sign in sign up
<<
Home , Zhang Qian

International Journal of Current Chinese Studies. 3 (2012): 05‐05 ISSN: 2171‐6374

THE ROLES OF PERSIANATE CULTURES AND THE WESTWARD OF QIAN IN THE OPENING AND EXPANDING OF THE SILK ROAD1

Hamidreza Pasha Zanous2

The formation of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the great and it's fall by Conquests of Alexander and then the formation of stimulated and accelerated cultural and economic exchanges among the ancient civilizations of near east ,, , the eastern Mediterranean, and Europe. Before Zhang Qian’s adventurous of the West in the late 2nd century B.C., three trade routes connecting Asia, Africa and Europe had already come into existence. Persian culture had been widely received, had spread over areas formerly controlled and influenced by Persians, and had even, to some extent, converged with Hellenistic culture. Centered on the Oxus River, Parthians along with the Greeks of expanded their sphere of influence into India in the south and to the Seres and Phryni in the east. Perhaps they had even reached the Tarim Basin by crossing the Pamirs. All these developments contributed to create a solid and wide basis for the opening and expanding of the as well as for further exchanges and fusions between East and West in economic and cultural respects. Thus, both the conquests of Cyrus the great and Alexander and the formation of the Persianate and Hellenistic Cultures and the westward explorations of Zhang Qian played equally important roles in the opening of the Silk Road. The main purpose in this article is to study the role of Persianate cultures and the westward explorations of Zhang Qian in the opening and expanding of the Silk Road.

Keywords: Silk Road, Zhang Qian, Persianate cultures, Parthians.

Accepted

1 I would like to mention here that this paper is based on my PhD dissertation entitled: "High culture or components of civilization: The Mechanisms of Contact and Interaction between Cultures of and Iran in Parthian and Sasanian Period" (supervisors: Dr. Hossein Badamchi & Prof. Dr. Ralph Kauz, Advisors: Dr. Kamyar Abdi & Dr. Farajollah Ahmadi) at University of Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities. University of Tehran. [email protected]

Correspondence to: Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Enghelab Street, Tehran, Iran. Postal Code: 1415556158

Number 3 (2012) 105

International Journal of Current Chinese Studies Pasha H.

In Achaemenid and Parthian eras, Iran held sway over a major part of Near East. In those eras, the Iranian culture affected, and was affected by, the Eastern cultures. It is possible to understand this culture and the role it played in the course of world history only after it is compared and contrasted to other congenial and hostile societies that were in constant economical and cultural contacts with it. Among the most prominent of these cultures is the culture and civilization of ancient China. Although the political relationship between Iran and China had been negligible, the two civilizations were in massive contact via their commercial, economical, etc, sorts of relationship; this is due to the exceptional geographical position of Iran as a hub between Eastern and Western cultures, and commercial and cultural transactions that took place especially via the Silk Road that began in China and passed through Iran mainland. Therefore, it is advisable and necessary to study and investigate the communication mechanisms, and accordingly, the coordination or reciprocal effects of the Persian and Chinese cultures with an emphasis on the role of Persianate cultures and the westward explorations of Zhang Qian in the opening and expanding of the Silk Road.

Since such recognition necessitates well defined and precise investigations, culture has been viewed here from an anthropological viewpoint, and for the analysis plan, a cultural model has been employed that entails the concepts of elite cultures and popular culture, cultural contact, and cultural interaction. The concepts that take into account the analysis of cultural relationships emphasize on the way cultural relationship are formed; and the mechanisms of contact and interaction and ultimately culture creation, emanates from such contacts. However, it is necessary to note that, apart from the elements of high culture and popular culture as constituents of both civilizations, the investigation of contact and interaction and the resulting culture creation requires the constant substantiation of each of these three phases. In line with this argument, one important question of the present study is to define the mechanisms of cultural contact between the two civilizations while the emphasis is put on the components of civilization, or high culture, as the cultural content that differentiates them from such other political systems as governments. Such contents are comprised of especial and distinctive parts of art, literature, architecture, religion, and other thoughts and customs of the elites of both civilizations.3

The cultural contact between Iran and China predates the Achaemenid dynasty; this claim is based on different references, especially the archeological data.

