1
兀欲，東丹王突欲子也。 突欲奔于唐，兀欲留不從，號永康王。 契丹好飲人血，突欲左右姬妾，多刺其臂吮之，其小過輒挑目、刲灼，不勝其毒。 然喜賔客，好飲酒，工畫，頗知書。 其自契丹歸中國，載書數千卷，樞密使趙延壽每假其異書、醫經，皆中國所無者。 明宗時，自滑州朝京師，遙領武信軍節度使，食其俸，賜甲第一區，宮女數人。 契丹兵助晉于太原，唐廢帝遣宦者秦繼旻、皇城使李彥紳殺突欲于其第。 晉高祖追封突欲為燕王。
Wuyu was a son of Tuyu, the Dongdan King. When Tuyu defected to Tang, Wuyu remained in Khitan territory and refused to go with him, taking the title Prince of Yongkang. The Khitan custom favored drinking human blood; Tuyu's women and attendants often let him prick their arms and suck the blood, while petty offenses brought gouged eyes, branding, and cautery until they could bear no more. Even so he welcomed guests, loved wine, painted well, and was fairly literate. On returning from Khitan lands to China he carried thousands of books; Zhao Yanshou, the Privy Council commissioner, often borrowed his exotic texts and medical treatises—works none in China had. Under Emperor Mingzong he traveled from Hua Prefecture to the capital, held the Wuxin circuit commission in absentia with its stipend, and received a top-grade mansion and several palace women. While Khitan forces were aiding Jin at Taiyuan, the deposed Tang emperor sent the eunuch Qin Jimin and Imperial City commissioner Li Yanshen to kill Tuyu in his mansion. Gaozu of Jin posthumously enfeoffed Tuyu as Prince of Yan.
2
德光滅晉，兀欲從至京師。 德光殺繼旻、彥紳，籍其家貲，悉以賜兀欲。 德光死欒城，兀欲與趙延壽及諸大將等俱入鎮州。 延壽自稱權知軍國事，遣人求鎮州管鑰于兀欲，兀欲不與。 延壽左右曰：「契丹大人聚而謀者詾詾，必有變，宜備之。 今中國之兵，猶有萬人，可以擊虜； 不然，事必不成。」 延壽猶豫不決。 兀欲妻，延壽以為妹，五月朔旦，兀欲召延壽及張礪、李崧、馮道等置酒，酒數行，兀欲謂延壽曰：「妹自上國來，當一見之。」 延壽欣然與兀欲俱入。 食頃，兀欲出坐，笑謂礪等曰：「燕王謀反，鎖之矣。 諸君可無慮也。」 又曰：「先帝在汴州與我算子一莖，許我知南朝軍國事，昨聞寢疾，無遺命，燕王安得自擅邪？」 礪等罷去。 兀欲召延壽廷立而詰之，延壽不能對。 乃遣人監之，而籍其家貲。 兀欲宣德光遺制曰：「永康王，大聖皇帝之嫡孫，人皇王之長子，可於中京即皇帝位。」 中京，契丹謂鎮州也。 遣使者告哀於諸鎮。 蕭翰聞德光死，棄汴州而北，至鎮州，兀欲已去。 翰以騎圍張礪宅，執礪而責曰：「汝教先帝勿用胡人為節度使，何也？」 礪對不屈，翰鎖之。 是夕，礪卒。
After Deguang overthrew Jin, Wuyu accompanied him to the capital. Deguang put Jimin and Yanshen to death, inventoried their estates, and bestowed everything on Wuyu. When Deguang died at Luancheng, Wuyu entered Zhen Prefecture with Zhao Yanshou and the other senior commanders. Yanshou proclaimed himself provisional overseer of military and state affairs and sent men to demand the keys to Zhen Prefecture from Wuyu, but Wuyu refused. His advisers said, "The Khitan chiefs are meeting in a noisy council—something is surely afoot; you must guard against it. Our Chinese forces still number ten thousand and can strike the Khitan; otherwise your plan will never succeed." Yanshou wavered and could not decide. On the first day of the fifth month Wuyu invited Yanshou, Zhang Li, Li Song, Feng Dao, and others to drink; after several rounds he said, "My wife has just arrived from the north—she is your sister by marriage and you should meet her." Yanshou went in with Wuyu in high spirits. Before long Wuyu reappeared and told Li and the rest with a smile, "The Prince of Yan was plotting rebellion; I have put him in chains. You need not worry." He went on, "At Bianzhou the late emperor gave me a single counting rod and promised I would govern the Southern Court's armies and state; when he fell ill without a final order, how could the Prince of Yan seize power on his own?" Li and the others took their leave. Wuyu had Yanshou brought before him in the hall and interrogated him; Yanshou had no reply. He placed guards over him and inventoried his property. Wuyu announced Deguang's testament: "Prince of Yongkang, legitimate grandson of the Great Sage Emperor and eldest son of the Human Emperor, shall ascend the throne at the Central Capital." The Central Capital is what the Khitan call Zhen Prefecture. He dispatched envoys to announce the mourning to the prefectures. Xiao Han, hearing of Deguang's death, abandoned Bian Prefecture and marched north; when he reached Zhen Prefecture, Wuyu was already gone. Han ringed Zhang Li's house with cavalry, seized him, and demanded, "Why did you tell the late emperor not to appoint non-Chinese as military commissioners?" Li answered without yielding; Han put him in chains. That night Zhang Li died.
