dated the 15th of May 1219 (by present reckoning),
has been preserved, and is among the curiosities of history; here the terrible
warrior appears as a meek disciple of wisdom, modest and simple, almost
Socratic in his self-examination, alive to many of the deepest truths of
life and government. Chang Chun obeyed this summons; and leaving his home
in Shantung (February 1220) journeyed
first to Peking. Learning that Jenghiz had gone far west upon fresh conquests,
the sage stayed the winter in Peking. In February 1221
he started again and crossed eastern Mongolia to the
camp of Jenghiz’ brother Ujughen, near Lake Bör or Buyur in the upper
basin of the Kerulun-Amur. Thence he travelled south-westward up the Kerulun,
crossed the Karakorum region in north-central Mongolia, and so came to
the Chinese Altai, probably passing near the present Uliassutai. After
traversing the Altai he visited Bishbalig, answering to the modern Urumtsi,
and moved along the north side of the Tian Shan range to lake Sairam, Almalig
(or Kulja), and the rich valley of the Ili. We then trace him to the Chu,
over this river to Talas and the Tashkent region, and over the Jaxartes
(or Syr Daria) to Samar-kand, where he halted for some months. Finally,
through the “Iron Gates” of Termit, over the Oxus, and by way of Balkh
and northern Afghanistan, Chang Chun reached Jenghiz’ camp near the Hindu
Kush. Returning home he followed much the same course as on his outward
route: certain deviations, however, occur, such as a visit to Kuku-khoto.
He was back in Peking by the end of January 1224. From the narrative of
his expedition (the Si yu hi, written by his pupil and companion
Li Chi Chang) we derive some of the most faithful and vivid pictures ever
drawn of nature and man between the Great Wall of China and Kabul, between
the Aral and the Yellow Sea: we may particularly notice the sketches of
the Mongols, and of the people of Samarkand and its neighbourhood; the
account of the fertility and products of the latter region, as of the Ili
valley, at or near Almalig-Kulja; and the description of various great
mountain ranges, peaks and defiles, such as the Chinese Altai, the Tian
Shan, Mt Bogdo-ola (?), and the Iron Gates of Termit. There is, moreover,
a noteworthy reference to a land apparently identical with the uppermost
valley of the Yenisei. After his return Chang Chun lived at Peking till
his death on the 23rd of July 1227. By order of Jenghiz some of the former
imperial garden grounds were made over to him, for the foundation of a
Taoist monastery.
See E. Bretschneider, Mediaeval Researches from Eastern
Asiatic Sources, vol. i. pp. 35-108, where a complete translation of
thenarrative is given, with a valuable commentary; C. R. Beazley Dawn
of Modern Geography, iii. 539.
(C. R. B.)
Contributor
Charles R. Beazley