Gaubil Says The Chinese Geography Places Yetsina
North Of Kanchau And North-East Of Suhchau, At A Distance Of 120 Leagues
From Kanchau, But Observes That This Is Certainly Too Great.
(Gaubil, p.
49.)
[I believe there can be no doubt that Etzina must be looked for on the
river Hei-shui, called Etsina by the Mongols, east of Suhchau. This
river empties its waters into the two lakes Soho-omo and Sopo-omo. Etzina
would have been therefore situated on the river on the border of the
Desert, at the top of a triangle whose bases would be Suhchau and Kanchau.
This river was once part of the frontier of the kingdom of Tangut. (Cf.
Deveria, Notes d'epigraphie mongolo-chinoise, p. 4.) Reclus (Geog.
Univ., Asie Orientale, p. 159) says: "To the east [of Hami], beyond the
Chukur Gobi, are to be found also some permanent villages and the remains
of cities. One of them is perhaps the 'cite d'Etzina' of which Marco Polo
speaks, and the name is to be found in that of the river Az-sind."
"Through Kanchau was the shortest, and most direct and convenient road to
I-tsi-nay.... I-tsi-nay, or Echine, is properly the name of a lake.
Khubilai, disquieted by his factious relatives on the north, established a
military post near lake I-tsi-nay, and built a town, or a fort on the
south-western shore of this lake. The name of I-tsi-nay appears from that
time; it does not occur in the chronicle of the Tangut kingdom; the lake
had then another name.
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