3
兀欲為人俊偉，亦工畫，能飲酒，好禮士，德光甞賜以絹數千匹，兀欲散之，一日而盡。 兀欲已立，先遣人報其祖母述律。 述律怒曰：「我兒平晉取天下，有大功業，其子在我側者當立，而人皇王背我歸中國，其子豈得立邪？」 乃率兵逆兀欲，將廢之。 兀欲留其將麻荅守鎮州，晉諸將相隨德光在鎮州者皆留之而去。 以翰林學士徐台符、李澣從行，與其祖母述律相距于石橋。 述律所將兵多亡歸兀欲。 兀欲乃幽述律於祖州。 祖州，阿保機墓所也。
Wuyu was tall and striking, painted well, drank heavily, and honored men of letters; Deguang had once given him thousands of bolts of silk, which he gave away until none remained within a day. Once enthroned, Wuyu first reported to his grandmother Shulü. Empress Dowager Shulü raged: "My son conquered Jin and won the realm with great merit; the son at my side should rule, yet the Human Emperor's heir forsook me for China—how can his son take the throne?" She marched against Wuyu to remove him. Wuyu left his general Mada to guard Zhen Prefecture and detained the Jin officials who had accompanied Deguang there before setting out. Hanlin academicians Xu Taifu and Li Huan went with him and confronted his grandmother Shulü at Shiqiao. Much of Shulü's army deserted to Wuyu. Wuyu imprisoned Empress Dowager Shulü at Zuzhou. Zuzhou is the site of Abaoji's tomb.
4
述律為人多智而忍。 阿保機死，悉召從行大將等妻，謂曰：「我今為寡婦矣，汝等豈宜有夫。」 乃殺其大將百餘人，曰：「可往從先帝。」 左右有過者，多送木葉山，殺於阿保機墓隧中，曰：「為我見先帝于地下。」 大將趙思溫，本中國人也，以材勇為阿保機所寵，述律後以事怒之，使送木葉山，思溫辭不肯行。 述律曰：「爾，先帝親信，安得不往見之？」 思溫對曰：「親莫如后，后何不行？」 述律曰：「我本欲從先帝于地下，以子幼，國中多故，未能也。 然可斷吾一臂以送之。」 左右切諫之，乃斷其一腕，而釋思溫不殺。 初，德光之擊晉也，述律常非之，曰：「吾國用一漢人為主可乎？」 德光曰「不可也。」 述律曰：「然則汝得中國不能有，後必有禍，悔無及矣。」 德光死，載其尸歸，述律不哭而撫其尸曰：「待我國中人畜如故，然後葬汝。」 已而，兀欲囚之，後死于木葉山。
The empress dowager was clever and pitiless. After Abaoji died she summoned the wives of the generals on the campaign and said, "I am a widow now—you should have no husbands either." She killed more than a hundred of those generals, saying, "Go join the late emperor." Subordinates who erred were often sent to Mount Muye and slain in the tomb passage with the message, "Tell the late emperor I sent you." General Zhao Siwen, a Chinese by birth whom Abaoji favored for courage and skill, later angered her over some affair; when she ordered him to Mount Muye he refused. She said, "You were the late emperor's intimate—will you not go to him? Siwen answered, "No one was closer than the empress—why does the empress not go?" She said, "I meant to follow him underground, but the heir was young and the state unsettled, so I could not. Still, you may cut off one of my arms and send it with you. Attendants pleaded urgently; she severed one wrist instead and spared Siwen. When Deguang marched on Jin she had often objected: "Can our nation be ruled by a single Han? Deguang answered, "It cannot." She said, "Then even if you seize China you cannot keep it; ruin will follow and regret will be too late." When Deguang died and his body was brought home, she did not weep but stroked the corpse: "When our people and herds are restored, then I will bury you." Soon Wuyu imprisoned her, and she later died at Mount Muye.
