Ep. 295 | Sino-Roman Relations (Part 1)

This is sort of a strange topic. In Part 1 we'll look at the early history that took place between the Western Han Dynasty and the Western Roman Empire. Before we tuck into the chicken ribs that is Sino-Roman Relations, I'll introduce you to the far-out theory that Professor Homer Dubs came up with. A lot of people swear this happened. Then we'll look at the famous Gan Ying mission of 97 AD and take it from there. In Part 2 we'll look at the events that happened mostly during the Byzantine Empire.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Salvete omnes	(Latin)	Greetings everyone!
Empress Zhǎngsūn	长孙皇后	601-636, also known as Empress Wende (文德),wife and empress of Tang Emperor Taizong
Hǎinán	海南	Island province off the coast of Guangdong
Hénán	河南	Ancient province in central China, south of Hebei
Sāngxīngduī	三星堆	Located in Guanghan, north of Chengdu, site of an ancient civilization thought to be the Kingdom of Shu
Eastern Zhou	东周	770-256 BC, the second half of the Zhoiu Dynasty that was divided up into The Spring & Autumn and Warring States Periods
Warring States	战国时代	The period of the Eastern Zhou that lasted 475-221 BC
Qín Dynasty	秦朝	The first imperial dynasty in Chinese history, lasting 221 to 206 BC
Hàn	汉朝	202 BC to 220 AD, dynasty founded by Liu Bang, divided up into Western and Eastern Han
Wáng Mǎng	王莽	45 BC to 23 AD, founder of the Xin Dynasty that separated the Western from the Eastern Han. Wang Mang seized the throne in 9AD and was later overthrown and killed in 23 AD
Eastern Han	东汉	The second half of the Han Dynasty, lasting from 25 to 220. Also called the Later Han
Eastern Jin	东晋	317-420, the second half of the Jin Dynasty when the capital was located at Jiankang (modern day Nanjing)
Sixteen Kingdoms	十六国	A chaotic and violent period in Chinese history lasting from 304 to 439
Liú Sòng	刘宋	420-479, ther first of the four Southern Dynasties that succeeded the Eastern Jin
Annals of Later Han	后汉纪	Chinese history book of the Eastern Han dynasty written during the Jin Dynasty
Book of Later Han	后汉书	One of the Twenty-Four Histories. It covers the Han dynasty from 6 to 189
Wèi Lüè	魏略	A Brief History of Wèi…written during the Three Kingdoms by Yú Huàn 鱼豢
Zá Shǐ	杂史	A category of written histories called "Miscellaneous histories or historians"
Dàqín	大秦	The ancient name for Rome (Great Qin)
Líqián	骊靬	Another name for Rome or Byzantium
Xīnjiāng	新疆	China's largest province, locate in the northwest
Gānsù	甘肃	Northwest province of China
Hàn-Xiōngnú Wars		A series of wars fought between the Xiongnu and the Han Armies from 139 BC to 89 AD
Zhìzhī Chányú	郅支单于	Ruler of the Xiongnu in the west from 55 to 36 BC
Chén Tāng	陈汤	One of the Han generals who fought against and defeated Zhizhi Chanyu in 36 BC
Gān Yánshòu	甘延寿	One of the other Han generals who fought against and defeated Zhizhi Chanyu in 36 BC
Jīnchāng	金昌市	a prefecture-level city in the centre of Gansu province bordering Inner Mongolia to the north. Located in the Hexi Corridor
Yǒngchāng County	永昌县	a county located in the southern half of Jinchang bordering Qinghai to the south. It has been associated with the historical Liqian county. The village of Zhelaizhai (see below),has been the subject of international academic and media attention for its potential connection to Sino-Roman relations.
Gānsù Héxī Corridor	河西走廊	Also known as the Gansu Corridor, an important historical region located in the modern western Gansu province of China, referring to a narrow stretch of traversable and relatively arable plain west of the Yellow River's Ordos Loop (hence the name Hexi, meaning "west of the river")
Zhèng Hé	郑和	1371-1433? Chinese mariner, admiral, explorer and diplomat who led seven famous voyages to the southwest of China all the way to the East African coast
Míng Dynasty	明朝	Chinese imperial dynasty that lasted 1368-1644
Bān Gù	班固	32-92 AD, co-author of the Book fo Han
Bān Zhāo	班昭	writers of the Later Book of Hàn
Zhāng Qiān	张骞	Sister of Ban Gu (and Ban Chao) 32-102, co-author of the Book of Han
Zhěláizhài	者来寨	a village on the edge of the Gobi desert in Gansu province renamed after Liqian, an ancient county
Gān Yīng	甘英	a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and military official who was sent on a mission to the Roman Empire in 97 CE by the Chinese military general Ban Chao
Bān Chāo	班超	32-102, great military strategist and conquerer of China's northwest regions
Ānxī	安息	The ancient namr for Parthia
Hàn Emperor Huán	汉桓帝	Han Emperor from 146 to 168
Rìnán Commandery	日南郡	the southernmost outpost of the Hàn Dynasty, located in today's central part of Vietnam
Luòyáng	洛阳	The "Eastern Capital" for many of China's ancient dynasties
Emperor Āndūn	安敦	Antoninus Pious, Emperor of Rome 138-161
Book of Liáng (Liáng Shū)	梁书	Completed in 635, one of the Twenty-four Official Histories, details the events of the Liang Dynasty (502-557)
Jiāozhǐ	交趾	A historical region corresponding to present-day Northern Vietnam set up by the kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) as a Commandery. It became an administrative division centered in the Red River Delta that existed through Vietnam's first and second periods of northern domination.
Huángwǔ	黄武	Era of the Eastern Wú Emperor Sūn Quán from 222-229
Sūn Quán	孙权	182-252, founder of the state of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms
Wǔchāng	武昌	City in Hubei province that makes up the Tri-cities of Wuhan
Qín Lùn	秦论	A merchant from the Roman Empire who arrived in Jiaozhi and who was taken to see Emperor Sun Quan
Jìn Shū	晋书	The Book of Jin, one of the Twenty-four official histories that covers the Jin Dynasty from 266-420
Jiànyè	建业	Sun Quan's ancient capital, modern day Nánjīng
Jìn Wǔdì	晋武帝	Jìn Dynasty founder Emperor Wǔ…a.k.a. Sīmǎ Yán 司马炎, reigned 266-290
jiānbing	煎饼	a traditional Chinese street food similar to crêpes. It is a type of bing generally eaten for breakfast and hailed as "one of China's most popular street breakfasts

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