Crespigny Some Notes On The Western Regions

SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERN REGIONS 西域 IN LATER HAN
Author(s): RAFE DE CRESPIGNY

Source: Journal of Asian History, Vol. 40, No. 1 (2006), pp. 1-30
Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag
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RAFE DE CRESPIGNY
(The AustralianNationalUniversity,
Canberra)
SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERN REGIONS

IN LATER HAN
Thegeographyand statesoftheWestern
Regions
AD
in thefirsttwocenturies
The Account of the WesternRegions in Hou Han shu 88/78describes

theterritoryof present-daysouthernXinjiangin termsof two greatroads
to the west, one passing by the northof the Tarimbasin and the Takli-
makan desert,the otherto the south.1Both the NorthernRoad and the
SouthernRoad had commonoriginin thesaltplains aboutLop Nor.
Lop Nor, a shiftingsaltlake,knownto Han as Puchanghai, "Multitude
of Rushes,"or as Yanze, the Salt Swamp,receivesthewatersof theTarim
Riverfromthewest. One sourceof theTarimis in thePamirs,whencethe
Kashgar River passes the moderncityof thatname, to be joined by the
Yarkant,flowingnorthfromtheKunlunmassifalong thewest of theTak-
limakandesert.These two streams,and a multitudeof othermeandersand
fromtheTian Shan to thenorth,gatherin theShangyoumarshes
tributaries
southofpresent-day Aksu,and theTarimthentravelseastto Lop Nor.
The westernmostterritory of China under Han was Dunhuang com-
manderyin Liang province,whose capital cityof Dunhuang,now Dun-
huang in Gansu, lay on a water-courseflowingnorthfromthe Altun
Shan. From thatstartingpoint,access to the WesternRegions was by a
1 Formodern namesI generally TheTimes

follow Atlas.Identification
of
Comprehensive
ancient
sitesis basedprimarily
uponthereconstructions
ofHulsewé,ChinainCentral
Asia.
JAH40/1
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2 RAFE DE CRESPIGNY
road curvingnorthalong thewater-wayto theYumenPass.2 Due west of

Dunhuang another,more difficult,route leads throughthe Yang Pass
along the highflanksof the Altunranges,but thiswas traditionally
used
only in late springand winter,when wells along the Yumen road may
become salty.3
The SouthernRoad to thewest began at thecityof Loulan, close to the

entryof the TarimRiver intoLop Nor. This was in theterritoryof Shan-
shan, which occupied the desertregion west of Dunhuang, north of the
Altun Shan and south of Turfan.4The Road led southwesttowardsthe
2 ThisYumen Passmust bedistinguishedfromtheLaterHancounty ofYumen inJiuquan

commandeiy,somethree hundred kilometres
totheeastnearthepresentcityofthesame
name.
AsianTracks
Central
Stein, , p. 174.1amalsomostgrateful toDr.LewisMayoofMel-
bourneUniversityforadviceonthese routes.
ThestateofShanshan wasknown asLoulanuntil
77BC,when a coupbyHanbrought it
under
firmly Chinese control,andthecityofLoulanwasa centre fortrade.See Hul-
sewé,ChinainCentral Asia,pp.81-83note77quoting aliaHedinandStein,
inter who
studied
theruins intheearlytwentieth Hedin,Central
century: AsiaandTibet D, pp.
109-150,andStein,CentralAsianTracks ,pp.136-144.
AtleastduringtheLaterHanperiod, however,thecapital
cityofShanshan, Hanni[also
written
as Yuni/Wuni], was not atLoulanbut atthe oasisofCharkhlik,present-
dayRuoqiang, inthesouthwest ofthestate.
See alsoTaishanYu,"OntheLocation of
oftheState
Capital ofShanshan."
Thenameofthemodern cityofShanshan nearTurfan thenorthern
reflects extent
ofthe
ancient
state.
JAH40/1
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SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERNREGIONS ffi#IN LATERHAN 3
AltunShan as faras Hanni, capital of Shanshan,by the Charkhlikoasis.

Leaving theterritory of Shanshanat Qiemo and followingthe line of the
mountains, the Road reached Juminear present-dayYutian,a thousand
kilometresfromLoulan.5 It thencurved northwestbelow the slopes of
theKunlun forsix hundredkilometres,past Yutian [Khotan/Hotan]6and
Suoju [Yarkand],to arriveat Shule [Kashgar]at thefootof thePamirs.
The NorthernRoad wentfirstto present-dayHami, knownas Yiwu or
Yiwu[lu], thenwest past Turfanto Yanqi [Karashar],Quii [Korla], Qiuzi
[Kuqa] and Gumo [Aksu] to approach Shule fromthe northeast.Beyond
Shule the tradingroutes extended west over the Pamirs to Dayuan
[Ferghana],withKangju [Sogdiana includingTashkentand Samarkand]
to thenorthand east and theterritoryof theGreatYuezhi people in north-
ern Afghanistan7and Daxia [Bactria] to the southand east. Furtherstill
was Anxi, the empireof Parthia,and beyond thatthe legendarystateof
Daqin, imperialRome.
Though the state of Shanshan extendedover much of the east of the
WesternRegions,the land is sandyand salt and, apartfromtheprofitsof
theentrepotsat Loulan and the Charkhlikoasis, and some tradein brush-
wood and jade, most people supportedthemselvesby nomad herding.
The populationduringFormerHan was barely 14,000,withan armyless
thanthreethousand,and it can have been littlemore numerousin Later
Han.8 The territorywas readilyaccessible throughthe YumenPass, so it
could be broughtunder controlwithoutgreat difficultywhenever the
government of Han decided to move firmlyintothewest.
5 Thenameofthis waswritten as iïM Wumi/Jumi

city-state byHS 96A,p. 3880,andit
alsoappearsas Hanmi11'- 'IS.SeeHulsewé, ChinainCentralAsia,pp.94-95note138.
During Former Hanandinthepresent day,thenameYutian iswritten ŤM,butinLater
Hantextsitappears as P"sE.
Theappellation "Great" wasusedtodistinguish these people,
generallyidentified
as the
Kushans,from theLittle Yuezhi whoinhabited theChinese frontier ofLiang
territories
provinceandwereassociated withtheQiangtribes ofthatregion.TheYuezhipeople
hadformerly inhabited thenorthern steppe,butweredefeatedbytheXiongnu andscat-
teredintheearly second century BC.
There wasalsoa verysmallstatecalledXiaoyuan, inthehillcountrysouth ofQiemo,
which waslater annexed byShanshan: Hulsewé, ChinainCentral Asia,p.93.Hillsug-
geststhat
itwasnearpresent-day Tura/Tula,ontheroadleadingsouth intoTibet.
HS 96A,3875,Hulsewé, ChinainCentral Asia,pp.83-85.Earlyinthefirst century
AD, during variousinter-state struggles,Shanshan expanded itsterritoryas faras
Qiemo, butnofigures aregiven forthepopulationoftheterritory
during LaterHan.
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4 RAFE DE CRESPIGNY
The regionof Hami and Turfanwas notso straightforward. On theone

hand,therewere fertileoases suitableto agriculture,but these were also
attractiveto the nomads of the north,and therewas constanttensionbe-
Chinese interestsand the Huyan King of the
tween the local city-states,
NorthernXiongnu,who controlledthearea about thePulei Lake, present-
day Barkol.9
The modernrailwayrunsnorthwestfromGansu to Hami and Turfan
below the Barkol Tagh and the Bogda ranges.That routemay have been
used on occasion by travellersand armies fromChina, but we are told
thatin Han times the main road turnedimmediatelyoutside the Yumen
Pass and went northto Yiwu[lu] by present-dayHami, thenled west to
anotheroasis at Liuzhong, in the Aiding marshlandsnear the modern
townof Shanshan.This was in theterritory of NearerJushi,based on the
TurfanDepression, whose capital was consideredto be the head of the
NorthernRoad.10 The state of EasternQiemi [or Jumi]was about pre-
sent-dayUrumqi, and FurtherJushilay northof the Bogda mountains
near present-dayQitai. None of thesewere large,and theirarmiesnum-
bered only a few thousandmen, while the more distantstates of Bilu
beyond FurtherJushi,Pulei west of Urumqi,and Yizhi by present-day
Lake Barkol,could puteven fewertroopsintothefield.
Westalong theNorthernRoad, Yanqi by theBosten Lake was substan-
tiallylarger,witha populationrecordedat 52,000 individualsand 20,000
soldiers,and it dominatedits neighboursWeixu to the east and Weili on
the west.11The road thenfollowedthe flankof theTian Shan past Qiuzi
[Kuqa], and Gumo and Wensu by Aksu, withthe territory of the Wusun
tribesin the mountaincountryand the Ili valley on the north,thenthe
smallerstateof WeitounearBachu, and again arrivedat Shule [Kashgar].
9 The werea clanoftheXiongnu with totheroyal