5
兀欲更名阮，號天授皇帝，改元曰天祿。 是歲八月，葬德光於木葉山，遣人至鎮州召馮道、和凝等會葬。 使者至鎮州，鎮州軍亂，大將白再榮等逐出麻荅。 據定州，已而悉其衆以北。 麻荅者，德光之從弟也。 德光滅晉，以為邢州節度使，元欲立，命守鎮州。 麻荅尤酷虐，多略中國人，剝面，抉目，拔髮，斷腕而殺之，出入常以鉗鑿挑割之具自隨，寢處前後掛人肝、脛、手、足，言笑自若，鎮、定之人不勝其毒。 麻荅已去，馮道等乃南歸。
Wuyu took the name Ruan, styled himself Emperor of Heaven's Gift, and proclaimed the era Tianlu. That eighth month Deguang was buried at Mount Muye, and messengers were sent to Zhen Prefecture to summon Feng Dao, He Ning, and others. The envoys arrived to find Zhen Prefecture in revolt; Bai Zairong and other commanders expelled Mada. They seized Ding Prefecture, then marched their entire force north. Mada was Deguang's younger cousin. After the fall of Jin he became military commissioner of Xing; when Wuyu was enthroned he was left to hold Zhen Prefecture. Mada was savagely cruel: he seized Chinese captives, flayed faces, gouged eyes, tore out hair, severed wrists, and killed; he carried pincers and chisels everywhere, hung livers, shins, hands, and feet around his bed, and chatted calmly while the people of Zhen and Ding were tortured past endurance. Once Mada had withdrawn, Feng Dao and his party went south again.
6
述律立，改元應曆，號天順皇帝，後更名璟。 述律有疾，不能近婦人，左右給事，多以宦者。 然畋獵好飲酒，不恤國事，每酣飲，自夜至旦，晝則常睡，國人謂之「睡王」。
Shulü succeeded him, adopted the era Yingli, styled himself Emperor of Heaven's Accord, and later renamed himself Jing. Shulü was ill and could not be with women; his personal attendants were largely eunuchs. He loved the hunt and wine, neglected government, drank from night till dawn, and slept by day—the realm called him the Sleep King.
7
初，兀欲常遣使聘漢，使者至中國而周太祖入立。 太祖復遣將軍朱憲報聘，憲還而兀欲死。 述律立，遂不復南寇。 顯德六年夏，世宗北伐，以保大軍節度使田景咸為淤口關部署，右神武統軍李洪信為合流口部署，前鳳翔節度使王晏為益津關部署，侍衛親軍馬步都虞候韓通為陸路都部署。 世宗自乾寧軍御龍舟，艛船戰艦，首尾數十里，至益津關，降其守將，而河路漸狹，舟不能進，乃捨舟陸行。 瓦橋淤口關、瀛莫州守將，皆迎降。 方下令進攻幽州，世宗遇疾，乃置雄州於瓦橋關、霸州於益津關而還。 周師下三關、瀛、莫，兵不血刃。 述律聞之，謂其國人曰：「此本漢地，今以還漢，又何惜耶？」 述律後為庖者因其醉而殺之。
Wuyu had often sent envoys to the Han court; they arrived just as Zhou Taizu took power. Taizu sent General Zhu Xian on a return embassy; by the time Xian came back, Wuyu was dead. Once Shulü was enthroned he ceased southern raids. In summer, the sixth year of Xiande, Shizong marched north, appointing Tian Jingxian of Baoda to Yankou Pass, Li Hongxin of the Right Divine Martial Guard to the He-Liu mouth, Wang Yan, former Fengxiang commissioner, to Yijin Pass, and Han Tong, director of the palace guard, overall land commander. Shizong sailed from Qianning on the imperial dragon boat with a fleet dozens of li long; at Yijin Pass the garrison surrendered, but the channel narrowed and the boats could go no farther, so he abandoned the river and marched overland. Commanders at Waqiao, Yankou, and Ying and Mo prefectures all surrendered. As he was ordering the assault on You Prefecture, Shizong fell ill; he set up Xiong Prefecture at Waqiao Pass and Ba Prefecture at Yijin Pass, then withdrew. Zhou forces took the three passes and Ying and Mo without bloodshed. Hearing this, Shulü told his people, "This was always Han territory; now that Han has it back, why regret it? Later a kitchen servant killed him while he was drunk.
