Chronicles of the Western Regions from the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties with Annotations

Author: Yu Taishan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book aims to provide a systematic annotation for the records about the Western Regions in the official histories of the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties concerning the Western Regions. The official histories of the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties on the Western Regions are important historical materials for studying Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Europe, and North Africa before the 7th century. They form an independent system and have always been valued by historians both at home and abroad. Since the late Qing Dynasty, when Ding Qian made annotations, nearly a century has passed, and apart from several individual articles, no one has interpreted these materials as a whole. Today, with significant progress in the study of Western Regions history, especially Central Asian history, it is undoubtedly necessary to include the creation of new annotations for the official histories of the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties on the Western Regions on the agenda. There are fifteen official histories from the Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, including the following records about the Western Regions: "Biography of Dayuan" in Records of the Grand Historian, "Biography of the Western Regions" in Book of Han, "Biography of the Western Regions" in Book of the Later Han, "Biography of the Western Barbarians" in Book of Jin, "Biography of the Northern Barbarians in the Northwest" in Book of Liang, "Biography of the Western Regions" in Book of Wei, "Biography of Foreign Lands (Lower)" in Book of Zhou, "Biography of the Western Regions" in Book of Sui, "Biography of the Western States" in Book of the Southern Dynasties, and "Biography of the Western Regions" in Book of the Northern Dynasties. Additionally, the "Biography of the Western Barbarians" in Wei cited in the annotations of Pei of Records of the Three Kingdoms is included, making a total of eleven chapters.