Shanshan

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For tropical cyclones named Shanshan, see Typhoon Shanshan.

Shanshan (Chinese: 鄯善; pinyin: Shànshàn) is the Chinese name for a kingdom that existed roughly from 200 BCE-1000 CE at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan desert including the great salt lake known as Lop Nur.

In 126 BCE, the Chinese envoy, Zhang Qian described Loulan as a fortified city near Lop Nur.[1]

In 77 BCE the Chinese envoy Fu Jiezi stabbed Loulan's King, Chang Gui, to death. In 77 BCE the kingdom became a Chinese puppet state, and the Chinese moved the capital south-west and away from town of Loulan to the northwest of Lop Nur, and renamed the kingdom Shanshan.[2]

Because of its strategic position on what became the main route from China to the West, as well as controlling the Southern Route between Dunhuang and Khotan, during the Former Han and Later Han, control of it was regularly contested between the Chinese and the Xiongnu. The Hanshu informs us that: "it lay close to Han and confronted the White Dragon Mounds. The locality was short of water and pasture, and was regularly responsible for sending out guides, conveying water, bearing provisions and escorting or meeting Han envoys. In addition the state was frequently robbed, reprimanded or harmed by officials or conscripts and found it inexpedient to keep contact with the Han. Later the state again conducted espionage for the Hsiung-nu, often intercepting and killing Han envoys."[3] The Xiongnu repeatedly contested the Han Chinese for control of the region until well into the 2nd century CE,[4] and is recorded as a dependent kingdom of Shanshan in the 3rd century Weilue.[5]

A military colony of 1,000 men was established at Loulan in 260 CE by the Chinese General So Man. The site was abandoned in 330 CE due to lack of water when the Tarim River, which supported the settlement, changed course and the military garrison was moved 50 km south to Haitou. The fort of Yingpan to the northwest remained under Chinese control until the Tang dynasty.[6]

The Chinese pilgrim monk, Faxian, stayed about a month in Shanshan after a 17 day journey from Dunhuang in 399 AD. He described the country as "rugged and hilly, with a thin and barren soil. The clothes of the common people are coarse, and like those worn in our land of Han, some wearing felt and others coarse serge or hair.... The king professed (our) Law, and there might be in the country more than four thousand monks, who were all students of the Hinayāna.... (The monks)...were all students of Indian books and the Indian language (Sanskrit)."

The capital was near modern Charkhlik, between Dunhuang and Khotan, on the "Southern Route" of the Han histories. The town of Loulan, at the northwestern corner of the salt lake known as Lop Nor, and became an important staging point for caravans travelling from Dunhuang to Kucha on the "Central Route".

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Watson, Burton, trans. (1993). Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II - Revised Edition. Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 0231081669 and ISBN 0231081677 (pbk)
  2. ^ *Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. E. J. Brill, Leiden. ISBN 9004058842, p. 89.
  3. ^ *Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. E. J. Brill, Leiden. ISBN 9004058842, p. 89.
  4. ^ Annotated translation from the Hou Hanshu by John E. Hill
  5. ^ Annotated translation of the Weilue by John E. Hill
  6. ^ Baumer, Christoph. (2000). Southern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. Bangkok, White Orchid Books, 2000.
  • Brough, J. 1965. “Comments on third century Shan-shan and the history of Buddhism.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. XXVIII, 3, pp. 582-612.
  • Brough, J. 1970. “Supplementary Notes on Third-Century Shan-Shan.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. XXXIII, pp. 39-45.
  • Legge, James. Trans. and ed. 1886. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: being an account by the Chinese monk Fâ-hsien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. Reprint: Dover Publications, New York. 1965.
  • Loewe, Michael 1969. “Chinese Relations with Central Asia.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 32, pp. 91-103.
  • Noble, Peter S. 1930-32 “A Kharoṣṭhī Inscription from Endere.” Bulletin of the Society of Oriental Studies, VI, (1930-32), pp. 445-455.
  • Stein, Aurel M. 1907. Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford. [1]
  • Stein, Aurel M. 1921. Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [2]
  • Stein Aurel M. 1928. Innermost Asia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran, 5 vols. Clarendon Press. Reprint: New Delhi. Cosmo Publications. 1981. [3]
  • Thomas, F. W. 1943-46. “Some Notes On Central-Asian Kharosthī Documents.” Bulletin of the Society of Oriental Studies, 11, pp. 513-549.


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