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neighbour to Tayuan. Being a small country, it paid allegiance to Yuehchih in the south and to the Huns in the east. Yetsai was about 2,000 li away to the northwest of Kangchu. It was a nomad people and had similar customs as Kangchu. It had more than a hundred thousand archers. It was on the shore of a big, boundless lake called the North Sea (Caspian Sea). The Greater Yuehchih was between 2 and 3 thousand li away to the west of Tayuan and situated on the northern bank of the Wei River. To its south was Tahsia, to its west Anhsi and to its north Kangchu. It was a nomad people travelling about with their cattle and had the same customs as the Huns. It had between one and two hundred thousand archers and therefore took pride in its own strength and looked down upon Hsiungnu. After Moden became the Khan, Hsiungnu defeated Yuehchih. And then the Laoshang Khan (Moden's son) killed the King of Yueh- chih and made a wine cup out of his skull. At first the Yuehchih people dwelt between Tunhuang and the Chilien mountain. After being defeated by Hsiungnu they moved far to the west of Tayuan and attacked and subjected Tahsia. They settled their court and built their capital on the northern bank of the Wei River. The remaining small numbers who were unable to depart stayed among the southern mountains of Ch'iang and were called the Lesser Yuehchih. Anhsi was several thousand li to the west of the Greater Yuehchih. The people were settled down and tilled the land. They grew rice and wheat in their fields and produced grape wines. Their counties were similar to those of Tayuan. The country had several hundred cities, big and small, and measured several thousand square li and was one of the biggest countries. It bordered on the Wei River and had citizens and merchants who used to ply by chariot or boat between nearby countries, sometimes to a distance of several thousand li. They made silver coins embossed with images of their King's head. When a king died, they used to change the coins to conform to the new -4-