8
嗚呼！ 自古夷狄服叛，雖不繫中國之盛衰，而中國之制夷狄則必因其彊弱。 予讀周日曆，見世宗取瀛、莫，定三關，兵不血刃，而史官譏其以王者之師，馳千里而襲人，輕萬乘之重於萑葦之間，以僥倖一勝。 夫兵法，決機因勢，有不可失之時。 世宗南平淮甸，北伐契丹，乘其勝威，擊其昏殆，世徒見周師之出何速，而不知述律有可取之機也。 是時，述律以謂周之所取，皆漢故地，不足顧也。 然則十四州之故地，皆可指麾而取矣。 不幸世宗遇疾，功志不就。 然瀛、莫、三關，遂得復為中國之人，而十四州之俗，至今陷於夷狄。 彼其為志豈不可惜，而其功不亦壯哉！ 夫兵之變化屈伸，豈區區守常談者所可識也！
Alas! Since antiquity whether the barbarians submit or rebel has not hinged on China's rise or fall, yet China's handling of them has always followed their strength. In the Zhou Daily Calendar I read that Shizong took Ying and Mo and fixed the three passes without a blow, yet the historians still scorned him for driving the royal host a thousand li to raid an enemy—risking the imperial carriage among the reeds for one lucky stroke. War turns on timing and circumstance; some moments cannot be lost. Shizong had pacified the Huai in the south and struck north against the Khitan on the momentum of victory, hitting their disorder and decay; men saw only how fast the Zhou marched, not that Shulü's court was ripe for the taking. Shulü then believed Zhou was merely recovering former Han lands and not worth defending. The Fourteen Prefectures might have been recovered at a wave of the hand. Sadly Shizong fell ill and his design was cut short. Still, Ying, Mo, and the three passes returned to China, while the folk of the Fourteen Prefectures remain under barbarian rule even now. His purpose was cut short—yet what a bold achievement! The twists of war are not for pedants who know only fixed formulas.