ofmarriage houseofthe
Huyan rights
Shanyu. Their
home was
territoiy the
evidently hill of
country theBarkol Tagh andthe
steppetothenorth.
10 HHS
p.2914.
88/78,
ThefiguresforYanqiaregivenbyHHS88/78, p. 2927.HS 96B,p. 3917,hasa popula-
forthestate
and6,000soldiers
tionof32,100individuals duringFormer Han.Thenum-
bermayhaveincreased with
duetoalliance Weixu andWeili,butonemaynotemorese-
inthefigures
riouscontradiction givenfor
Yutianbelow.
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SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERNREGIONS IN LATERHAN 5
Here at the westernend of the Tarim basin, the leading states were
Shule, Suoju [Yarkand]and Yutian [Khotan].Hou Han shu gives no fig-
ures forthe firsttwo, but attributes83,000 individualsand an armyof
30,000 men to Yutian; the figureforsuch able-bodied males seems dis-
proportionate. Han shu, on the otherhand,reportsless thantwentythou-
sand people and 2,400 soldiers,which is comparableto Shule's 18,647
individualsand two thousand soldiers, and to Suoju with 16,373 and
3,049 men-at-arms.12 There seems no good way to reconcile these fig-
ures,butwe are toldthatChinese agentssuch as Ban Chao and Ban Yong
achieved considerablesuccess withtroopsnumberingonly in hundreds.
Eithertheyand theirmen were exceptionallyskilled,or the local forces
theydealtwithwere comparativelysmall.
From the viewpointof Han China, the WesternRegions could be di-
vided intothree.Close at hand, in Shanshan and the northeastnear Tur-
fan,the chiefconcernwas to hold theNorthernXiongnu fromthe fertile
lands of the area, to dominatethe statesof Jushiand to maintaintroops
withthe aid of militarycolonies. Furtheralong the NorthernRoad past
Yanqi [Karashar],the routeto the countriesbeyondthePamirsneeded to
be keptopen and freefrominterference by theXiongnu or the Wusun of
the Tian Shan. The SouthernRoad, less exposed to outsiders,was easier
territory,thoughChinese agents frequentlyencounteredlocal problems
amongtheoasis states.
Along thetwo routesof theSilk Road, thetradewas valuable and prof-
itable,buta matterratherof luxurythanof necessity,forthelong distances
and thelimitsof camels and otherbeasts of burdenmeantthatonlygoods
of highvalue in relationto theirweightcould be sensiblycarried.Chinese
exportswere primarilysilk, lacquer and some bullion,and theywere ex-
changedforjade fromcentralAsia, cashmereand othertextilesincluding
wool and linenfromtheRoman empire,glass also fromRome, grapewine
and perfumes,slaves, oftenskilledinjuggling,and exoticanimalssuch as
lions,ostrichesand zebu, togetherwiththecelebratedhorsesof Ferghana.13
12 HHS
p.2915,andcf.HS 96A,pp.3881and3897-98;Hulsewé,
88/78, ChinainCentral
Asia,pp.97,139and141.
13 Someofthevaluablecommoditiesarementioned
inHHS51/4 1,p. 1683,andthepattern
oftradeisdiscussed
byYüYing-shih,TradeandExpansion
,pp.198-199.
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6 RAFE DE CRESPIGNY
For themostpart,thiscommercewas in privatehands,and thegovern-

mentof Later Han gained no directbenefit.EmperorWu of FormerHan
had senta Ml generaland a greatarmyto acquirehorsesfromFerghana,
but duringLater Han the horse-parksof China had evidentlyan adequate
supplyof breedingstock,and morecould be broughtin by regularprivate
trade.As fortribute,duringdebateat courtin 119 it was complainedthat
the greed of the envoys who came to the imperialcapital meantthatthe
government always lost on thetransaction.14
It was arguedthatthepoliti-
cal advantagesout-weighedthecosts,butthefiscalpointwas notdisputed.
In general,theWesternRegions presentedtheimperialregimeof Later
Han withpotentialforsome strategicadvantageagainsttheXiongnu,and
it was naturallydesirablethattradeacross centralAsia should be main-
however,was not consideredcriticallyimportant,
tained. The territory,
and thegreatdays of ambitionhad passed.
Regionson theirown25-73 AD
The Western
relationshipwiththeXion-
In 16 AD, afteran erraticand deteriorating
gnu of the northern steppeand the variousstatesof the WesternRegions,
the Chinese emperorWang Mang orderedhis generalWang Junand the
Protector-General Li Chong to lead seven thousandmen againsttherecal-
citrantrulerof Yanqi. The army,however,was defeated,Wang Junwas
killed,and Li Chong died some timelater.Thereafter politicalcontactbe-
tweentheChinese empireand centralAsia was broken;thevariousstates
contendedamongstthemselvesand withtheXiongnu,while insideChina
theoverthrowof Wang Mang's regimewas followedby civil war.15After
morethana dozen yearstherewas a resumptionof contact,but it was al-
mostsixtyyearsbeforeLaterHan soughtto reclaimtheold supremacy.
Despite vicissitudes,King Yan of Suoju had remainedstaunchlypro-
Chinese,and when his son Kang succeeded him in 18 AD he held to that
Even as Chinese controlin theregionwas disruptedafterthefall
tradition.
of Wang Mang, Kang led his neighboursto oppose the Xiongnu,and he
also took in a numberof Chineseofficialsand citizenswho had been asso-
14 HHS
47/37,
pp.1588-89; 'Troisgénéraux
Chavannes, p.250.
chinois,"
Wang Mangwasdestroyedbya Hanrebellionin23.LiuXiu,Emperor
GuangwuofLater
title
Han,tooktheimperial tohisauthority
in25,butthelastresistance wasnotcrushed
un-
til36.Thehistory
ofthis isdiscussed
period indetail "Restoration."
byBielenstein,
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SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERNREGIONS ffiMIN LATERHAN 7
dated with the Protectorateand were now strandedin the WesternRe-

gions. In 29 Kang sentan embassyto China, includingrepresentatives of
otherstates,and escortingthewidow and childrenof theformerProtector-
GeneralLi Chong.Thoughtheroad to theimperialcapitalat Luoyangwas
at thattimeblocked by the warlordWei Ao, the Han ally Dou Rong re-
ceived theenvoys.EmperorGuangwuhad him confirmKang in his royal
titleand also namehimGrandChiefCommandantof theWesternRegions,
withnotionalauthority overall fifty-five
statesof Han centralAsia.'
When Kang died in 33 he was succeeded by his brotherXian, a man of
wide ambition.Soon afterhis accession he attackedand annexed two
small neighbouringstates,and it is said thathe dominatedall theterritory
east of thePamirs.
InitiallyXian followedtheexample of his fatherand his brotherin con-
nectionto Han. In 38 hejoined thestateof Shanshanin a tributemissionto
Luoyang,and in 41 he sentan embassyof his own,askingthata Protector-
Generalbe appointedto represent thepowerof China as in thetimeof the
Formerdynasty.On theadvice of Dou Rong, and no doubtin accordance
withXian's hopes,Guangwugrantedthetitleto Xian himself.
At this point,however,the Administrator of Dunhuang Pei Zun pro-
testedthatno barbarianshouldbe givensuch authority, and even as Xian's
embassy was on itsway home his
Guangwuchanged mind;Pei Zun inter-
ceptedtheenvoysand forciblyexchangedtheseal forthatof a ChiefGen-
eral.Xian was predictablyangry.He reclaimedhis brother'stitleas Grand
ChiefCommandantand embarkedon his own policyof aggrandisement.
Aftersome years of his pressure,in 45 a joint embassyfromeighteen
states,includingShanshan,Yanqi [Karashar]and NearerJushiin Turfan,
sent hostages and giftsto Luoyang and asked for a Chinese Protector-
General to save themfromXian. Guangwu gave thempresents,but he
had no intentionof makingsuch an appointment or of becominginvolved
in the region,and he sentthe hostages back. The suppliantkings asked
thattheymightat least stayin Dunhuang,to make it appear thata Protec-
tor-Generalwould be sent,but withina few monthsXian recognisedthe
bluff.In 46 he orderedthe rulerof Shanshanto block the road to China,
and when he refusedhe attackedand killed him. He thenattackedQiuzi
[Kuqa] and annexedthatstate.The new rulerof Shanshanagain appealed
to Guangwu, but was told thatHan would not interveneand the central
Asian statesmustmake theirown arrangements. Shanshanand the states
of JushiaccordinglysoughtprotectionfromtheXiongnu.
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8 RAFE DE CRESPIGNY
Bielensteinhas arguedthattherefusalof EmperorGuangwuto become

involvedin the affairsof centralAsia was a failureof policy,and in par-
ticularthathe shouldhave recognisedKing Xian as Protector-General; he
would have gained a valuable local ally and restoredHan influenceand
prestigein thewest.16The affairof theProtector-General's seal was indeed
clumsy and offensive, but it is in
questionable, the lightof laterevents,
whetherXian would have servedwell as a long-term agentof Han. More
probably,his aggressiveambitionswould have createdembarrassment, and
itis clearthatGuangwuwas notpreparedto commitanymilitary forceinto
theregion,eitherto assisthimor to keep himundercontrol.
The imperialgovernment was stillrecoveringfromcivil war whichhad
ended less thantenyearsearlier,and therewere continuingproblemswith
the Xiongnu and othernon-Chinesepeoples of the north;even when the
Xiongnuconfederacysplitin thelate40s Guangwuwas stillreluctant to go
ontotheoffensive,butsimplyestablishedtheSouthernShanyu a bufferin
zone on the frontier. Bielensteincriticiseshim forthislack of energytoo,
butone musthave sympathyif therulerof a new stateis reluctantto risk
internalsecurityfor the chimeraof long-distanceachievement.17 It was
unfortunate forthe old allies and dependentsof China in the WesternRe-
gions, but Guangwu's decision was probablythe best policy forhis own
regime at thattime.
The Xiongnu were willing to supportShanshan and the Jushistates,
but fromthe late 40s theywere distracted,firstby a succession dispute,
thenby the secession of the SouthernShanyu Bi. Xian was thus able to
maintainhis hegemonyin the Tarimbasin throughthe 50s, and he ex-
tendedhis authority even across thePamirsto Dayuan [Ferghana]and the
smaller state of Guisai on the headwatersof the Oxus/Amudarya.His
government, however,was erratic:he forciblychangedtherulersof sev-
eral states,eitherwithhis own officersor withotherprinces,and at one
point, becoming suspicious of some of these men's loyalty,he called
them to his capital and summarilykilled them. At the same time, the
increasingdemands of taxes and tributeturnedthe subordinatestates
againsthim.
16
III,pp.131-134.
"Restoration"
Bielenstein,
"Restoration"
Bielenstein, HI,pp.126-127, Northern
butcf.deCrespigny, Frontier,
pp.
247-249.
40/1
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In 60 Xian's oppressivelocal governorat Yutian[Khotan]was assassi-

nated and the local leader Xiumoba seized power. Supported by
neighbouringJumi,he defeatedthreearmies of Xian and his confeder-
ates, thenbesieged Suoju city.Xiumoba was killed by an arrowand his
troopswithdrew,but his nephewGuangde returnedsoon afterwards with
support from the Northern Xiongnu. There was discontentwithin the
capital,moreover, about Xian's harsh and now unsuccessfulrule, and in
61, as Xian went out to negotiatewithGuangde, he was promptlytaken
prisonerand the cityopened its gates to the enemy.Xian was killed and
Suoju was annexedby Yutian.
By thistimetheNorthernXiongnu had somewhatrecoveredfromthe
divisiontenyears earlier,and althoughtheywere exposed to attackfrom
theirWuhuanand Xianbi neighbourson the east, theywere all the more
interestedin possibilitiesto thewest. Hearingof Guangde's success, they
gathered a large army, with auxiliaries from Qiuzi [Kucha], Yanqi
[Karashar] and other client states on the NorthernRoad, and sent it
againstYutian.Guangde was compelled to submit:he senthis eldest son
as a hostage and promised regular tributeof cashmere and silk. The
Xiongnu restoredthe independenceof Suoju and lefta Resident at the
court of Yutian, but Guangde nonetheless continuedto dominate his
neighbours,and Yutian and Shanshan were the leading states on the
SouthernRoad.
Ban Chao and theProtectorate-General