3 John Baines and Norman Yoffee., "Order, legitimacy, and wealth in ancient Egypt and ", in G. Feinman and J. Marcus (eds.), Archaic states (Advanced Seminar Series), Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, 1998, p. 235.

106 Number 3 (2012)

The Roles of Persianate Culture and the Westward Explorations...

Nevertheless, the first recorded contact that particularly led to the awareness of both sides of cultural and civilizational complexities of each other dates back to the trip made by Zhang Qian in 126 B.C. when Parthian and Han dynasties ruled Iran and China respectively. The writings of Zhang Qian are the first comprehensive data source among Chinese references about the pre‐Islamic history of Iran. He points to the sophisticated civilization of the Parthians, saying that the Anxi (Arsacid) kings send ambassadors to the Han court.4 After him, and with regards to different eras, different data about the cultural coordination of the two cultures exist in different quantities and qualities. From among the means of reciprocally influential cultural contact between Iran and China are the intermediary cultures such as Sogdiana that have played an important role in the dissemination of the culture of both societies.

On the one hand, These Persianate cultures such as Achaemenids, Parthians, Sogdians ,and on the other hand, the westward explorations of Zhang Qian played a most important role in the opening and expanding of the Silk Road during the ancient times. The historical and literary sources of Iran and China as well as fragmented data of Islamic references (Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, etc), religious sources (Manichaeism, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, etc), Chinese calendars, memoirs and reports of Han travelers and Ambassadors, Tang, and other people along with archeological findings of pottery, metal works, architecture, coins, especially Sassanid and Arsacid coins discovered in Chinese territories that had been transferred there by commercial and political activities, indicate that the two civilizations had been in contact for many centuries via silk roads. As some scholars confirm from the primary sources of this period, we understand that in ancient times (even before Alexander’s era) there were already established trade routes and contacts between the Chinese and Persians through these routes such as silk roads.

1. Persianate Cultures and their Role in the Creation of Silk Road

Before the Late Antiquity which was the heyday of the "Silk Road", a single commercial network organized the long‐range exchanges along the caravan roads. Proofs of its existence are to be found in all the regions of Asia but curiously very few come from Central Asia. Information on the links between China and the West, be it the other Persianate cultures such as Achaemenids, Parthians and later Sasanians or the Byzantine empire, is much more limited. As Zhang Qian

4 Friedrich Hirth," The Story of Chang K'ién, China's Pioneer in Western Asia: Text and Translation of Chapter123 of Ssï‐Ma Ts'ién's Shï‐Ki", Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 37,1917, p. 97.

Number 3 (2012) 107

International Journal of Current Chinese Studies Pasha H. mentioned, in ancient world whoever wanted to go to China or the West by land route, along the river (Oxus River) he had to pass through the lands of Persianate cultures such as, Ta‐yiie‐chi [Indoseythians], K'ui‐shui [Oxus], Ta‐hia [Bactria], K'ang‐kii [Sogh‐diana], An‐si [].5 Therefore, the tempo of long‐ distance trade increased noticeably by these cultures, partly because of the many trade routes that linked much of Eurasia and north Africa. Much of These routes were established by Persianate cultures.

In addition to these, we know that Achaemenid system of imperial roads were well established in Persian Empire and, even in centuries later, they were still active. It was the time of the the Achaemenid Persian Empire that a self‐conscious and mature Persian civilization interacted with the eastern civilizations on a more or less reciprocal basis. During this period, there were certainly some economic and cultural contacts, direct or indirect, between the main civilizations of the ancient world. In Greece in the late 5th or early 4th century rumors appeared about the Seres, a far‐away people in the east. Although there was no certainty about its location, many ancient authors came to believe that the silk‐producing country of the Seres was somewhere in the east. Thus, Seres could become a name for the Chinese in western accounts.6