9
初，蕭翰聞德光死，北歸，有同州郃陽縣令胡嶠為翰掌書記，隨入契丹。 而翰妻爭妒，告翰謀反，翰見殺，嶠無所依，居虜中七年。 當周廣順三年，亡歸中國，略能道其所見。 云：「自幽州西北入居庸關，明日，又西北入石門關，關路崖狹，一夫可以當百，此中國控扼契丹之險也。 又三日，至可汗州，南望五臺山，其一峰最高者，東臺也。 又三日，至新武州，西北行五十里有雞鳴山，云唐太宗北伐聞雞鳴于此，因之名山。 明日，入永定關，此唐故關也。 又四日，至歸化州。 又三日，登天嶺，嶺東西連亙，有路北下，四顧冥然，黃雲白草，不可窮極。 契丹謂嶠曰：『此辭郷嶺也，可一南望而為永訣。』 同行者皆慟哭，往往絕而復蘇。 又行三四日，至黑榆林，時七月，寒如深冬。 又明日，入斜谷，谷長五十里，高崖峻谷，仰不見日，而寒尤甚。 已出谷，得平地，氣稍溫。 又行二日，渡湟水。 又明日，渡黑水。 又二日，至湯城淀，地氣最溫，契丹若大寒，則就溫于此。 其水泉清冷，草軟如茸，可藉以寢。 而多異花，記其二種：一曰旱金，大如掌，金色爍人； 一曰青囊，如中國金燈，而色類藍可愛。 又二日，至儀坤州，渡麝香河。 自幽州至此無里候，其所向不知為南北。 又二日，至赤崖，翰與兀欲相及，遂及述律戰于沙河。 述律兵敗而北，兀欲追至獨樹渡，遂囚述律于撲馬山。 又行三日、遂至上京，所謂西樓也。 西樓有邑屋市肆，交易無錢而用布。 有綾錦諸工作、宦者、翰林、伎術、教坊、角觝、秀才、僧、尼、道士等，皆中國人，而并、汾、幽、薊之人尤多。 自上京東去四十里，至真珠寨，始食菜。 明日，東行，地勢漸高，西望平地松林鬱然數十里。 遂入平川，多草木，始食西瓜，云契丹破回紇得此種，以牛糞覆棚而種，大如中國冬瓜而味甘。 又東行，至褭潭，始有柳，而水草豐美，有息雞草尤美，而本大，馬食不過十本而飽。 自褭潭入大山，行十餘日而出，過一大林，長二三里，皆蕪荑，枝葉有芒刺如箭羽，其地皆無草。 兀欲時卓帳于此，會諸部人葬德光。 自此西南行，日六十里，行七日，至大山門，兩高山相去一里，而長松豐草，珍禽野卉，有屋室碑石，曰『陵所也。』 兀欲入祭，諸部大人惟執祭器者得入。 入而門闔。 明日開門，曰『拋盞』，禮畢。 問其禮，皆祕不肯言。」 嶠所目見囚述律、葬德光等事，與中國所記差異。
When Xiao Han heard Deguang was dead he marched north; Hu Qiao, magistrate of Heyang in Tong Prefecture, had been Han's secretary and went with him into Khitan territory. Han's wife, in jealousy, denounced him for rebellion; Han was executed, and Qiao, stranded, spent seven years among the Khitan. In Zhou's third year of Guangshun he fled home and could recount in outline what he had witnessed. He said, "From You Prefecture we entered Juyong Pass to the northwest; next day Shimen Pass—the cliff road so narrow one man could hold a hundred; China's barrier against the Khitan. Three days on to Khan Prefecture, with Mount Wutai to the south; its tallest peak is the Eastern Terrace. Three days more to Xinwu Prefecture; fifty li northwest stands Cockcrow Mountain, named because Tang Taizong heard a cock crow there on his northern campaign. Next day Yongding Pass, an old Tang barrier. Four days on to Guihua Prefecture. Three days more to Heaven Ridge, stretching east and west; a road dropped north into a dim expanse of yellow cloud and white grass without limit. The Khitan told him, "This is the Ridge of Parting from Home—look south once and bid farewell forever. His companions wept until many fainted and woke again. Three or four days more to Black Poplar Grove, in the seventh month as cold as deep winter. Next day the Slanting Valley, fifty li of towering cliffs and narrow gorge where the sun never showed and the cold was worse still. Out of the valley they found open ground and the air grew milder. Two days later they forded the Huang River. Next day they crossed the Black River. Two days on to Tangcheng Marsh, the warmest place in the land—when cold was fierce the Khitan wintered there. The springs ran clear and cold, the turf soft as down, good for bedding. Strange flowers grew there; he named two: dry gold, palm-sized and dazzling gold; and green pouch, like China's golden lantern but tinged blue and lovely. Two days more brought Yikun Prefecture and a crossing of the Musk River. From You Prefecture onward there were no mile markers and no sense of direction. Two days on to Red Cliff, where Han joined Wuyu and they battled Empress Dowager Shulü on the Sha River. Shulü was beaten and fled north; Wuyu chased her to Dushu Ford and imprisoned her at Puma Mountain. Three days later they reached the Upper Capital, known as the Western Tower. The Western Tower had streets, houses, and markets; they bartered in cloth, not coin. Brocade workshops stood beside eunuchs, Hanlin academicians, artisans, music schools, wrestlers, candidates, monks, nuns, and Daoists—almost all Chinese, especially from Bing, Fen, You, and Ji. Forty li east of the capital lay Pearl Stockade, where they first tasted greens. Next day they marched east over rising ground; to the west a level pine forest stretched tens of li. They entered a fertile plain and first tasted watermelon—the Khitan said they took the seed from the Uyghurs, grew it under dung-heated frames, and the fruit rivaled China's winter melon in size and sweetness. Farther east lay Niao Pool, the first willows, rich pasture, and rest-chicken grass so nourishing ten stalks filled a horse. From the pool they entered high mountains for ten-odd days, crossed a forest miles long of thorny colewort whose barbed leaves left the soil bare. Wuyu had camped there to gather the tribes for Deguang's burial. Southwest sixty li a day for seven days brought Great Mountain Gate—two peaks a li apart, pine-clad, strewn with rare birds and flowers, with houses and inscribed stones marking the tomb. Wuyu entered to sacrifice; only elders bearing ritual vessels were admitted. The gate closed behind them. Next day the gate opened for the rite called Casting the Cup, and the service ended. Asked about the rites, none would explain—they were secret." Qiao's eyewitness account of imprisoning Shulü, burying Deguang, and the like differed from Chinese records.
10
已而，翰得罪被鎖，嶠與部曲東之福州。 福州，翰所治也。 嶠等東行，過一山，名十三山，云此西南去幽州二千里。 又東行，數日，過衛州，有居人三十餘家，蓋契丹所虜中國衛州人，築城而居之。 嶠至福州而契丹多憐嶠，教其逃歸，嶠因得其諸國種類遠近。 云：「距契丹國東至于海，有鐵甸，其族野居皮帳，而人剛勇。 其地少草木，水鹹濁，色如血，澄之乆而後可飲。 又東，女真，善射，多牛、鹿、野狗。 其人無定居，行以牛負物，遇雨則張革為屋。 常作鹿鳴，呼鹿而射之，食其生肉。 能釀糜為酒，醉則縛之而睡，醒而後解，不然，則殺人。 又東南，渤海，又東，遼國，皆與契丹略同。 其南海曲，有魚鹽之利。 又南，奚，與契丹略同，而人好殺戮。 又南，至于榆關矣，西南至儒州，皆故漢地。 西則突厥、回紇。 西北至嫗厥律，其人長大，髦頭，酋長全其髮，盛以紫囊。 地苦寒，水出大魚，契丹仰食。 又多黑、白、黃貂鼠皮，北方諸國皆仰足。 其人最勇，鄰國不敢侵。 又其西，轄戛，又其北，單于突厥，皆與嫗厥律略同。 又北，黑車子，善作車帳，其人知孝義，地貧無所產。 云契丹之先，常役回紇，後背之走黑車子，始學作車帳。 又北，牛蹄突厥，人身牛足，其地尤寒，水曰瓠 〈盧瓜〉 河，夏秋冰厚二尺，春冬冰徹底，常燒器銷冰乃得飲。 東北，至襪劫子，其人髦首，披布為衣，不鞍而騎，大弓長箭，尤善射，遇人輒殺而生食其肉，契丹等國皆畏之。 契丹五騎遇一襪劫子，則皆散走。 其國三面皆室韋，一曰室韋，二曰黃頭室韋，三曰獸室韋。 其地多銅、鐵、金、銀，其人工巧，銅鐵諸器皆精好，善織毛錦。 地尤寒，馬溺至地成冰堆。 又北，狗國，人身狗首，長毛不衣，手搏猛獸，語為犬嗥，其妻皆人，能漢語，生男為狗，女為人，自相婚嫁，穴居食生，而妻女人食。 云甞有中國人至其國，其妻憐之使逃歸，與其箸十餘隻，教其每走十餘里遺一箸，狗夫追之，見其家物，必銜而歸，則不能追矣。」 其說如此。 又曰：「契丹甞選百里馬二十匹，遣十人齎乾 〈食少〉 北行，窮其所見。 其人自黑車子，歷牛蹄國以北，行一年，經四十三城，居人多以木皮為屋，其語言無譯者，不知其國地、山川、部族、名號。 其地氣，遇平地則溫和，山林則寒冽。 至三十三城，得一人，能鐵甸語，其言頗可解，云地名頡利烏于邪堰。 云『自此以北，龍蛇猛獸、魑魅羣行，不可往矣』。 其人乃還。 此北荒之極也。」
Soon Han fell from favor and was chained; Qiao and his men went east to Fuzhou. Fuzhou was Han's former command. Traveling east they crossed Thirteen Mountains, said to stand two thousand li southwest of You Prefecture. Days farther east lay Weizhou, a walled settlement of thirty-odd families—Chinese from Weizhou whom the Khitan had seized and resettled. At Fuzhou many Khitan pitied him and showed him how to flee; he thus learned the neighboring peoples and their distances. He said, "East of Khitan to the sea lies Tiedian, a people in leather tents, fierce and bold. The land is bare; the water brackish and blood-red, drinkable only after long settling. Eastward are the Jurchen, fine archers, rich in cattle, deer, and wild dogs. They have no fixed homes, load oxen when they move, and stretch hides for shelter in rain. They mimic deer calls, lure the animals, shoot them, and eat the meat raw. They brew millet wine; the drunk are bound until sober—otherwise they are killed. Southeast lies Bohai; farther east the Liao state—both much like the Khitan. On its southern coast are fish and salt. South are the Xi, similar to the Khitan but bloodthirsty. Farther south is Yuguan; southwest to Ru Prefecture—all former Han lands. West lie the Turks and Uyghurs. Northwest is Yujuelü, whose people are tall and long-haired; chiefs keep their full locks in purple bags. The country is frigid; great fish from its rivers feed the Khitan. Black, white, and yellow sable abound, and every northern realm depends on them. They are the fiercest warriors; neighbors