The several accounts known in Chinese literature of the mysterious country in the west called Fu-lin is declared to be identical with the country from ancient times known as Ta-ts’in. This is known from the texts of the T’ang dynasty, which use the two names are interchangeable terms. It has been concluded by the Chinese that Ta-ts’in is Syria, and if that is the case, then Fu-lin must be Syria. The author is disinclined to be guided by this kind of logic. Friedrich Hirth believes that Ta-ts’in is the Roman empire. However the detail placed on record in the contemporary Chinese texts is confined to its Asiatic provinces, for which reason Antioch is described as the capital city. Hirth considers Fu-lin to be Byzantium and Ta-ts’in to be certain Asiatic portions of the empire. After this analysis, there still remain quite a number of important points to be settled in connection with both Ta-ts’in and Fu-lin.