At the present day, they occupy the country to the west, and
are known under the generic name of Man-tzu."
"It has already been remarked that Si-fan, convertible with Man-tzu, is
a loose Chinese expression of no ethnological value, meaning nothing more
than Western barbarians; but in a more restricted sense it is used to
designate a people (or peoples) which inhabits the valley of the Yalung
and the upper T'ung, with contiguous valleys and ranges, from about the
twenty-seventh parallel to the borders of Koko-nor. This people is
sub-divided into eighteen tribes." (Baber, p. 81.)
Si-fan or Pa-tsiu is the name by which the Chinese call the Tibetan tribes
which occupy part of Western China. (Deveria, p. 167.)
Dr. Bretschneider writes (Med. Res. II. p. 24): "The north-eastern part
of Tibet was sometimes designated by the Chinese name Si-fan, and Hyacinth
[Bitchurin] is of opinion that in ancient times this name was even applied
to the whole of Tibet. Si-fan means, 'Western Barbarians.' The biographer
of Hiuen-Tsang reports that when this traveller, in 629, visited Liang-chau
(in the province of Kan-Suh), this city was the entrepot for merchants from
Si-fan and the countries east of the Ts'ung-ling mountains. In the
history of the Hia and Tangut Empire (in the Sung-shi) we read, s.a.
1003, that the founder of this Empire invaded Si-fan and then proceeded
to Si-liang (Liang-chau). The Yuen-shi reports, s.a. 1268:
