This article was published in Armenian Review Vol.34 No.1-133(1981) pp.17-24.
References to China and to the Chinese
are found scattered throughout Armenian historical sources of
the 5-13th centuries. The references, which are not numerous,
are of two main types: those which provide geographical information
about China, and those which mention China in connection with
one of Armenia's most famous lordly families, the Mamikonean house.
Several Armenists have examined the information on China contained
in the sources. Among them are N. Adontz (1), M. Toumanean (2),
C. Toumanoff (3), and most recently, H. Svazyan (4). Some of these
scholars have focussed their studies on determining the geographical
location of the "land of the Chenk", others have addressed
the relationship between the Mamikonean house and its alleged
Chinese progenitors. The present study will examine both the geographical
information on China, and the question of the Chinese origin of
the Mamikoneans.
The first of the Armenian geographical
references to China appears in the Geography written in
the 7th century by the Armenian mathematician, Anania of Shirak.
Though Anania's Geography is primarily concerned with Armenia,
it also briefly describes other lands. A translation of entry
#37 follows:
37. Siwnika; which is Chenk', is a land of Asia, to the east of Scythia. On the west it borders Scythia, on the north and east, the Unknown country; on the south, the lands of India and of the Siwnets'ik`. Chenastan is a land of vast plains inhabited by 29 peoples, one of which, [dwelling] by the Unknown country, practises cannibalism. There are six mountains. Cinnamon and cinnamon-bark are found there from Kasia mountain, as is skiwt'ikon (?) which is of a natural fiery-red color. There are monsters, musk, many peacocks and other edible birds. And unlimited amounts of saffron are available there, to the point that if someone went hunting, dressed in white, mounted on a white horse and with a white falcon, on his return he would be completely covered with yellow. A great deal of silk is found there, and it is of a better quality than silk from any other country. Thus the inhabitants of the country are rich in artfully made silks. Their king is the Chenbakur who resides in the city of Siwra, which is in the southeastern reaches of the land (5).
The second reference to the land of
Chenk' appears in chapter eleven of the History of Ghewond
(8th century), and describes a perhaps fanciful incident occurring
during the period 705-715. According to Ghewond, an Arab general
promised the Caliph that he would make the king of Chenk' tributary.
The general Mahmet left Damascus and "headed east crossing
Asorestan, through the land of Persia, through Khurasan, and he
went on until he arrived at a portion of the land of Chenk'. He
encamped by the banks of an extremely mighty river called Botis"
(6).
The general then sent an insulting
letter to the king demanding taxes and 30,000 virgins. Employing
a strategem, the Chenk' ruler concealed 30,000 warriors in covered
sedans. At the appropriate moment the soldiers sprang out and
massacred the Arabs (7). Through an overly Iitteral interpretation
of this passage, the Armenist H. Svazyan concluded that the land
of Chenk' was not China, but the area between the Amu-Darya and
Syr-Darya rivers, centered at Samarqand (ancient Bactria) (8).
The third geographical reference is
found in the 13th century Geography attributed to Vardan
Arewelts'i (d. 1270/71). Describing the lands east of Iran, Vardan
mentions a country called Chinumachin with the city of Xat'a where--very
much in the tradition of medieval wonder-tales about Prester John--the
population was Christian. East of Chinumachin was the country
of the Kushans, and then the land of Chenk' whence, Vardan states,
the Mamikoneans came (9). According to Vardan, the people of Chenk`
were so wealthy that even the common people dressed in silk (10).
Another medieval Armenian geographer,
Het'um the Historian, has a more elaborate and more colorful account.
This appears in chapter one of his History of the Tatars,
written in the early 14th century:
The kingdom of Cathay is the most noble and rich realm in the world. It is full of people and limitless grandeur, and is located by the shore of the Ocean. There are so many islands in the sea that it is impossible to count them. Now the people are rich with countless luxuries and treasures. The item which fetches a great price there, and is esteemed, is olive oil, which the kings and grandees have kept with great care, as an important medicine.
In this same kingdom of Cathay are numerous strange animals which I shall not describe. People in those parts are creative and very clever, and thus they have little regard for all other people's [accomplishments] in all the arts and sciences. They claim that they themselves are the only ones who see with two eyes, while the Latins see with but one eye, and other peoples are blind. And their word is verified by the fact that generally they regard other peoples as imbeciles. For such a quantity of varied and marvellous wares with indescribably delicate workmanship is brought from that kingdom, that there is no one to be found capable of matching such goods in the scales.
The people of this country are neither strong warriors nor brave ones, but they are most subtle and ingenious and by these means they often have discomfited and overcome their enemies, using their engines. They have many sorts of weapons not found among other peoples. Now the money which this people uses is made of sedge, of a square shape, and bears the royal stamp. The money's value is determined on the basis of the stamp. If the money becomes worn through age, they take it to the royal court and exchange it for fresh money. They make vessels and other ornaments out of gold and other metals.
About this kingdom it is said that Cathay was contemporary with the creation of the world, for, as is related, to its east there is no human habitation. On the west it is bordered by the kingdom of Tars; on the north by the Pelchean desert; on the south are the afore-mentioned islands in the Ocean (11).
The geographical sources considered
above are, relatively speaking, late sources (7th, 8th, late 13th,
early 14th centuries). There exist several earlier classical Armenian
sources which contain references to China, or rather, to the Chinese
origin of an important Armenian family. The sources in question
are two 5-6th century compilations, the anonymous so-called Primary
History of Armenia, and the History of P'awstos Buzand.
According to the Primary History, in the early 200's A.D.
two sons of an important Chinese noble rebelled against Chenbakur,
the Emperor of China, who was their half-brother. When the rebellion
failed, they fled for refuge to the Parthian king of Iran. But
the Emperor of China demanded that the rebels be sent home to
face justice. The Parthian king, not wanting to kill the fugitives,
but wanting to mollify Chenbakur, sent the two rebels, named Mamik
and Konak, to Armenia in the west (12).
The Chinese origin of the Mamikoneans
is alluded to twice in the 5th century History of Armenia
by P'awstos Buzand. In the first instance, the Armenian king Pap
(A.D. 367-374) told prince Mushegh Mamikonean that the Mamikoneans
were as respect-worthy as the Armenian royal house itself. For,
he says, "their ancestors left the kingship of the land of
Chenk', and came to our ancestors [in Armenia] (13). The second
reference to the Chinese ancestry of the Mamikoneans appears later
in the same History. In this episode, the Mamikonean prince
Manuel boldly informed king Varazdat of Armenia (374-378) that
the Mamikoneans were not the vassals of the royal house, but its
equals. "For", he said, "our ancestors were kings
of the land of Chen. Because of a quarrel among brothers, to prevent
great. bloodshed we left [that land]. And to find rest, we stopped
here [in Armenia] (14).
Armenists have interpreted the information
found in the Primary History and in P'aswtos in a variety
of ways. For example, Nicholas Adontz in 1908 speculated that
when the early sources spoke of "the Chenk"' they referred
not to the Chinese, but to the Tzans, a warlike people of the
Caucasus who lived near the Mamikoneans' hereditary lands in northwestern
Armenia. He derived the name Mamikonean from Georgian mama
(meaning "father") plus the Armenian deminuitive ending
ik (15). Adontz was challenged by Michael Toumanean who,
in an article published in 1911, sought to identify Armenian Chenk'
with the house of Cheng which ruled south of Lo Yang in the 5-4th
centuries B.C.
According to Toumanean, the Mamikonean
emigration from Cheng took place around 221 B.C., at the time
of the Qin conquests, when the Man people were expelled. To Toumanean,
the name Mamikonean derives from Gun-Man or Xu-Gun Man which was
the hereditary title of the head of the house of Cheng (16). The
orientalist H. Skold in 1925 expressed the view that the Chenk'
were not Chinese, but a Turkic group dwelling by the Syr-Darya
river (17). H. Svazyan, who placed the Chenk' between the Amu-Darya
and Syr-Darya rivers, suggested that the Mamikoneans may have
come from Bactria (18). Finally, Cyril Toumanoff pointed out that
the Mamikoneans' claim of exotic royal origins was nothing unusual
within the Armenian political reality. For other families too
claimed distinctive foreign origins. The Bagratids, for example,
considered themselves descendants of the Biblical king David of
Israel, while the Artsrunids claimed descent from the ancient
kings of Assyria (19). Nonetheless, Toumanoff notes that the Mamikonean
legend does concern China, even though the legend may not be true
(20).
The origin of the Mamikoneans remains
an issue of debate which probably will not be definitively resolved--at
least based on the presently available Armenian historical sources (21).
As for the geographical sources, for them China was a land of
fantastic wealth; acknowledged, but not well known.