dare not attack. West again Xiage; north the Chanyu Turks—each like Yujuelü. Farther north are the Black Cart people, makers of cart tents, dutiful but poor. Khitan legend says their forebears served the Uyghurs, then fled north to the Black Cart folk and learned tent-making. North again the Ox-hoof Turks—human bodies, ox feet, bitter cold, and a river called the Gourd 〈melon〉 River; in summer and autumn the ice is two feet thick, in spring and winter frozen solid, and they melt it over fire to drink. Northeast are the Wajiezi, long-haired, cloth-clad, saddleless riders with great bows; they kill on sight, eat raw flesh, and even the Khitan fear them. Five Khitan riders meeting one Wajiezi will scatter in flight. Khitan lands are ringed on three sides by Shiwei—the common, the Yellow-head, and the Beast Shiwei. They have copper, iron, gold, and silver, skilled metalwork, and fine wool brocades. Cold is so fierce that horse urine freezes in heaps where it falls. Farther north is the Dog Country—men with dogs' heads and shaggy hides, howling speech, human wives who speak Chinese; sons are dogs, daughters human; they dwell in caves, eat raw meat, while wives eat cooked food. Legend tells of a Chinese captive whose wife pitied him, gave him chopsticks, and told him to drop one every dozen li—the dog-husband, seeing household goods, would carry them home and abandon the chase." Such were the tales he heard. He added, "The Khitan once picked twenty hundred-li horses and sent ten men with dried 〈rations〉 rations to march north and map all they could reach. They set out from the Black Cart lands, crossed the Ox-hoof realm, traveled a year through forty-three bark-built towns whose speech none could interpret—country, mountains, tribes, and names unknown. On plains the air was mild; in mountains, biting cold. At the thirty-third town a man spoke Tiedian well enough to say the place was called Jieliwuyuxieyan. He warned, "Beyond lie dragons, serpents, beasts, and demons in throngs—no one may go farther." The party turned back. That was the limit of the northern wilds."
11
契丹謂嶠曰：「夷狄之人豈能勝中國？ 然晉所以敗者，主暗而臣不忠。」 因具道諸國事，曰：「子歸悉以語漢人，使漢人努力事其主，無為夷狄所虜，吾國非人境也。」 嶠歸，錄以為陷虜記云。
The Khitan told Qiao, "How could barbarians ever conquer China? Jin fell because its ruler was blind and his ministers faithless." He described every realm and said, "Tell the Han on your return to serve their sovereign faithfully and avoid capture—our country is no human habitation." Qiao came home and wrote it up as the Captive's Record.