The domain of the Persian Empire was vast and stretched from India to the Aegean Sea and from Egypt to the Caspian. To consolidate his control of the Empire, Darius I built systems of administration and taxation as well as the imperial roads and postal service. The Royal Road of the Achaemenids was a major intercontinental thoroughfare built by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great (521‐485 BC), to allow access to the conquered cities throughout the Persian empire. The Royal Road led from the Aegean Sea to Iran, a length of some 1500 miles (2400 kilometers).7 A major branch connected the cities of Susa, Kirkuk, Nineveh, Edessa, Hattusa and Sardis. The journey from Susa to Sardis was reported to have taken 90 days on foot, and three more to get to the

5 Friedrich Hirth," The Story of Chang K'ién, China's Pioneer in Western Asia: Text and Translation of Chapter123 of Ssï‐Ma Ts'ién's Shï‐Ki", p. 96.

6 H. Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither：being a collection of medieval notices of China，New ed., rev. throughout in the light of recent discoveries by Henri Cordier.(London: the Hakluyt Society. Vol. I. 1915), p.14.

7 David F. Graf, “The Persian Royal Road System”, in Achaemenid History VIII Continuity and Change: Proceedings of the Last Achaemenid History Workshop, (ed) Sancisi‐Weerdenburg, H. and Kurht, A and Cool Root, M., April 6‐ 8 1990, p.167.

108 Number 3 (2012)

The Roles of Persianate Culture and the Westward Explorations...

Mediterranean coast at Ephesus.8 The most famous one was the Royal Road in the western part of the Empire. Starting at Susa, one of the capitals of the empire, and passing through Mesopotamia, it ended at Sardis, or rather at Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor. Another important road led to the east. From Susa the road connected to Persepolis and India, and intersected with other road systems leading to the ancient allied and competing kingdoms of Media, Baktria and Sogdiana. It was by this road that the precious lapis lazuli of the eastern mountains in Bactria was transported to Mesopotamia and India . The evidence that Greek coins had been circulating in Bactria before the conquest of Alexander suggests the possibility of long‐distance trade between the eastern Mediterranean and the Mountains already in the classical period.9 As a matter of fact, the road linking Central Asia to India later became the western part of the Silk Road.

The wars between Persia and Greece did not bring an end to the conflicts. On the contrary, both sides wanted to use all opportunities to interfere in their opponent’s inner affairs. The rivalries between the Greek city‐states and the intrigues surrounding the succession to the throne at the Persian Court provided such opportunities. Two well‐known instances of such meddling in each other’s affairs were on the one hand the Greek mercenary army invited by Cyrus the Younger to advance deep into the interior of the empire in 401‐400 B.C., and on the other the Persian king declaring the so‐called King’s Peace to extend his influence over the divided world of the Greek city‐states in 386 B.C. More than half a century later Alexander had to deal with thousands of the Greek mercenaries and soldiers fighting on the Persian side. These mutual interferences, whether hostile or peaceful, certainly testify to a strengthening of connections between the two civilizations and it became possible for the Greeks to know about India and China.

There were other civilizations in Eurasia in the 4th century B.C., but these did not have many opportunities for contact each other, either because of their geographical isolation or because of their relative underdevelopment. The Romans began the unification of Italy, and perhaps they had heard a very little about the East through the Greeks in southern Italy, but as yet their vision hardly reached beyond the Italian Peninsula. India at the time was in the Period of Small States (6‐4th centuries B.C.). The dominant region of the kingdom of Magadha, which gradually grew stronger, only occupied the areas along the Ganges, while

8 J. Wiesehofer, Ancient Persia. From 550 BC to 650 AD (London: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 1996), pp. 6‐77.

9 F. L. Holt, Alexander the Great and Bactria (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989), p. 28.

Number 3 (2012) 109

International Journal of Current Chinese Studies Pasha H.

