Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms: Humans, Volume 13

Page 8

The woodcut depicts a man identified as Wuliangaida. He is shown in a stylized "primitive" fashion typical of Ming dynasty ethnography, wearing a heavy fur mantle over a skirt made of large, overlapping leaves. He holds a leafy branch in his hand, a visual shorthand used by the illustrators to signify a culture that lives in deep forests and lacks the textile traditions of central China.

Wuliangaida

Wuliangaida original: 吾凉愛達. This is a phonetic transcription of the Uriankhai (or Uriyangkhad), a group of forest-dwelling tribes located in the northern frontier regions of Mongolia and Southern Siberia. is located within the mountain forests on the northeastern border of the Tatars original: 韃靼. During the Ming period, this term specifically referred to the Eastern Mongols..

The people live freely among the mountains and woods. In this region, there are wild horses, but they possess no cattle or sheep. They spend their days fishing and drinking horse milk original: 馬乳. Known as airag or kumis, this fermented mare's milk was a vital source of nutrition and a cultural staple for people of the northern steppes and forests. to sustain themselves.