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{{Short description|Chinese term for the Roman Empire}}
[[File:SihaiHuayiZongtu.jpg|thumb|300px|Daqin Guo (大秦國) appears at the Western edge, third from the bottom, of this Chinese world map, the ''[[Sihai Huayi Zongtu]]''.]]
{{Historical Chinese exonyms}}
'''Daqin''' ({{zh|c=大秦|w =Ta<sup>4</sup>-ch'in<sup>2</sup>|p =Dàqín}}; alternative transliterations include '''Tachin''', '''Tai-Ch'in''') is the ancient Chinese name for the [[Roman Empire]] or, depending on context, the [[Near East]], especially [[Syria (Roman province)|Syria]].<ref name="lhc">{{cite book | first=Philip | last=Jenkins | year=2008 | title=The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia – and How It Died | location=New York | publisher=Harper Collins | isbn=978-0-06-147280-0 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/losthistoryofchr00jenk/page/64 64–68] | url=https://archive.org/details/losthistoryofchr00jenk/page/64 }}</ref> It literally means "Great Qin"; [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] ({{zh |c=秦|w =Ch'in<sup>2</sup>| p=Qín}}) being the name of the founding dynasty of the [[Early Imperial China|Chinese Empire]]. Historian John Foster defined it as "[[History of the Roman Empire|the Roman Empire]], or rather that part of it which alone was [[Sino-Roman relations|known to the Chinese]], Syria".<ref>Foster, p. 3.</ref> Its basic facets such as [[Roman law|laws]], [[Roman culture|customs]], [[Clothing in ancient Rome|dress]], and [[Roman currency|currency]] were explained in Chinese sources. Its medieval incarnation was described [[Twenty-Four Histories|in histories]] during the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907 AD) onwards as ''Fulin'' ({{zh|c=拂菻|p=Fúlǐn}}), which [[Friedrich Hirth]] and other scholars have identified as the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="halsall 2000"/> Daqin was also commonly associated with the [[Syriac language|Syriac-speaking]] [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christians]] who lived in China during the Tang dynasty.

Chinese sources describe several [[Ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] embassies [[Sino-Roman relations|arriving in China]], beginning in 166 AD and lasting into the 3rd century. These early embassies were said to arrive [[Indo-Roman trade relations|by a maritime route]] via the [[South China Sea]] in the Chinese province of [[Jiaozhi]] (now northern [[Vietnam]]). Archaeological evidence such as [[Roman currency|Roman coins]] points to the presence of [[Roman commerce|Roman commercial]] activity in [[Southeast Asia]]. Later recorded embassies arriving from [[History of the Byzantine Empire|the Byzantine Empire]], lasting from the 7th to 11th centuries, ostensibly took an overland route following the [[Silk Road]], alongside other [[Europeans in Medieval China]]. Byzantine Greeks are recorded as being present in the court of [[Kublai Khan]] (1260–1294), [[Mongol Empire|the Mongol]] ruler of the [[Yuan dynasty]] in [[Khanbaliq]] ([[Beijing]]), while the [[Hongwu Emperor]] (r. 1368–1398), founder of the [[Ming dynasty]], sent a letter of correspondence to Byzantine emperor [[John V Palaiologos]].

==Etymology==
===Daqin===
The term ''Daqin'' ({{zh|c=大秦|w =Ta<sup>4</sup>-ch'in<sup>2</sup>|p =Dà qín}}, [[Middle Chinese]]: /dɑi<sup>H</sup> d͡ziɪn/), meaning "Great Qin", is derived from [[Qin dynasty|the dynasty]] founded by [[Qin Shi Huang]], ruler of the [[State of Qin]] and [[Emperor of China|China's first emperor]] who unified [[Warring States period|China's Warring States]] by 221 BC.<ref name="lieu 2013 p 126">Lieu (2013), p. 126.</ref> The [[prefix]] ''da'' (大) or "great" signified that the Roman Empire was on par with the might of the Qin dynasty and was viewed as a [[utopia]]n land located to the northwest of the [[Parthian Empire]].<ref name="lieu 2013 p 126"/> The title ''Daqin'' does not seem to have any phonetic derivation from [[Latin language|Latin]] ''[[Rome|Roma]]'' or [[Greek language|Greek]] ''Romaikē''. On the other hand, it is possible that the Latin term used for China, ''[[Serica]]'' (derived from Greek ''Serikon'', commonly understood as "Land of Silk", from Chinese ''si'' {{zh|c=絲|p =sī}}, meaning [[silk]]), originated from the name Qin using [[Old Chinese]] pronunciation (with the final consonant pronounced with an ''-r'' sound).<ref>Lieu (2013), p. 126 f.; the same character for "Qin" (i.e. 秦) was used by the Chinese of the [[Han dynasty|Han period]] to transcribe foreign words ending in an ''-r'' sound.</ref>