Buddhism did not yet spread into the western parts of India. In 530 BCE Cyrus, King of the Persian crossed the Hindu‐Kush Mountains to seek tribute from the tribes of Kamboja, Gandhara and the trans‐India region.10 By 520 BCE, during the reign of Darius I of Persia, much of the northwestern subcontinent came under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The area remained under Persian control for two centuries. During this time India supplied mercenaries to the Persian army then fighting in Greece.11 The impact of Persian ideas was felt in many areas of Indian life. And finally, China was still in the Warring‐States Period (475‐221 B.C.) In Chinese history, During the Warring States Period small feuding kingdoms or fiefdoms struggled for supremacy. The period was dominated by seven or more small feuding Chinese kingdoms. It was the age of Confucian thinkers Mencius and Xunzi, the time when many of the government institutions and cultural patterns that would characterize China for the next 2,000 years were established.12 This was the time that none of these states cited above had the opportunity for any westward expansion.

Therefore, it stands to reason that, by the 4th century B.C. some of the main areas of cultures and civilizations in western Eurasia had some contacts with each other, with rumors circulating about others, but regular links or channels connecting the two ends of Eurasia did not yet exist. Knowledge, let alone understanding of the other, between West and East must have been superficial and very limited, if not outright mistaken. The Chinese vision of the western world did not go beyond what was described in the Chinese Bestiary (the Records of Mountains and Seas, Shanhai Jing, ((山海经)) and the Biography of King Mu (Mutianzi zhuan,《穆天子传》). However, as some scholars confirm from the primary sources of this period, we understand that the Achaemenid Persia had opened some connections with India and perhaps even China via Royal routes. For instance, there are accounts in the biblical Book of Esther of dispatches being sent from Susa to provinces as far out as India and the Kingdom of Kush during the reign of Xerxes the Great (485–465 BC). Though these conections were very limited and they heard very little about China. Of course, these contacts differed throughout different eras, leading to different cultural amalgamations; nevertheless, these mainly contained the elements of elite culture of both

10 Romila Thapar, A , Part 1, Penguin Books; Reprint edition (September 1, 1990), p. 58.

11 Ibid, p. 58.

12 Lewis, Mark Edward (1999), "Warring States Political History", in Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L., The Cambridge history of ancient China: from the origins of civilization to 221 B.C., Cambridge University Press, pp. 626–629.

110 Number 3 (2012)

The Roles of Persianate Culture and the Westward Explorations... societies. As an example, Lorestan Bronzes, Sialk and Yangshao clays, the metal objects belonging to Zhou period of China,13 and the discovery of parts of the contents of Cyrus Declaration of Human Rights in China.14

2. The Westward Explorations of Zhang Qian and and Pioneer of the Silk Road:

Zhang Qian, the first man to bring back a reliable account of the lands of Western Asia to the court of China, is often called the Father of the Silk Road because his travels opened the way for trade between China and its western neighbors. The three things that he brought back to China were more powerful horses, grapes, and cultural knowledge of such places a Persia, Syria, India, and .15 However, the immediate aim of Zhang Qian to visit the remote had not been to open the door for the silk trade, but to make contact with the tribes of the . According to the Shiji, Zhang Qian had been sent twice by the emperor of the , Wudi, to the Western Regions on a diplomatic mission. The first time was in the years 139 (or 138) to 126 B.C. In the year 139 B.C., the Chinese emperor Han Wudi sent him on a mission to lands west of China. The emperor’s purpose was to find allies who could help combat the nomadic , who menaced the northern and western borders of the Han empire. From captives he had learned that other nomadic peoples in far western lands bore grudges against the Xiongnu, and he reasoned that they might ally with Han forces to pressure their common enemy.16 The problem for Zhang Qian was that to communicate with potential allies against the Xiongnu, he had to pass directly through lands they controlled. Soon after Zhang Qian left Han territory, Xiongnu forces captured him. For ten years the Xiongnu held him in comfortable captivity: they allowed him to keep his personal servant, and they provided him with a Xiongnu wife, with whom he had a son. When suspicions about him subsided, however, Zhang Qian escaped with his family and servant. He even had the presence of mind to keep with him the yak tail that Han Wudi had given him as a sign of his ambassadorial status. He fled to the west and traveled as far as Bactria,

13 Watson, Wiliam., "Iran and China", ed. E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(1), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1983, p. 537.

14 Wu Yuhong, “A Horse‐bone Inscription Copied from the Cyrus Cylinder (line 18‐21) in the PalaceMuseum in Beijing”, Journal of Ancient Civilizations, vol. 1 (1986), pp. 13‐20.