73-107 AD
The recoveryof the NorthernXiongnu and theirdominance in the

WesternRegions,particularly thearea of Barkol and Turfan,had brought
increasing trouble to the Chinese positionin thenorthwestof Liang prov-
ince, the present-dayGansu corridor.The raidingacross the borderwas
so insistentthatit was said the cities had to keep theirgates closed even
duringdaytime,but in 73 thegovernment of EmperorMing feltconfident
enough to send an expeditionagainst the trouble-makers.The bulk of the
armyfailedto encounterthe enemyand returnedwithoutsuccess, but on
the leftflankthe generalDou Gu advanced northwesttowardsthe Pulei
Lake, defeatedtheHuyan kingand occupied theoasis of Yiwu.18
18 de Northern
Crespigny, pp.259-261.
Frontier,
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10 RAFE DE CRESPIGNY
Late in the followingyear Dou Gu led anotherexpedition.Advancing

to the Barkol Tagh with 14,000 men,he defeatedthe Xiongnu again and
received submission fromthe kingdoms of Nearer and FurtherJushi,
northand southof the Bogda ranges. This was the firsttime Later Han
had gained the approachesto the WesternRegions, and the structureof
control set up by Former Han was now restored.A new Protector-
General,Chen Mu, set his headquartersat Yanqi, withthe SeniorColonel
Guo Xun and two thousand officialsand soldiers.19Two Wu and Ji
Colonels, Guan Chong and Geng Gong, were camped further east, at the
Liuzhong oasis of Nearer and
Jushi, in Further
Jushi.20Each garrison had
19 Therehasbeenuncertainty about therank andsignificance ofafuxiaowei. Dubsrenders

thetitleas Associate Protector-General andColoneloftheWestern Frontier Regions
[see,forexample, History oftheFormer HanDynasty , pp.331and336],bothCam-
bridge History andBielenstein, Bureaucracy , p. 110,render thetitleas "Lieutenant-
Colonel" andthishasbeenfollowed bymostscholars: theimplication is thattherank
wasinferiortothat ofa fullcolonel.
There arenotmany references totheoffice, anditisnotdescribed intheTreatise onthe
Bureaucracy compiled forLater Han by Sima Biao in hisXu Han shu (incorporated into
HouHanshu).Thelistofofficials ofFormer HaninHS 19A,p.738,however, describes
thefuxiaoweioftheWestern Regions withthehighrank/salaiy ofEquivalent toTwo
Thousand shi,whiletheWuandJiColonels ranked onlyatSixHundred shi.Fuxiaowei
arealsomentioned as senior assistantsoftheEmissaiy totheXiongnu during Former
Han[e.g.HS IS, p.3289,and94B,pp.2810-11].
Afuxiaowei is againrecorded under theEmissaiy sentbyLaterHantotheSouthern
Shanyu in50[HHS89/79, pp.2943-45], andin65,when theoffice ofGeneral ontheLiao
wasfirstestablished inLater Hantosupervise thefrontierwith theXiongnu, thenewcom-
mander wasaccompanied byafuxiaowei andtwocolonels [HHS89/79, p.2949];thefeet
thatthefuxiaowei islisted aheadofthecolonels indicatesa higher rank. When LiangQin
wasfuxiaowei oftheWestern Regions in 106,moreover, he commanded 5,000non-
Chinese horsemen, farmore than thenormal regiment ofa regular colonel.
It appears, that
therefore, fu a xiaowei was a high and closeassociate toa Protector-
General, Emissary, orother officials
dealing with non-Chinese. The prefix fushould be
understood, following Dubs,as "associate" orperhaps "deputy," capableofacting in
placeofthesubstantive official,notas theinferior "lieutenant," indicating thathewas
subordinate eventoa colonel. I therefore render thetitleas"Senior Colonel."
20 The of Wu and Colonels
Ji is confused. Since wu and ji arethefifth andsixth
arrangement
ofthetenCelestial StemsXT tiangan,theappellation hasbeeninterpreted to
asreferring
theofficers'"central"position indealing with theWestern Regions, ortothefact that
they
hadnofixed base- though thisevidently didnotapply toGuanChong andGengGong.
JAH40/1
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some fivehundredmen,organisedin militaryagriculturalcolonies. There

was anothercolony at Yiwu undera CommandantforGrain,and a re-
servepositionat Dunhuangundera Generalof theHousehold.
Though the Wusun tribesof the Tian Shan were persuaded to renew
theirconnectionand send tributeto Han, the new establishmentproved
fartoo ambitious.The NorthernXiongnureturned, and by thesummerof
75 theyhad restoredtheirpositionin the regionand placed Guan Chong
and Geng Gong undersiege. Chen Mu was isolated,and when thepeople
of Yanqi and Qiuzi saw the change in the situationthey attackedand
killedhimwithall his men.
As EmperorMing died about thistime,the courtof the new Emperor
Zhang debated whetherthey should seek to assist the two beleaguered
colonels. Some argued thatthe whole enterprisein the west should be
abandonedand thepasses closed, but itwas eventuallyagreedthatrescue
would be good for morale, and early in 76 a force of seven thousand
commanderytroopsand auxiliariesfromShanshan was sent out. Guan
Chong in Nearer Jushihad died, but the survivorsof his garrisonwere
relievedand, again aftera deal of hesitation,two thousandmen were sent
to FurtherJushiwhereGeng Gong was maintaininga heroicdefence.
The rescuersand thosetheysoughtto save had to contendwithheavy
snow and greatnumbersof theXiongnuand theirlocal allies,buttherelief
was achievedand thetroopsstruggledback. It was a Pyrrhicvictory:ofthe
five hundredmen commandedby Geng Gong, just twenty-sixlefttheir
Atvarious times,however, there wereappointments

ofa single WuandJiColonel, orof
twomen:a WuColonel anda JiColonel. ForLaterHan,when thetextsrefertooneWu
andJiColonel ithasbeensuggested thatthecharacter
ji wasincluded bymistake.
It is clearthatGuanChongandGengGongheldseparate commands: GuanChong,
probably with title
as JiColonel, wasinNearer whileGengGongtheWuColonel
Jushi,
wasinFurther Jushi:so theterritory
ofFurtherJushi wasintheWucommand, and
Nearer JushiwastheresponsibilityoftheJidivision.
A Jiregiment isreferredtoinHan
shuabout 39,[96B,p. 3908;Hulsewé, ChinainCentralAsia, p. 159],butHouHanshu
hasnospecific referencetoa unitofthatname,nortoanyofficer with a Jititle.
When theProtectorate-General wasre-established
forBanChaoin91itseemsthat only
oneColonel wasappointed, as inFormerHanin48BC.Thisofficer wascommonly and
frequently describedas WuandJiColonel(e.g.SuoJunin96,RenShangin 106and
DongZhuoabout175qq.v.below), buthisformaltitlewasprobably WuColonel(as
YanXiangin153: note31).
Onthisquestion, seeHulsewé, ChinainCentral
Asia, p. 79note63,citing Chavannes,
"Paysd'Occident," andthemodern scholar
LaoKan.
JAH40/1
(2006)
fortressin his company,and as theyreachedthefrontier at Dunhuangonly

twelve remained,desperatelythin and clad in rags.21Geng Gong was
praisedbythearmyand thecourtforhis courageagainstodds,and thepoet
historianBan Gu composeda rhapsodyon his greatfeatof arms,22butthe
pretensionsof Han had suffered a seriousset-back,and theNorthernRoad
was stillexposed to theXiongnu.In 77 orderswere sentto abandoneven
thecamp at Yiwu, and thewholeterritory was leftto theenemy.
At the same time,however,along the SouthernRoad, a Chinese enter-
prise led by Ban Chao had been somewhatmorecautiousand a good deal
moresuccessful.
Ban Chao, brotherof Ban Gu, was at thistimeover fortyyearsold, and
untilrecentlyhis officialcareerhad been spentas a juniorclericalofficerat
thecapital.23An ambitiousman,in 73 he obtainedpostingas an Assistant
Major withDu Gu forthecampaignagainsttheXiongnu.He distinguished
himselfas leader of a detachment, and Dou Gu appointedhim to join a
missionto Shanshan,gatewayto theWesternRegions.Even as theChinese
envoyswere at his capitalKing Guangwas also receivinga secretembassy
fromthe Xiongnu,but Ban Chao foundout about theserivalsand took a
small groupof followersto slaughterthem.He presentedtheirheads to his
hostand King Guang,appalledand impressed,senthostagesto Han.
When the coup was reported,Ban Chao was rewardedwithcloth,and
EmperorMing agreed thathe should be promotedto fullMajor and sent
on a longer-termmission. Dou Gu offeredadditional troops,but Ban
Chao was contentwiththethirtymen he had had withhim in Shanshan:
any morewould be clumsy.
Travellingfurther on the SouthernRoad, Ban Chao arrivedat Yutian,
whereKing Guangde stillruledunderinfluencefromthe Xiongnu Resi-
dent.Guangde did notreceivetheChinese withappropriatecourtesy,and
his courtshamantold him to demandthatBan Chao give him his horse.
Ban Chao had theman come to collectit,thenkilledhimwhen he did so.
21 Ofthesetwelve wereGengGongandhistwomost
three seniorofficers.
men,
GengGongshouShulecheng Jù;a fragmentofthiswork,
quoted incommentarytothe
shi
Guanzhong '»S'Ki-i (orGuanzhong ji Sfi)byPanYue ?$!f¡ofthethird is
century,
in
preserved WenxuanjöS andcitedin Quan Hou Hanwen 24.
23 The Itistranslated
ofBanChaois inHHS 47/37,
biography pp.1571-86. byChavan-
nes,"Trois pp.216-245.
chinois,"
généraux
JAH40/1
(2006)
As in Shanshan,this ruthlessconduct inspiredGuangde to execute the

