Manshu/Chapter 1

蛮书/卷01

Translator's note


In general for many portions I am confident of a reasonable translation. However, there are also more than a few areas where I am certain there are errors: to what degree, however, I am less sure. In general you should be able to interpret the confidence of translation by the depth of notes and/or mapping around the passage(s) in question. The final portion is particularly murky. The sections are of my own construction.

Differences with previous Gordon H. Luce Translation
I am currently (December 2015) reviewing this portion of the translation against Gordon H. Luce's Previous English Translation. This should allow the detection of errors and/or points of disagreement for further investigation and comment. The following list excludes systemic and stylistic differences and focuses on objective issues.


 * Correct title
 * Luce titles the chapter Road-stages within the Frontiers of Yunnan, whereas we use Distances within Yunnan and at its Borders.


 * Specific errors
 * In the note regarding the demarcation of borders, Luce's translation appears to mistranslate the reign year as 43, whereas we calculate 44—45. The recalculated year is placed by us within the body of the translation, whereas Luce omits it entirely.
 * After identifying the correct pronunciation of Xiefai based on the transliterator's note, Luce's translation continues to identify the place name using a modern Mandarin pronunciation (Jumie).
 * Luce's translation improperly assumes intermediate place names and place name suffixes while describing the route from Annam to Guyong, specifically creating the nonexistant place Hsia-pu and the nonexistant suffix -pu to Guyong. This is because Luce failed to understand that there was a section of rapids in this part of the river forcing dismount from boats, and the -pu he could not comprehend was emphasizing walking to compensate rather than travel by boat.
 * Luce drops the "via Denglu" place name entirely as the route proceeds from Guyong.
 * Luce wrongfully asserts Jiangchuan as 'District headquarters', with no evidence whatsoever.
 * Luce wrongfully reads the last character of the place name Bái​shì​ (白士) — ie. 士 shì​ — as the visually similar and relatively common yet distinct character 土 (tǔ). He also erroneously provides this mistaken version in handwritten Chinese.
 * Luce reads the ancient Sichuan prefecture toponym 巂 as sui instead of xī, which according to my dictionary should be the correct reading.
 * Luce misreads the description of inspectors on the Sichuan portion of the Chengdu to Yunnan route as "official civil and military".
 * Luce runs together the interpretation of subsequent statements regarding areas "beyond" (meaning under non-Chinese control — ie. west of) Yaozhou (modern Yaoan, north-west of Chuxiong) and the roads to the modern Guizhou and Guangxi regions.
 * While describing the upper Yangtse in the route toward modern Dali from modern Sichuan, Luce implies that his Lu-shui is another reference to the Lu-chiang (瀘江) river rather than a place name, which seems more likely.
 * In Luce's translation, a rope-bridge is ascribed to the Ch'ing-ch'u-p'u—T'sang-p'ang portion of the route. However, in the digital version of our Palace Museum Library edition source text, a firmly placed full stop attributes this bridge instead to the Jiā​pí​guǎn​ (伽毗館)—Qīngqúpù (清渠鋪) portion. Without additional sources, we err in favour of our edition but note this point of contention for future readers.
 * Luce translates a phrase referring to a route stage in steep mountains as "dangerous and steep" where there is apparently no evidence for the "danger" concept in the text.
 * Discussing Lòngdòng city (弄棟城), Luce ascribes an historical affiliation with both Yáozhōu (姚州) and Xīchuān (西川), whereas we consider this an unlikely reading and assert the former as current at the time of writing, and the latter as a previous political affiliation.
 * Luce ascribes a third character to the historical military commander-in-chief of Yaozhou, Zhāng​ Qián​ (張乾), calling him Chang Ch'ien-t'o. We side with our source edition's interpretation and consider this character separately.

Chéngdū (成都府) to Yángxiefai (陽苴咩城)
Note that the borderland region between modern Yunnan proper and the Sichuan basin through which this section's route passes is historically inhabited by the Yi. The Yi were both powerful and independent until after the Yuan Dynasty when their princess made a deal with the invading Mongols. They wore impressive armour, examples of which can be seen online here at Sichuan University Museum and here at Harvard, or in person at the Anthropology Museum of Yunnan University on Beimenjie in Kunming.

Politics
Note that this entire portion is taken to have been a latter explanatory diversion, and not part of the main body of text.

The Stone Gate (石門) and the Kunming-Xichuan Route (昆川至雲南)


(note: here we shall have a new map! currently under development...)