15 See also:”The Introduction of Grapes and Alfalfa into China: A Reflection on the Role of Zhang Qian”, M. Uchibayashi. J. Pharm. Soc. Jpn., 125(11),895‐898, 2005. P. 895.

16 Friedrich Hirth," The Story of Chang K'ién, China's Pioneer in Western Asia: Text and Translation of Chapter123 of Ssï‐Ma Ts'ién's Shï‐Ki",p. 93.

Number 3 (2012) 111

International Journal of Current Chinese Studies Pasha H. but he did not succeed in lining up allies against the Xiongnu. While returning to China, Zhang Qian again fell into Xiongnu hands but managed to escape after one year’s detention when the death of the Xiongnu leader led to a period of turmoil. In 126 B.C.E. Zhang Qian and his party returned to China and a warm welcome from Han Wudi. Although his diplomatic efforts did not succeed, Zhang Qian’s mission had far‐reaching consequences.17 In this journey he had passed through four regions: (大宛), (康居), Dayuezhi, and except for the Xiongnu, whilst he received some hearsay information about five other large countries: (乌孙), (奄蔡), Anxi (i.e. Parthia, 安息), Tiaozhi (条支), and Shendu (i.e. India, 身毒).

His second journey took place at some time in the years 119‐115 B.C. He himself arrived at Wusun and from there sent his vice‐envoys to ‘Dayuan, Kangju, Dayuezhi, Daxia, Anxi, Yutian (于寘), Hanshen (扜罙), as well as other neighboring countries.’In the end, Zhang Qian’s adventures led to the start of a long march of merchants across great stretches of land and through wide spans of history. The trade links which resulted from his first trek and later expeditions opened regular trade between China, India, Iran and the Roman empire and all the areas in between. The travels of Zhang Qian marked the opening of the whole Silk Road.18

Although his adventures failed to produce an alliance against the Xiung‐nu, it strengthened Chinese resolve to rid themselves of the Xiung‐nu threat. Now the Han rulers understood that there was much opportunity for trade and wealth if they could establish contact with the countries of the west.19 military intelligence about western lands and their peoples, Zhang Qian brought back information of immense commercial value. While in Bactria about 128 B.C.E., he noticed Chinese goods—textiles and bamboo articles—offered for sale in local markets.20 Upon inquiry he learned that they had come from southwest China by way of Bengal.

17 Taishan Yu, A Study of the History of the Relationship. Between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin,. Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions, Sino‐Platonic Papers,No 173, (October, 2006), pp. 14‐15.

18 Taishan Yu, A Study of the History of the Relationship. Between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin,. Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions, p. 10.

19 Thorley, John "The Silk Trade between China and the Roman Empire at Its Height, 'Circa' A.D. 90‐130", Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Apr., 1971), pp. 72‐73.

20 Friedrich Hirth," The Story of Chang K'ién, China's Pioneer in Western Asia: Text and Translation of Chapter123 of Ssï‐Ma Ts'ién's Shï‐Ki", pp. 97‐98.

112 Number 3 (2012)

The Roles of Persianate Culture and the Westward Explorations...

From that information he deduced the possibility of establishing trade relations between China and Bactria through India.21 Zhang Qian also described the coins of Anxi (Parthia) as follows: ‘The coin was made of silver with the bust or face of the reigning king on the obverse. When the king died, the coin had to be changed immediately, and the bust or face of the new king would appear on the new coin.’22 These coins circulated not only in the areas under Parthian control but also in neighboring countries and areas under local rulers.