Xiongnuagentsand offerhis submission.
Continuingwest to Shule, Ban Chao foundthattheking had been de-
posed by King Jian of Qiuzi and replaced by his officerDouti. Local
opponentsto the new regime offeredsupport,and one of Ban Chao's
officers,sent to the city in advance, took Douti captive. Ban Chao put
princeZhong, a memberof the native dynasty,on the throne,but he in-
sisted on a show of leniencyand Douti was allowed to returnto Qiuzi
unharmed.
It was at thistime thatKing Zhong of Yanqi destroyedthe Protector-
GeneralChen Mu. Jianof Qiuzi joined thatattack,thencombinedforces
withGumo near Aksu and Weitouto renewthe offensiveagainst Shule.
Ban Chao joined thedefenceforseveralmonths,butthenew government
of EmperorZhang, who had come to the thronejust at the time of the
disasterto Chen Mu, was concernedhe mightbe cut off,and orderedhim
to return.Such withdrawalwas seen as betrayalby the people of Shule,
and in Yutiantheysoughtphysicallyto hold Ban Chao back. Fearingthey
would not let him go, and inspiredby his own ambition,Ban Chao re-
turnedto Shule. He defeatedthe enemy,killed some turn-coatleaders,
and restoredHan authority. For thenextseveralyears,as he expandedhis
influenceby diplomaticmeans,Shule was his base of operations.
In 78 Ban Chao broughtten thousandmen fromShule, Yutian and
neighbouringJumito attack Gumo, aided apparentlyby a contingent
fromdistantKangju [Sogdiana]. Aftersome initialsuccess he sentback
to China forreinforcements, offeringthe possibilityof controllingall the
WesternRegions withthe aid of allies. EmperorZhang approved,and in
80 an old friendof Ban Chao, Xu Gan, was sent with a thousandre-
prieved convicts and non-Chinese auxiliaries. There was rebellion in
Shule, soon putdown,butno further immediateactiontookplace.
In 83 Ban Chao was promotedto be Chief Clerk in Command of
Troops, with a band and banners appropriateto an independentcom-
mand, and he preparedto attack Qiuzi, east along the NorthernRoad.
Beforeembarkingon theproject,however,he needed support,or at least
tolerance,fromthe Wusun people of the Tian Shan who overlookedthe
leftflankof his advance. He asked thatan embassybe sent,and Emperor
Zhang commissionedLi Yi, an officerof palace guards.The negotiations
were successful,but when Li Yi visitedBan Chao's headquartershe re-
portedunfavourablyon his plans, and criticisedhim forkeepinghis wife
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and childrenwithhim. Ban Chao, embarrassed,sent his familyback to

China,butEmperorZhang re-assuredhim of his trust,and Li Yi was sent
back to Luoyang withthehostagesfromtheWusuntribes.24
In the followingyear Ban Chao receivedanothereighthundredrein-
forcements fromChina,butthekingof Suoju provedrecalcitrant and Ban
Chao had to lead troopsfromShule and Yutian againsthim. Then King
Zhong of Shule turnedagainstthe Chinese,and Ban Chao was obligedto
go back. He replaced Zhong withhis own nominee,and thoughKangju
sentaid to therebelsBan Chao sentgiftsof silk to theYuezhi,who were
linkedby marriageto theKangju royalhouse. The Kangju forceswithdrew
and took Zhong withthem,but he returnedsoon afterwards withsupport
fromKangju and a secretalliancewithQiuzi. He thenmade a falseofferof
submission,whichBan Chao pretendedto accept.At thewelcomingban-
quet,however,he trappedZhong and killed him,eliminatedhis last sup-
porters,and forcedthewithdrawaloftheKangju contingent.
Suoju was stilla problem,and in 87 Ban Chao took an armyof 25,000
men fromYutian and neighbouringcities against it. The king of Qiuzi
sent 50,000 men to aid Suoju,25but Ban Chao made a false retreat,de-
ceived the enemyintodividingtheirforces,thenmade a directattackon
the Suoju camp. Taken by surpriseand heavily defeated,Suoju was
forcedto surrenderand the armyof Qiuzi withdrew.The king of Suoju
was killed and replaced by a brotherof Guangde, King of Yutian,and
Ban Chao now dominatedthegreaterpartof theTarimbasin.26
The GreatYuezhi people, in the northof present-day Afghanistanand
to
Pakistan,had previouslysenta contingent support Han againstthestates
of Jushi.They now offeredtributeand hostages,butwhentheyasked fora
princessof China in returnBan Chao rejectedtheirembassy.In 90 theYue-
zhi sentan armyof 70,000 againsthim,butBan Chao operateda scorched-
earthpolicy,theYuezhi began to runout of food,and whentheyattempted
24 Itwas
probablyabouthistime thata favouredofficial
ofEmperor FengBao,was
Zhang,
appointedSeniorColonelfor theWest oftheYellow River,
presumablybasedinDun-
huang:////528/
18A, p. 1004.
Thenumbers citedforthiscampaign areclear, ofhowmany
butthequestion menwere
actually
engagedinthese warsisuncertain. Seeaboveatnotes11and12.
Thedating oftheseevents is confused.HHS3,p. 156,theAnnals ofEmperor Zhang,
BanChao'sfinal
ascribes success overSuojuto86,butinZizhitongjian 47,pp.1510-
11,SimaGuangsuggests thatitwasachieved onlyin87.Despite
somecontradictions,
makes
ofthetexts
analysis thisappear moreprobable.
40/1
JAH (2006)
to purchase supplies fromQiuzi he caught theirmessengersand killed

them.As he showed the unfortunates' heads to the invaders,theysought
only to withdraw without harassment. So theYuezhi were subdued,and it
is claimedthatBan Chao was respectedthroughout centralAsia.
Ban Chao had plannedto attackQiuzi forten years,but had been de-
layed by one disturbanceafteranother.Between 89 and 91, however,the
greatcampaignsof Dou Xian destroyedtheNorthernXiongnustatein the
steppenorthof China,27and in 91 Qiuzi and its allies Gumo and Wensu
submittedto Han. Ban Chao was now named Protector-General of the
WesternRegionsand tookup residenceat Qiuzi, whileXu Gan, now Chief
Clerk,camped at Suoju. King Youliduo of Qiuzi was deposed and sentto
Luoyang,and theprinceBoba, who had spenttimeat theChinesecourtas
a hostage,presumablyin themid-70s,tookhis place uponthethrone.
There remainednow only Yanqi by the Bosten Lake and its satellite
statesWeixu and Weili, which had been responsibleforthe death of the
Protector-General Chen Mu in 75. In the autumnof 94 Ban Chao led a
great combined armyagainstYanqi, withtroopscollected fromQiuzi in
the west to Shanshan in the east. He was accompanied by 1,400 civil
officialsand merchants,who would be involvedin the administration of
theProtectorate-General once fullcontrolhad been achieved.
King Guang of Yanqi sent one of his generals to welcome the Han
forces,butBan Chao insistedthathis statusas Protector-General required
the king to attendhim in person, and he threatenedthe inappropriate
envoy withexecution.Guang did come to pay homage,but he soughtto
keep the Han armyout of his territory and planned to take refugein the
mountains;Ban Chao killed him. Having avenged Chen Mu by plunder-
ing the capital of Yanqi, he placed the formerhostage princeYuanmeng
on the throne.The heads of the kingsof Yanqi and of Weili were sentto
Luoyang, and were put on display outside the officialresidencesof the
non-Chineseenvoysto thecourt.
Aftersix monthsto settlethe state,Ban Chao moved his headquarters
back to Yutian on the SouthernRoad, and in 95 an imperial decree
grantedhim enfeoffment as a marquis with revenue froma thousand
households.In 97 he sentGan Ying on his celebratedmissionto explore
27 de Northern
Crespigny, pp.266-275.
Frontier,
JAH40/1
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the farwest, and it is claimed thattributearrivedfromthe most distant

