Section 3 – The Kingdom of Jumi (modern Keriya or Yutian)

1. Jumi [Chü-mi] = Keriya. Unfortunately, the name of this kingdom is recorded with a wide variety of characters used for the first syllable. 
          The Weilue and the Tangshu both refer to it as Hanmi, which Chavannes thinks is the preferable reading, but there are several other variants in other texts. See the note in Chavannes (1905) p. 538, n. 1 for a discussion of the various forms of this name. See also the discussion of its derivation in
Pulleyblank (1963), pp. 88-89, where he notes that it probably relates to the Kema in the Kharoṣṭhī documents from Loulan, as well as the Kan , City of the Tang and the Gan , Prefecture of the 10th century.
          It is described as Yumi [Yu-mi] in the Hanshu. Unfortunately, this is incorrectly rendered as Wu-mi in CICA p. 94, although the extensive note (p. 94 n. 138) contains much useful information about the various forms of the name and the geography of the region.   
          Aurel Stein (1907), p. 467, suggested that Hanmi represented the whole area between Chira and Keriya. This was undoubtedly due to his faulty estimation of the li as being approximately one fifth of a mile, or about 322 metres. The Han li is now known to have been 415.8 metres, as I have discussed in my Introduction under ‘Measurements.’
          Both the Hanshu, and the Hou Hanshu place this kingdom 390 li [162 km] east of Khotan. This is almost exactly the distance between Khotan and Keriya on modern maps. Besides, the Keriya oasis is the only place in the region capable of supporting the populations indicated in the two Han histories (20,040 are mentioned in the Hanshu account, which does seem a bit high as it only lists 3,340 households and 3,540 persons able to bear arms).

“.... This kingdom must be identified with the territory of Keriya.; the Xiyu shuidaoji (Chap. II, p. 7a), which follows this identification, remarks meanwhile, that the present town of Keriya is to the west of the river, while the Tang zhou places the capital of the kingdom of Jumi to the east of the river; but it is clear that the displacement of the town is not a serious objection.” Translated and adapted from Chavannes (1900), p. 128, n. 1. See also, Chavannes (1907), p. 167, n. 8; CICA, pp. 94, n. 138, and 95-96.

Note that the present Chinese name for Keriya (Yutian – with the identical characters as for the ancient name for Khotan), only dates back to the late 19th century. See CICA, p. 96, n. 4.1.

2. Ningmi  [Ning-mi]. There are no indications as to whether this is a transcription of a local name, or where exactly it might be located in the Keriya oasis. See CICA, p. 96, n. 144.

3. On Chen Pan see note 21.3.