To sum up, the information that Zhang Qian gathered during his travels thus contributed to the opening of the silk roads—the network of trade routes that linked lands as distant as China and the Roman empire—and more generally to the establishment of relations between China and lands to the west. With this in mind, Han Wudi responded enthusiastically to this idea and dreamed of trading with peoples inhabiting lands west of China. From 102 to 98 B.C.E., he sent armies against the Xiung‐nu, punshing the nomads away from the Han frontier. The Han armies left strong garrisons behind to protect the routes to the west. These routes quickly filled with merchants carrying Chinese silk, metalwork and art and returning with jade, wine, horses and other luxury items.23

3. Conclusion

The term "Silk Road" refers to the network of trade routes that linked China and the West in ancient times. Although this term was first coined in the late 1800's by the German geographer Ferninand von Richthofen, ancient travelers had crossed deserts and mountains to exchange goods with Chinese, Indian, and Persian merchants as early as 300 B.C.E. Few traders traveled the entire route; rather, goods were bartered at various trading centers in staggered progression along the way. The most frequently traveled route, popularized during the Han dynasty when Chinese silk first reached Europe, stretched 7,000 miles. It began in the Han capital city of Chang An, followed northwest along the Great Wall, crossed the Taklimakan Desert, the , and Bactria (modern‐day northern Afghanistan) and reached the .

Although nobody can cast doubt on the importance of the Han emperors and Zhang Qian in the Opening and Expanding of the Silk Road, the creation of the silk

21 ibid. p. 98.

22 ibid. p. 97.

23 Thorley, John "The Silk Trade between China and the Roman Empire at Its Height, 'Circa' A.D. 90‐130", p. 75.

Number 3 (2012) 113

International Journal of Current Chinese Studies Pasha H. road should not be attributed only to the ambition of the Han emperor Wudi to control the Western Regions and to the diplomatic mission of Zhang Qian, but also to the Persianate Cultures. As a matter of fact, the formation of the Persian Empire by Cyrus the great and it's fall by Conquests of Alexander and then the formation of Parthian empire along with other Persianate Cultures such as Achaemenids, Bactria, Sogdiana, Parthia stimulated and accelerated cultural and economic exchanges among the ancient civilizations of near east ,Central Asia, India, the eastern Mediterranean, and Europe. Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial Chinese relations with Central Asia, Persianate cultures such as Sogdiana flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century BC.

4. Bibliography

Baines J, Yoffee N. 1998. Order, legitimacy, and wealth in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, in G. Feinman and J. Marcus (eds.), Archaic states (Advanced Seminar Series), Santa Fe: School of American Research Press.

Graf David F. 1990. “The Persian Royal Road System”, in Achaemenid History VIII Continuity and Change: Proceedings of the Last Achaemenid History Workshop, (ed) Sancisi‐Weerdenburg, H. and Kurht, A and Cool Root, M., April 6‐ 8, pp.167‐ 189.

Hirth F. 1917. The Story of Chang K'ién, China's Pioneer in Western Asia: Text and Translation of Chapter123 of Ssï‐Ma Ts'ién's Shï‐Ki, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 37, pp. 89‐152.

Holt FL. 1989, Alexander the Great and Bactria, Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Lewis ME. 1999. "Warring States Political History", in Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L., The Cambridge history of ancient China: from the origins of civilization to 221 B.C, Cambridge University Press.

Thapar R. 1990. A History of India, Part 1, Penguin Books; Reprint edition, (September 1).

Thorley J. 1971. The Silk Trade between China and the Roman Empire at Its Height, 'Circa' A.D. 90‐130, Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Apr).

Uchibayashi M. 2005. The Introduction of Grapes and Alfalfa into China: A Reflection on the Role of Zhang Qian. Journal of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, 125(11), pp. 895‐898.

114 Number 3 (2012)

The Roles of Persianate Culture and the Westward Explorations...

Watson W. 1983. Iran and China, ed. E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(1), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Wiesehofer J. 1996. Ancient Persia. From 550 BC to 650 AD ,London: I. B. Tauris Publishers.

Wu Y. 1986. A Horse‐bone Inscription Copied from the Cyrus Cylinder (line 18‐21) in the PalaceMuseum in Beijing”, Journal of Ancient Civilizations, vol. 1, pp. 13‐20.

Yule H. 1915. Cathay and the Way Thither, being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, translated and edited by Henry Yule. New edition, revised by Henri Cordier, London, Hakluyt Society, Vol. I.

Yu T. 2006. A Study of the History of the Relationship. Between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions”, Sino‐Platonic Papers, No 173, (October).

Number 3 (2012) 115