The question as to Caichu may still be
settled, as it must be possible to ascertain where the Kin resided."[2]
[Mr. Rockhill writes (Land of the Lamas, p. 17): "One hundred and twenty
li south-south-west of the city is Kiai Chou, with the largest salt
works in China." Richthofen has estimated that about 150,000 tons of salt
are produced annually from the marshes around it. - H.C.]
NOTE 3. - The eight days' journey through richly cultivated plains run up
the basin of the Wei River, the most important agricultural region of
North-West China, and the core of early Chinese History. The loess is
here more than ever predominant, its yellow tinge affecting the whole
landscape, and even the atmosphere. Here, according to Baron v.
Richthofen, originated the use of the word hwang "yellow," as the symbol
of the Earth, whence the primeval emperors were styled Hwang-ti, "Lord
of the Earth," but properly "Lord of the Loess."
[The Rev. C. Holcombe (l.c. p. 66) writes: "From T'ung-kwan to Si-ngan
fu, the road runs in a direction nearly due west, through a most lovely
section of country, having a range of high hills upon the south, and the
Wei River on the north. The road lies through one long orchard, and the
walled towns and cities lie thickly along, for the most part at a little
distance from the highway." Mr. Rockhill says (Land of the Lamas, pp.
19-20): "The road between T'ung-kwan and Si-ngan fu, a distance of 110
miles, is a fine highway - for China - with a ditch on either side, rows of
willow-trees here and there, and substantial stone bridges and culverts
over the little streams which cross it. The basin of the Wei ho, in which
this part of the province lies, has been for thousands of years one of the
granaries of China. It was the colour of its loess-covered soil, called
'yellow earth' by the Chinese, that suggested the use of yellow as the
colour sacred to imperial majesty. Wheat and sorghum are the principal
crops, but we saw also numerous paddy fields where flocks of flamingoes
were wading, and fruit-trees grew everywhere." - H.C.]
[Illustration: Reduced Facsimile of the celebrated Christian Inscription
of Singan fu in Chinese and Syrian Characters]
Kenjanfu, or, as Ramusio gives it, Quenzanfu, is SI-NGAN FU, or as it was
called in the days of its greatest fame, Chang-ngan, probably the most
celebrated city in Chinese history, and the capital of several of the most
potent dynasties. It was the metropolis of Shi Hwang-ti of the T'sin
Dynasty, properly the first emperor and whose conquests almost intersected
those of his contemporary Ptolemy Euergetes.