countries.
During this time the NorthernXiongnu confederacyin present-day
Mongolia had been destroyedby Dou Xian, and its formerterritory was
being steadilytakenover by tribesof theXianbi. The Xiongnu of Dzun-
garia,however,in thenorthern partof present-day Xinjiang,had notbeen
directlyaffected, and by the middle 90s a new Shanyuhad begun to re-
constructsome partof the shatteredpolityfroma new base in the west.
The statesof Jushi,about Turfanand Urumqi,were close to the lands of
therevivedXiongnustate,and FurtherJushiwas always exposed to their
influence.
In 96 the Wu Colonel Suo Junbecame suspicious of King Zhuodi of
FurtherJushi.He plannedto replace him witha princewho was known
to be a friendof Han, but Zhuodi attackedSuo Jun first,then turned
againstKing Weibeida of NearerJushi,whom he believed to have raised
the question about his reliability.In the followingyear the Chief Clerk
Wang Lin broughtcommanderytroops and non-Chineseauxiliaries to
restorethe situation.Zhuodi fled to the Xiongnu, but was chased and
killed,and his brotherwas set upon thethrone.
Following a coup by EmperorHe in 92, Ban Chao's brotherGu died in
prisonas a partisanof the disgracedDou Xian, but Ban Chao's own ca-
reerand his relationto the emperorwere evidentlynot affected.In 100,
however,he asked to retireon groundsof age and ill health:he was now
almost seventy,and he pointedout thatbarbarianshad small respectfor
old men. His appeal was supportedby his sister,the scholarlyBan Zhao,
and afterthirtyyears in the west Ban Chao returnedto Luoyang in the
autumnof 102. He diedjust one monthlater.
Ban Chao was succeeded by theWu and JiColonel Ren Shang,an ex-
perienced barbarian-fighter but not a diplomat. Ban Chao's biography
says thathe chose Ren Shang but advised him to deal with the people
cautiously and tolerantly;Ren Shang ignoredhis advice. In any case, the
Chinese position appears to have been tenuous,and afterthe death of
EmperorHe earlyin 106 therewas a generalrisingin the autumnof that
year.Besieged at Shule, Ren Shang called forhelp, and the Senior Colo-
nel Liang Qin was sent with five thousandhorsemenraised fromthe
Qiang and othernon-Chinesetribesof Liang province.
The siege was brokenbeforethe reliefforcearrived,but Ren Shang
was recalledand replacedby his CavalryCommandantDuan Xi. As trou-
JAH40/1
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ble continuedand worsened,moreover,in the summerof 107 the regent

Empress-DowagerDeng orderedthattheWesternRegions be abandoned.
Such an exercise stillrequireda substantialmilitarypresence,and when
theCavalryCommandantWang Hong pressedmoremen fromtheQiang
therewas an uprisingthroughoutLiang province. By the winterthese
insurgentscloser to home had cut the road to centralAsia, and as the
greatQiang rebellionwas maintainedover tenyears Chinese contactand
influencein theWesternRegions were lost.28
119-127 AD
Ban Yongand thereturnofChineseauthority
The yearsof interruptedcontactbetweenChina and thefarwest during

therebellionof theQiang providedopportunity fortheNorthernXiongnu
in Dzungaria to re-establisha positionin Jushiand the territories
of the
Tarimbasin. As a result,by the time the last Qiang rebels against Han
had been destroyedin 118,theXiongnuand theirallies were carryingout
frequentraidson thenorthwest of Liang province.
Seeking to createa counter-presencewhich mightease thepressure,in
119 Cao Zong the Administrator of Dunhuang senthis officerSuo Ban
witha thousandmen to set up a new militarycolonyat Yiwu near Hami.
The rulerof Nearer Jushipaid his respects,and King Youhuan of Shan-
shan,whose motherwas Chinese,was glad of the initiative, butthemove
was unwelcomefurther north.In thefollowingyearKing Junjiuof Further
JushikilledtheChineseagentat his court,thencalled his Xiongnuallies to
destroySuo Ban's settlement and drivethekingof NearerJushiintoexile.
Fearinga similarfate,Youhuanof Shanshanasked Cao Zong forhelp,and
Cao Zong soughtapproval for an expeditionaryforce of five thousand
men.
A majorityat Luoyang was concernedat the likelycosts and dangers
of furtherinvolvementin thefarwest,and Cao Zong's enterprise was not
approved. On the otherhand, the Dowager Deng invited Ban Chao's son
Ban Yong to comment,evidentlyas heirto his father.29 Ban Yong did not
supporta fullcampaign,but he did propose a cautious advance: to estab-
28 Thefirst
EastQiangrebellion
isdiscussed
indeCrespigny,
Northern pp.90-114.
Frontier,
29 The ofBanYongisinHHS47/37,
biography pp.1587-90.
Itistranslated
byChavannes,
"Trois
généraux pp.245-255.
chinois,"
JAH40/1
(2006)
lish a Senior Colonel Protectorof the WesternRegions withthreehun-

dred men in Dunhuang; and to send a Chief Clerk forthe WesternRe-
gions with five hundredmen to set up a militarycolony by Loulan in
Shanshan.The garrisonat Dunhuangwould provide supportforfrontier
defence,while a settlementat Loulan would be betterprotectedand fur-
therfromtheXiongnuthanthesiteat Yiwu.
Members of the court were concerned variously at the dangers of
Xiongnu raidingand the cost of providingfor greedytributemissions,
but Ban Yong respondedto these questions,and emphasisedthe impor-
tance of deprivingthe Xiongnu of the resourcesof the region.So it was
agreed thatthe claim to authorityin the west should be revived and a
garrisonof threehundredmen establishedin Dunhuang. Militarycolo-
nies were as yettoo ambitious.
Over thenextseveralyears,however,theXiongnuand theirallies con-
tinuedto raid Liang province,and in 123 thenew Administrator of Dun-
huangZhang Dang advised thegovernment of EmperorAn thatthesitua-
tion was becoming critical.He presentedthreeplans: to send two thou-
sand men against the Xiongnu position near Lake Barkol; to establish
and supporta militarycolony of fivehundredmen at Liuzhong in Nearer
Jushi;or to effecta completewithdrawalof the people fromShanshan
and otherloyal statesintothefrontiers of China - thislast was obviously
a counsel of despair.
As the governmentchose the middle course, Ban Yong was named
ChiefClerk forthe WesternRegions and sentout withfivehundredcon-
victconscripts.Arrivingat Shanshanin 124, he presenteda seal and other
insigniato King Youhuan,thenpersuadedKing Boying of Qiuzi and his
more distantneighboursin Gumo and Wensu to accept Han suzerainty.
Evidentlypreparedto exchangethe over-lordshipof the Xiongnu forthe
distantand perhapsless exactingauthorityof China, theysenttroopsto
aid Ban Yong. Withthese allies he defeateda Xiongnu armyand con-
queredNearerJushi,thensetup themilitarycolony at Liuzhongto guard
theNorthernRoad.
In 125, with six thousandcavalry fromthe commanderiesof Liang
province,Ban Yong led troops fromShanshan and Nearer Jushi,and
fromdistantShule, to attackFurtherJushi.They capturedKing Junjiu
and his Xiongnu ambassador,executed both men at the place Suo Ban
had been killed six yearsearlier,and senttheirheads to Luoyang.
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Ban Yong appointedJunjiu'sson Jiatenuas kingin his stead,and in 126

he sent an officerto kill and replace the king of EasternQiemi. All the
states of Jushinow submitted,and in the winterBan Yong sent them
againstthe Huyan king. The Xiongnu were defeatedand 20,000 surren-
dered,includinga nephewof theShanyu,whomBan Yong had Jiatenukill
withhis own hand.The Shanyucame himselfagainstFurtherJushi,buthe
and his menwere drivenback withloss and caused no further trouble.
As Yanqi was stillindependent, Ban Yong receivedpermissionto attack,
and in 127 he gatheredanotherarmyof allies. The Administrator of Dun-
iwang Zhang Lang was sent to assisthim with three thousand men,buthe
was anxious for a personal success and advanced ahead of time. King
Yuanmengof Yanqi surrendered aftera briefengagement,but Ban Yong
was falselyaccused of arrivinglate. He was sentto prison,and thoughhe
was lateramnestiedhe heldno further officialpositionand died at home.
The achievementsof Ban Yong in restoringa Chinese presencein the
farwest may be comparedto thoseof his father, buttheywere not so ex-
tensivein time or space. Ban Yong was less thanfiveyears in the west,
whileBan Chao was thereformorethanthirty. Moreover,whileBan Chao
spread the authorityof Han over the whole Tarim basin and across the
Pamirs, Ban Yong's direct operations went little
further thanShanshanand
Yanqi. The statesfurtherwestendorsedHan authority and werepreparedto
contribute troops,and agentswere placed in various cities,but therewas
no consistentChinese control;and thoughwe are toldthattheWusunand
otherpeoples further west no longerinterfered withtrade,therewas no
politicalcontact.This generalsettlement lasteduntilthe 150s.
Loosened reins127-184 AD
Fromthetimeof Ban Yong's dismissal,some responsibility forpolicy

in theWesternRegions devolved on theAdministrator of Dunhuang;and
we have seen how Cao Zong, Zhang Dang and Zhang Lang had earlier
been involvedin variousways.
In 127 King Chenpan of Shule, now powerfulin the farwest, sentan
embassyto Luoyang. He was grantedtitleas Grand Chief Commandant
forHan, like Kang of Suoju a hundredyears earlier,and in subsequent
yearshe sentfurther envoys,witha hostageprinceand giftsof lions and
zebu cattle.
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In 129 King Fangqian of Yutian attackedthe neighbouringstate of

