--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:
> --- Francesco Brighenti <frabrig@...> wrote:
>
> > 'tuhuolo'/'tu-huo-lo' is Hiuen Tsang's *tuoxuâlâ/*tuo-xuâ-lâ.
> > Hiuen Tsang knew and expressely condemned the former
> > Chinese spellings of this name -- under the Wei: t'uo-hu-lo;
> > under the Sui: t'u-huo-la (*t'uo-xuâ-lâ). It means 'Tokharistan'.
>
> It looks, then, (at least from Xuanzang's perspective), that the
> term did not enter the Chinese language until ca. the 5th c.
> (probably via Buddhist sources?),
Yes, this seems very likely.
> and (judging by the bit that I've read of his) that it applied
> only to the territory of Bactria(?)......May we then conclude
> that.......for him.......the inhabitants of the Tarim basin
> (which he knew and described very well) were NOT "Tokharians"?
Hiuan Tsang (= Xuanzang) knew *tuoxuâlâ in the west, which was
his rendering of the name used to designate Tokhâristân (= Bactria);
yet, it is very interesting to notice that he also associates
his 'hypercorrect' place name *tuoxuâlâ to ruins in the southern
route of the Tarim basin. On his return journey he passed through
Endere between Niya and Krorayina; here, apparently through the
hearing of some tales, he thought to recognize the ruins of
the 'old' *tuoxuâlâ country. It is evident that Xuanzang was here
using his ordinary transcription of the name of (the western)
Tokhâristân to refer to the a place in the east that he presumedly
thought had been inhabited by the same people in olden times.
The matter, however, is way too complex. I will post Bailey's paper
in the files section so as to provide a list of all the western and
eastern sources for place-names and ethnonyms that can be associated
with 'Tocharians'.
Kindest regards,
Francesco