China in World History

26 China in World History

Yarkand

Kashgar Khotan

Bukhara Tashkent

Taxila

Merv

Barbarikon

AralSea

Caspian

Sea

Arabian Sea

Persian

Gulf

Ga

nge

sR

iver

Ind

us

Riv

er

PARTHIAN

EMPIRE

KUSHAN

PERSIA EMPIRE

BACTRIA

TURKESTAN

Him

alay

anM

ount

ains

Kun

lunM

ount

ains

To Rome

To Egypt

To Egypt

To S. India

and Ceylon

ARABIA

INDIA

0

0 200 km

200 mi

THEHANEMPIRE

(206BCE to 220 CE)

Han protectorates

Additions to the Han Empire until 220 CE

The Han Empire, 140 BCE

Principal trade routes

Cities

Great Wall

pursued a policy of “peace and kinship” (heqin), attempting to avoid

war with the Xiongnu by sending lavish gifts of silk, gold, and grain and

offering Xiongnu leaders Han princesses in marriage.

In their treaties with the Xiongnu, the Han recognized the nomadic

state as its equal (despite the internal court rhetoric of universal

imperial sovereignty). During the early Han, the dynasty functioned

more as a tributary vassal of the Xiongnu Empire rather than vice versa.

But unlike the Han dynasty, the Xiongnu Empire remained a loose