Jumi,killed its king and placed one of his own sons on the throne.Two
years laterhe sent anotherson to offertributeat the courtof Han and
seek recognitionof his conquest. On advice fromthe Administrator of
DunhuangXu You, his requestwas rejectedand Fangqian was orderedto
relinquishhis new territory. Fangqian refused,and in 132 Xu You ar-
for
ranged Chenpan of Shule to attackYutian.Fangqian was defeated,his
capitalwas plundered,and theindependenceof Jumiwas restored.
In 131 the militarycolony at Yiwu in Nearer Jushiwas restoredand
some timelatera similarestablishment was set up at FurtherJushi.In 134
the residentMajor at FurtherJushiled King Jiatenuto raid the Xiongnu
withfifteenhundredmen. They gainedlocal success and capturedwomen
fromthehouseholdof the Shanyu,butthe Huyan King came back in the
followingyear.The Administrator of Dunhuangsent six thousandhorse-
men to supportthedefence,butthistroopwas defeatedand in theautumn
of 135 FurtherJushiwas over-runby two thousandXiongnu.Two years
latertheAdministrator Pei Cen defeatedtheHuyanKing and FurtherJushi
was restoredto Han,30buttheterritory could notbe consideredsecure.
Chinese authoritywas further weakened in the early 140s, when an-
otherrebellionby the Qiang forcedthe permanentwithdrawalof several
commanderiesfromthe Ordos region. As there were also continuing
problems with the Xianbi and the formerclient state of the Southern
Xiongnu,31the dynastyhad limitedresourcesto maintaina presence in
thenorthwest.The formalstructure was keptin place, witha Chief Clerk
and militaryofficersbased in theregionof Jushi,but thehistoryremarks
thatthe prestigeof Han began to decline and the statesof the Western
Regions became increasinglyindependentand arrogant.Criticalcompli-
cations,however,did notariseuntiltheearly 150s.
30 OnPeiCen's seeChavannes,
success, p. 214note1 citing
"Paysd'Occident," a stele
atBarkol
preserved inXinjiang
[transcribed
byNagata, p. 78].Sincethere
Inscriptions,
wasa Chinese atFurther
presence Jushiin153[seebelow],itis clearthattheterritory
hadbeenregained,
anditseemslikelythiswasa result
ofPeiCen'svictory. Theevent,
byeither
wasnotrecorded
however, theAccountoftheWestern Regions norbytheAn-
nalsofHouHanshu; themodern scholarShenMingyi hasexpressed atthis,
surprise
anddoubts
whether
PeiCenwasindeed sosuccessful:
HHSJJ 88/78, p.3275.
Onthesecond seede Crespigny,
Qiangrebellion, Northern
Frontier,pp.121-123, and
onthesubsequent
problemsinthenorth,
pp.318-325.
JAH
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SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERNREGIONS IN LATERHAN 2 1
In 151 theHuyanKing attackedYiwu, destroyedthedefenceforcesent

againsthimand laid siege to thefortified settlement.The Administrator of
Dunhuang came with four thousandcommanderytroops and allies,butthe
Xiongnuthenwithdrewwithoutdifficulty. Two years laterKing Aluoduo
of FurtherJushiquarrelledwiththe Chinese resident,and he too attacked
themilitarycolony.Some of his officersturnedagainsthim and soughtto
make peace withHan, and as Aluoduo fledto theXiongnutheformerhos-
tage prince Beijun was placed upon the throne.Aluoduo, however,re-
turnedto fightforhis position,and the Chinese authoritieswere so con-
cernedat his popularity,and his contactsacross thefrontier,theywithdrew
's
Beijun insignia and accepted Aluoduo 's formal submission.32
The situationon the SouthernRoad had been morestable,fortherewas
no rivalpower like theXiongnuto challengeHan interests, buttherewere
internaland inter-state quarrels.When the Chief Clerk Zhao Ping was
taken ill and died at his residencein Yutian in 151, King Chengguo of
neighbouring Jumialleged thatKing Jianhad poisoned him. Zhao Ping's
son toldMa Da theAdministrator of Dunhuang,33and Ma Da advisedthe
new ChiefClerk Wang Jingto investigate.As Wang Jingattemptedto ar-
restand interviewKing Jian,an agentof Jumijumped up and killedhim.
The people of Yutianwere furious,and Wang Jingwas killed in the riot
whichfollowed.
Ma Da wanted to take action,but the recentproblemsat Yiwu were
notauspicious foran expeditionto thefurther end of theTarimbasin,and
he was insteadreplaced. The new Administrator Song Liang demanded
thatthe leader of the rioterswho had killed Wang Jingbe punishedby
execution,buthe was alreadydead and so thepeople of Yutianpresented
thehead of a man who had died more recently.Song Liang laterdiscov-
ered the truth,but he could take no action and Chinese authoritywas
weakened. Similarly,itwas Song Liang who nominatedprinceBeijun for
32 Texts whether thedecision

toreinstate
Aluoduo
wasmadebytheColonel Yan
disagree
XiangortheInspectorofLiangprovinceQiaoXuan.SeeHHS88/78,p.2931,andcom-
pareHHSJJ p. 3267,where
88/78, themodern commentator
HuiDongquotesan in-
scription
composedtohonour QiaoXuanbyhiscontemporaryCaiYong[Caizhonglang
wenji 1].
33 Thisis thesameAdministrator
whoattacked theHuyanKingwithout
successin 151,
though thesurnameinthattextis givenas Sima:compare pp.2930and
HHS 88/78,
2916.
JAH40/1
(2006)
the throneof FurtherJushiin 153, and the restorationof King Aluoduo

was an obvious embarrassment.
In 170, when a king of Shule favourableto Han was killed by the
usurperHede, theInspectorof Liang provinceMeng Tuo, an associate of
the eunuchs at court,sent an armyof Chinese and allied troopsagainst
him. The forcewas said to number30,000 men, includingfive hundred
fromDunhuang,with the balance made up of contingentsfromNearer
and FurtherJushi,fromYanqi and fromQiuzi underthe Chief Clerk of
the WesternRegions and the Wu Major Cao Kuan. It is impressivethat
such a host could be assembled,but it achieved no success and the cam-
paign was abandoned afterjust a few weeks. Shule fell into a state of
internecinewarfare,the Chinese were unable to intervene,and the far
west was evidentlyout of theircontrol.34
A few years latertherulerof Jumion the SouthernRoad was deposed
by neighbouringYutian. Anotherexpeditionin 175, led by the Chief
Clerk and the Wu and Ji Colonel, did defeatthe armyof Yutianand re-
stored the native dynastyby placing a formerhostage prince on the
throneof Jumi;we are told, however,thatthe statehad lost most of its
people and was now all butruined.35
34 HHS thiscampaign, thestates which werecalledto

88/78,p.2927,describes identifying
contribute
troops andspecifyingthelackofsuccess ofthislong-distanceoperation.
In 185a stelewaserected bytheleadersofHeyang county inZuopingyi tohonour their
Cao
magistrate Quan; ithasbeenpreservedin the "Forest
Beilin ofStele"atXi'an.The in-
is
scription transcribedbyNagata, ,
Inscriptions pp.246-48; ithas beentranslated
by Cha-
vannes,"Paysd'Occident,"pp.206-207 andbyEbrey, "HanInscriptions,"pp.340-344.
Thesteledescribes howCao Quanserved as MajoroftheWuCorpsintheexpedition
againstHede,butinthisversion heplaysa leading role,planning andinspiring
strategies
hismen, andthecampaign concludeswithHede'ssurrender.
Itseemscertain thattheMajorCaoKuanmentioned inHHS88/78 isthefuturemagis-
Cao Quan;theconfusion
trate mayhavebeencausedbya corruption ofthecharacter
kuan% withCao Quan'sstyle, Jingyuan MtE.Theaccount ofthecampaign inthe
stele,however, fitsbadlywiththecircumstantial account in thehistory.Chavannes,
Ebrey andother scholarsbelieve
thatthesteleismorelikely tobecorrect,arguingthatit
wascompiled closertotheevent[Ebrey 's note34].I wouldsuggest, thatthe
rather,
compilersofthestelewereconcerned toenhance theprowess oftheirsubject:they ex-
aggeratedhisrole incommand and the
falsified disappointingresult.
HHS 88/78, p. 2915.Biographies ofthefuture warlordDongZhuo,inHHS 72/62, p.
2319,andSGZ6,p. 171saythat heserved as WuandJiColonel about thistime,sohe
mayhavetaken part inthecampaign.
JAH40/1
(2006)
So the apparatusof empirewas stillin place, but officersof the West-

ern Regions were generallysubordinateto officialsin Liang province,
and theirinfluencewas marginal.Therewas some formalsubmissionand
some officialtrade in the guise of tributemissions,but directChinese
power was limited,and most states maintainedtheirrivalriesand con-
flictswithoutconcernforHan. Finally,in 184, the outbreakof rebellion
in theheartof Liang provincebrokeonce morethe connectionwithcen-
tralAsia, and the WesternRegions had no political contactwith China
untilthe time of Cao Pi, emperorof the succeeding Wei dynasty,in the
220s.
Conclusion:thenatureoftheLaterHan empirein thewest
During the time of FormerHan, Chinese interestin centralAsia had

been based upon thequest forhorsesfromDayuan [Ferghana]and a con-
cernto deprivetheXiongnuenemyof benefitsfromtheprosperousstates
of theWesternRegions: theenterpriseinitiatedby EmperorWu had been
describedas cuttingofftherightarmof theXiongnu.
For the rulersof Later Han, the situationwas different. At the begin-
ning of the dynasty, the new regime was pressed closely on thenorth-
so
ern frontier thattherewere no resourcesto spare forwhatwas in the cir-
cumstancesa marginalterritory, and afterthedivisionof theXiongnuand
the satisfactory settlementwhich followed in the 50s, therewas limited
politicalor strategicvalue in theregionbeyondLiang province.
The firstsubstantialinvolvementof Later Han with the WesternRe-
gions came as a by-productof the campaign against the Northern
Xiongnuin 73. The occupationof Yiwulu and thenof Jushiwas designed
to keep theenemyaway fromthenorth-western frontieralong the Gansu
corridor,and Ban Chao's enterprisesouthand west beyondShanshanwas
secondary.The main thrustof Han interestwas along theNorthernRoad
againsttheXiongnuand itspotentialallies in theregionof Turfan.
As it turnedout,Ban Chao's geniusturneda side-showintoa success-
ful indirectapproach. It took time: after the firstsuccess in Shule
[Kashgar] in 75, therewere fifteenyears of warfareand diplomacybe-
foreQiuzi [Kuqa] submittedin 91, and a further threeyears to complete
the programby the conquest of Yanqi [Karashar].To a considerablede-
gree,moreover,thesuccesses of the90s were made possible by thevicto-
JAH40/1
(2006)
ries of Dou Xian whichdestroyedthepower of theNorthernXiongnuon

theMongolian steppe.
The gradual restorationof Han authorityin the region is reflectedin
theofficesheld by Ban Chao. He set out on theSouthernRoad in 74 with
rankas a Major, and itwas notuntil83 thathe was appointedChiefClerk
with a formallyindependentcommand. In that capacity he foughtthe
armiesof Qiuzi and theYuezhi, and he was notnamed Protector-General
until91, when the enterprisewas in sightof fulfilment. The Han court
rightlyacknowledgedhis finaltriumphwitha marquisate,but therehad
been no commitmentof energyor forcecomparableto thatwhich was
expendedin thecampaignsdirectlyto thenorth.
In contrast,the establishmentof Chen Mu as Protector-General in 74
had been a decision of policy. Following the patternof Former Han,
Chen Mu was supportedin Yanqi by a SeniorColonel,and therewere Wu
and Ji Colonels in Nearer and FurtherJushi,with a militarycolony at
Yiwu and a reserve force inside the frontierof Dunhuang.This was a
substantialenterprise, and the shock of its swiftcollapse in the following
year had notable effect:the court doubted whetherit was even worth
rescuingthe isolatedgarrisons,and therewere seriousproposalsforclos-
ing thepasses and withdrawingfromtheregionentirely.Even Ban Chao
was recalled, and it was upon his own initiativethathe disobeyed the
summonsand wentback to gain his latersuccess.
Ban Chao's eventualappointmentas Protector-General was again ac-
companiedby a formal structure.His associate Xu Gan was named Chief
Clerk, and a civilian entourageaccompanied his occupation of Yanqi.
Duringthe90s a SeniorColonel withtheStaffof Authority had responsi-
for
bility maintaining trade along theNorthern Road, and the officeof the
Wu Colonel, in chargeof militarycolonies in theregionof Jushi,was re-
established.36Thereis also referenceto a CavalryCommandant.
In 107, however,followingthe departureof Ban Chao, the Chinese
positionin the farwest collapsed once more,and at the end of the Qiang
rebellionin 118 all was to do again. This timetherewas even less com-
mitment:thecourthad to be pressedby theunauthorisedinitiativeof Cao
Zong, thenswayedby theargumentsof Ban Yong; and itwas some years
beforethe problemson thenorthwest were deemed sufficiently urgentto
36 OnWu/J
p. 1004.OntheSenior
seenote20aboveandHHS28/18B,
i colonel/s Colonel
Li XunseeHHS51/41, pp.1683-84.
JAH40/1
(2006)
warrantthe approval of Ban Yong's own enterprisebeyond the frontier.

Furthermore, thoughhe had a deal of success, Ban Yong's achievement
was less substantialthan thatof his father.The full officeof Protector-
Generalwas neverrestored,Ban Yong held officeonly as a Chief Clerk,
and he was dismissedon questionablegrounds.
AfterBan Yong's departure,it appears thatthe Chief Clerk's office
was retained,but its major concernwas withthe SouthernRoad, where
diplomaticmeans were used to maintainChinese influence,while in
accordancewithsuccessfulpolicy fromthe past officialtitlesand grants
of seals were used to keep theinterestof local rulers.
The regionof Jushireceivedmore attention, withthe establishment of
militarycolonies, but the officersappointedwere of comparativelylow
rank,and officialsof Liang provincewere also involved.The leaderof the
mistakenraidby FurtherJushiagainsttheXiongnuin 134 was onlya Ma-
jor, and itwas theAdministrator of Dunhuangwho broughtan armyin an
to
attempt repair the damage. Again in 151, the local officerwho started
thetroublewithKing Aluoduo of FurtherJushiheld rankonlyas Captain
of theWu Corps, and the colleague who ralliedoppositionto theangered
kingwas also a Captain. It was theAdministrator of Dunhuangwho pro-
posed prince Beidi as replacementruler, and the final settlementwith
Aluoduo was reached by the Wu Colonel and/orthe Inspectorof Liang
province.
Similarly,successive Administrators of Dunhuang were involved in
thedebacle of theChief Clerk Wang Jingat Yutianin 153, and it appears
thatfromthetimeof his deaththerewas no directpresenceof Han in the
furtherreaches of the WesternRegions. Individual officialsmay have
lined theirpockets, but the trade and the states involved in it largely
looked afterthemselves,and by themiddle of the second centuryAD the
governmentof China had many othermatters,much closer to home, to
concernitselfwith.
The empireof Later Han in centralAsia was thusa facade ratherthan
a reality.Its greatestextentand power, establishedby Ban Chao in the
90s, lastedless thantwentyyears,and itsrevivalby Ban Yong in the 120s
was followedby a long period of weakness turningtowardsirrelevance.
The energyand achievementsof the fatherand the son, followingfrom
the greatnessof Former Han, have concealed fromhistoriansthe true
natureof a brilliantbutmarginalenterprise.
JAH
40/1
(2006)
Chronology
29 KangofSuoju[Yarkand] granted title

as Grand Chief Commandant
31 XianofSuojubecomes anindependent hegemon
45 Emperor Guangwu refusestointervene intheWestern Regions
49-50 divisionoftheXiongnu
61 destructionofKingXianofSuoju;localhegemony ofYutian [Khotan]
60s Northern Xiongnu raidsagainstLiangprovince
73 Hanexpedition againstNorthern Xiongnu; DouGucaptures Yiwu
BanChaoonmission toShanshan
74 ofJushi
capture andestablishment offirstProtector-General ChenMu
BanChaoonmission toShule[Kashgar], restores thenativedynasty
75 destructionofProtectorate-General;
Hanabandons theWestern Regions
BanChaorecalled, butremains inthewestandkeepscontrol inShule
78 BanChaoattacks Gumo
80 BanChaoreceives reinforcements from China
83 BanChaonamed Chief ClerkinCommand ofTroops
87 BanChaodefeats invasionbyQiuzi[Kuqa]andsecures Suoju
89-91 DouXiandestroys theNorthern Xiongnu confederacy ontheMongolian steppe
90 BanChaodefeats invasionoftheYuezhi
91 Qiuzisubmits toBanChao,whoisnownamed Protector-General
94 BanChaotakesYanqi[Karashar]
96 a pro-ChineserulerisestablishedinFurther Jushi
97 BanChaosendsGanYingonmission tothefarwest
102 BanChaoretires, succeeded byRenShang
106 rebellion RenShanginShule[Kashgar]
against
107 RenShangdismissed andHancourt orders fullwithdrawal from thefarwest
rebellionoftheQiangcutsoffcommunication with theWestern Regions
118 endoftheQiangrebellion, butcontinual raiding byNorthern Xiongnu
119 CaoZong,Administrator ofDunhuang, attempts tosetupa position atYiwu,
butthisisnotsupported atcourt;Xiongnu raiding continues
123 ZhangDang,Administrator ofDunhuang, presses fora policydecision
124 BanYongsenttotheWestern Regions;he collects allies,defeats
NearerJushi
andsetsupa military colony there
125 BanYongcaptures FurtherJushi
127 ZhangLangcaptures Yanqi[Karashar]; BanYongdismissed
131 militarycolonyestablishedatYiwu
132 Chenpan ofShule[Kashgar] authorised todefeat Fangqian ofYutian [Khotan]
mid-130sbrief
lossofFurther totheXiongnu;
Jushi beginning ofdecline inHanauthority
140 secondrebellionoftheQianginLiangprovince
153 ChiefClerk WangJing killedinYutian [Khotan] ;
Hanauthoritiesobligedtoaccept Aluoduo as KingofFurther Jushi
170 unsuccessfulattemptbyChinatointervene ina succession disputeinShule
[Kashgar]
184 rebellioninLiangprovince; communications with theWestern Regions broken
JAH40/1
(2006)
List of Charactersand Glossary
AccountoftheWestern Regions Daxia ý:M [Bactria]

ofHHS DayuaniCtfL [Ferghana]
Administrator DongZhuo
colonies
agricultural [military] DouGu ÏIÊi
AluoduoHü£, kingofFurther Jushi DouRong
Anxi [Parthia] DouXianMM
Assistant
Majorf*w]J§ Douti3£MofQiuzi[Kuqa]
Staff
Authority, of Iff DuanXig®
BanChao$5® Dunhuang IÖ1 commandery
BanGuSES EmissarytotheSouthernXiongnu
BanZhaoS0S
Beijuní-f}",princeofFurther Jushi Empress-Dowager Dengfftfcfn
Beilin "ForestofStele"atXi'an FanYe ìuM [historian]
Bi bt,Southern Shanyu Fangqian ÄB0,kingofYutian [Khotan]
Bilu state FengBao
Boba áÜ, kingofQiuzi[Kuqa] fitxiaowei [Senior
Colonel]
BoyingSU, kingofQiuzi[Kuqa] GanYing#3?
CaiYongHÜ GeneraloftheHousehold [andsee
CaoKuan Emissary tothe
SouthernXiongnu]
CaoPi IK, Emperor ofWeiÜ GeneralontheLiao fSMfäW-
CaoQuanlté: [style: Jingyuan f¿] GengGong
CaoZong GengGongshouShulecheng Ju
CaptainÍŘ byBanGu
CaptainoftheWuCorpsJžnMŘ GrandChief Commandant forHan
CavalryCommandant fSSPJS m
Celestial
Stems [tiangan] GrandChief Commandant oftheWestern
ChenMuB68£/8 Regions
Chengguo Já®,kingofJumi [Yutian] GuanChong BSÄ
Chenpan Ë l&WM,king ofShule[Kashgar] GuangÄ,kingofShanshan
ChiefClerk GuangÄ,kingofYanqi[Karashar]
ChiefClerk inCommand ofTroops Guangde kingofYutian [Khotan]
ChiefGeneral [Emperor]Guangwu ÄÄ® ofHan
Colonel,SeniorW'WÊ'fuxiaowei] Guanzhong ji/shi byPanYue
Colonel,Senior,fortheWestofthe Guisai¿IH state
Yellow RiverMffil'Jt&ft GumoMü [Aksu], state
ColoneloftheJiCorpsBt&ft GuoXunMij
WuandJiJ&EÍ&U
Colonel/s, Hanni ofShanshan
capital
Commandant forGrain [Emperor]He ofHan
Daqin [Roman empire] Hede or ffliãofShule
JAH40/1
(2006)
HeyangMß§inZuopingyi Qiemi[orJumi], Eastern ^J=U8[Urumqi],

HouHanshuWMM state
HuiDongIi® [modern scholar] QiemoJDfc state
Huyan King oftheXiongnu QiuziHŽŽ[Kuqa],state
f!)3Ě
Inspector HouHanwen
Quart
JiColonelEtäM QuiiII® [Korla], state
JianM,kingofQiuzi[Kuqa] RenShang fé®
Jiatenu kingofFurther
Jushi Ruoqiang [present-day city]
JumiJ6j3gj state
[Yutian], Shanshan iß# state
JunjiuWM,kingofFurther Jushi Shanshan 13#[present-day city]
Jushi [Turfan] Shanyu IřŤ,title oftherulerofXiongnu
Further
Jushi, fêîfffî state
[Qitai], ShenMingyi čfclg# [modernscholar]
Nearer
Jushi, state Shuleïfflj[Kashgar], state
KangÜS,kingofSuoju[Yarkand] SimaBiaowJMé[historian]
KangjuJ^/ir[Sogdiana] SimaDa WJJI3Ê [orMaDa J§iÊ]
LaoKan [modernscholar] SimaGuang wJISÄ [historian]
LiChong SongLiang9^
Lixun ?mm SuoBan
LiYi SuoJun
Liangprovince Suoju$>¥ [Yarkand], state
LiangQin S® ontheBureaucracy
Treatise ITinē
LiuXiu Emperor Guangwu by Sima Biao
Han
ofLater Tura/TulaRhfö city]
[present-day
Liuzhong oasis[Shanshan] TwoThousand shi,Equivalentto tfcziŤíí
LoulanttWcityandstate Wang Hong
Luoyang ý&PI WangJing ZE1Ř
MaDa J§3Ê[orSimaDa wJJIiÊ] Wang Jun īM
Major,Assistant Wang Lin 3E#
Major,full Wang MangīM
MajoroftheWuCorps WeiAo Im
MengTuo i£fÈ WeiÜ dynasty
[Emperor]Ming ofHan Weibeida kingofNearer Jushi
Pamirs[MMCongling] WeiliJD"^, state
PanYue$8® Weitou itsl [Bachu], state
PeiCen Weixu state
PeiZunÜ% Wenxuan ~XM
Protector-General
W3H Wensuffiif, state
Puchanghai ífüíS "MultitudeofRushes" WesternRegionsW$<
PuleiLake [BarkolTagh] WuandJiJÄBcorps;
QiangIË tribes andseesubColonel, MajorandCaptain
QiaoXuanÜ1C WusunUS people
40/1
JAH (2006)
XianIf,kingofSuoju[Yarkand] Youhuan jtü, kingofShanshan

Xianbiiii- tribes Youliduo kingofQiuzi[Kuqa]
Xiaoyuan state Yuanmeng kingofYanqi[Karashar]
Xiongnu,Northern it Yuezhi,Great-Xñfc[Kushans]
Xiongnu,Southern É'WX Yuezhi,Little<|'El£
Xiumoba ofYutian [Khotan] YumenPass žĒFIM
XuGan YutianŤX [Khotan/Hotan], state
XuHanshu¿MÜHbySimaBiao [Emperor]ZhangļīīļrofHan
XuYou Zhang Dang
YanXiang Zhang Lang«161
Yan M,kingofSuoju[Yarkand] ZhaoPingill?
YangPass ß§M Zhong kingofShule[Kashgar]
YanqiM1§[Karashar], state Zhongfë,kingofYanqi[Karashar]
YanzeM# "SaltLake" Zhuodi kingofFurtherJushi
Yiwu[lu]ffinïÈL
[Hami] Zizhitongjian bySimaGuang
Yizhi [byBarkol Tagh],state Zuopingyi JrMMcommandeiy
ListofReferences
Hans,"TheRestoration
Bielenstein, oftheHanDynasty" fourvolumes, Bulletinofthe
Museum ofFarEastern Antiquities, Stockholm,26 (1954),31 (1959),39 (1967)and
51(1979);citedas "Restoration"
I-IV.
The
Bielenstein, Bureaucracy ofHan Times (Cambridge Press:1980).
University
Chavannes,Edouard, "Troisgénéraux chinoisde la dynastie
desHanorientaux," T'oung
Pao [NewSeries]7 (1906),pp.210-269.
Chavannes,"Lespaysd'Occident d'aprèsleHeouHanchou"T'oungPao [NewSeries]
8 (1907),pp.149-234.
deCrespigny,Rafe,Northern Frontier,thepoliciesandstrategyoftheLaterHanempire ,
AsianStudies Monographs [NewSeries]No. 6 (Canberra: TheAustralian National
University:1984).
Dubs,H H, TheHistory oftheFormer HanDynasty byPan Ku,volume II (Baltimore:
TheAmerican CouncilofLearned Societies:
1944).
Ebrey, "LaterHanStoneInscriptions,"
Patricia, inHarvard Journal ofAsiatic Studies
40
(1980),pp.325-353.
Hedin,Sven,Central AsiaandTibet : towards theholycityofLassa (London: Hurstand
Blackett,1903).
HHS HouHanshuWMMbyFanYe (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju 1965).
HHSJJHou Han shujijie MM compiled byWangXianqian (Shanghai: Com-
mercial
Press:Wanyou wenku edition).
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E, "TheWestern
Hill,John Regions according totheHouHanshu: TheXiyu juan 'Chap-
terontheWestern Regions' from HouHanshu88,"secondedition September 2003,
http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html
HS HanshubyBanGu gE@ andothers (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju:1962).
Hulsewé,AFP, ChinainCentral Asia: theearlystage125B.C.-A.D.23, withanIntro-
byM AN Loewe(Leiden:EJBrill,1979).
duction
NagataHidemasažkfflUlE, Kandaishikoku shûsei [Compilation ofStone
intheHanDynasty
Inscriptions ] (Kyoto: Dohosha:1994).
Stein, ByCentral
Aurel, AsianTracks : briefnarrativeofthree expeditionsininnermost
Asiaandnorth-western China(London: Macmillan, 1933;reprintedTaipei:Southern
Materials
Centre:1982).
TheCambridge HistoryofChina : volume I, theCh'inandHanempires , 221B.C.-A.D.220,
byDenisTwitchett
edited andMichael Loewe(Cambridge UniversityPress:1986).
TheTimesComprehensive AtlasoftheWorld ,Tenthedition(London: 1999).
Yu,Taishan,"OntheLocation oftheCapitaloftheStateofShanshan," Department of
AsianandMiddleEastern Studies, A Study ofSakaHistory, Sino-Platonic
Papers80,
UniversityofPennsylvania(1998),pp.197-211.
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JAH40/1
(2006)

Crespigny Some Notes On The Western Regions

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SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERN REGIONS 西域 IN LATER HAN

Author(s): RAFE DE CRESPIGNY

SOME NOTES ON THE WESTERN REGIONS

The Account of the WesternRegions in Hou Han shu 88/78describes

1 Formodern namesI generally TheTimes

road curvingnorthalong thewater-wayto theYumenPass.2 Due west of

The SouthernRoad to thewest began at thecityof Loulan, close to the

2 ThisYumen Passmust bedistinguishedfromtheLaterHancounty ofYumen inJiuquan

AltunShan as faras Hanni, capital of Shanshan,by the Charkhlikoasis.

5 Thenameofthis waswritten as iïM Wumi/Jumi

The regionof Hami and Turfanwas notso straightforward. On theone

9 The werea clanoftheXiongnu with totheroyal

For themostpart,thiscommercewas in privatehands,and thegovern-

dated with the Protectorateand were now strandedin the WesternRe-

Bielensteinhas arguedthattherefusalof EmperorGuangwuto become

In 60 Xian's oppressivelocal governorat Yutian[Khotan]was assassi-

Ban Chao and theProtectorate-General

The recoveryof the NorthernXiongnu and theirdominance in the

Late in the followingyear Dou Gu led anotherexpedition.Advancing

19 Therehasbeenuncertainty about therank andsignificance ofafuxiaowei. Dubsrenders

some fivehundredmen,organisedin militaryagriculturalcolonies. There

Atvarious times,however, there wereappointments

fortressin his company,and as theyreachedthefrontier at Dunhuangonly

As in Shanshan,this ruthlessconduct inspiredGuangde to execute the

and childrenwithhim. Ban Chao, embarrassed,sent his familyback to

to purchase supplies fromQiuzi he caught theirmessengersand killed

the farwest, and it is claimed thattributearrivedfromthe most distant

ble continuedand worsened,moreover,in the summerof 107 the regent

The yearsof interruptedcontactbetweenChina and thefarwest during

lish a Senior Colonel Protectorof the WesternRegions withthreehun-

Ban Yong appointedJunjiu'sson Jiatenuas kingin his stead,and in 126

Fromthetimeof Ban Yong's dismissal,some responsibility forpolicy

In 129 King Fangqian of Yutian attackedthe neighbouringstate of

In 151 theHuyanKing attackedYiwu, destroyedthedefenceforcesent

32 Texts whether thedecision

the throneof FurtherJushiin 153, and the restorationof King Aluoduo

34 HHS thiscampaign, thestates which werecalledto

So the apparatusof empirewas stillin place, but officersof the West-

Conclusion:thenatureoftheLaterHan empirein thewest

During the time of FormerHan, Chinese interestin centralAsia had

ries of Dou Xian whichdestroyedthepower of theNorthernXiongnuon

warrantthe approval of Ban Yong's own enterprisebeyond the frontier.

29 KangofSuoju[Yarkand] granted title

List of Charactersand Glossary

AccountoftheWestern Regions Daxia ý:M [Bactria]

HeyangMß§inZuopingyi Qiemi[orJumi], Eastern ^J=U8[Urumqi],

XianIf,kingofSuoju[Yarkand] Youhuan jtü, kingofShanshan

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