===Fulin===
The term ''Daqin'' was used from the [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 220 AD) onwards,<ref name="lieu 2013 p 126"/> but by the beginning of the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907 AD) a new name emerged in Chinese historical records for distinguishing the [[Eastern Roman Empire]]: ''Fulin'' ({{zh|c=拂菻|p=Fú lǐn}}). [[Friedrich Hirth]] surmised that Fulin may have been based on the [[Accusative case|accusative form]] of ''Konstantinoupolis'', the Greek name of [[Constantinople]], or rather its paraphrase ''hē Pólis'' ("the City"), giving (in the accusative) ''(tḕn) Pólin''.<ref name="lieu p 227">Lieu (2013), p. 227.</ref> Using historical phonetic pronunciations of [[Cantonese]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], Hirth also speculated that ''Fulin'' in [[Middle Chinese]] was pronounced ''Butlim'' or ''Butlam'' and thus might have also come from the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] pronunciation for [[Bethlehem]].<ref>Hirth (1939) [1885], pp. 286-290.</ref> While some scholars of the 20th century believed that Fulin was a transliteration of [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]], a reference to the Biblical [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Northern Kingdom]], Samuel N. C. Lieu highlights how more recent scholarship has deduced that Fulin is most likely derived from the [[Persianate]] word for the Roman Empire shared by several contemporaneous [[Iranian languages]] ([[Middle Persian]]: {{transliteration|pal|hrwm}}; [[Parthian language|Parthian]]: {{transliteration|xpr|frwm}}; [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]]: βr'wm-; [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]: ''φρομο'').<ref>Lieu (2013), p. 127 f.</ref>

==History==
[[File:Daqin in Sancai Tuhui.jpg|thumb|The Chinese impression of the Daqin people, from the Ming encyclopedia ''[[Sancai Tuhui]]''. The caption reads: "Daqin: The western merchants end their journeys here. Its king wears embroidered tissues sewn with gold threads on his head. The land produces corals, grows golden flowers, coarse fabrics, pearls, etc."]]
{{main|Sino-Roman relations}}
{{Further|Chinese geography|Early Chinese cartography}}

===Early descriptions by Gan Ying===
Following the opening of the [[Silk Road]] in the 2nd century BC, the Chinese thought of the Roman Empire as a civilized counterpart to the Chinese Empire. The Romans occupied one extreme position on the trade route, with the Chinese located on the other.

China never managed to reach the Roman Empire directly in antiquity, although general [[Ban Chao]] sent [[Gan Ying]] as an envoy to "Daqin" in 97 AD. Gan Ying did not reach Daqin: he stopped at the coast of a large sea, because "sailor(s) of the [[Parthia]]n west border" told him that the voyage to cross the sea might take a long time and be dangerous. Gan Ying left a detailed account of the Roman Empire, but it is generally considered to have been based on second-hand information [[Parthian Empire|from Parthians]]:
{{blockquote | 「大秦國一名犂鞬，以在海西，亦云海西國。地方數千里，有四百餘城。小國役屬者數十。以石為城郭。列置郵亭，皆堊塈之。有松柏諸木百草。」

The Kingdom of Da Qin (the Roman Empire) is also called Lijian. As it is found to the west of the sea, it is also called the Kingdom of Haixi ("West of the Sea"). The territory extends for several thousands of [[Li (unit)|li]]. It has more than four hundred walled towns. There are several tens of smaller dependent kingdoms. The walls of the towns are made of stone.  They have established postal relays at intervals, which are all plastered and whitewashed. There are pines and cypresses, as well as trees and plants of all kinds.<ref name="Hill 2009, p. 25">Hill (2009), p. 25.</ref><ref name="toyoshi.lit.nagoya-u.ac.jp">[http://toyoshi.lit.nagoya-u.ac.jp/maruha/siryo/houhan078.html Description of the Western regions] (in Chinese).</ref>}}

[[File:Ménade danzante, Casa del Naviglio, Pompeya.jpg|thumb|Roman fresco from [[Pompeii]] showing a [[Maenad]] in [[History of silk|silk dress]], [[Naples National Archaeological Museum]]]]
[[File:Dahuting tomb mural detail of women wearing hanfu, Eastern Han period.jpg|thumb|Detail of a mural showing two women wearing ''[[Hanfu]]'' [[silk]] robes, [[c:Category:Dahuting Tomb murals|from the Dahuting Tomb]] ({{zh|labels=no |t=打虎亭漢墓  |p=Dáhǔtíng hànmù}}) of the late [[History of the Han dynasty|Eastern Han dynasty]] (25–220 AD), located in [[Zhengzhou]], [[Henan]], China]]

Gan Ying gives a very idealistic view of Roman governance which is likely the result of some story he was told while visiting the Persian Gulf in 97 AD. He also described, less fancifully, Roman products:
{{Blockquote|「其王無有常人，皆簡立賢者。國中災異及風雨不時，輒廢而更立，受放者甘黜不怨。其人民皆長大平正，有類中國，故謂之大秦......土多金銀奇寶，有夜光璧、明月珠、駭雞犀、珊瑚、虎魄、琉璃、琅玕、朱丹、青碧。刺金縷繡，織成金縷罽、雜色綾。作黃金塗、火浣布。」

[[Republicanism#Ancient Rome|Their kings are not permanent. They select and appoint the most worthy man]]. If there are [[Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79|unexpected calamities]] in the kingdom, such as frequent extraordinary winds or [[Climate of Ancient Rome|rains]], he is unceremoniously rejected and replaced. The one who has been dismissed quietly accepts his demotion, and is not angry.  The people of this country are all tall and honest. They resemble the people of the Middle Kingdom and that is why this kingdom is called Da Qin. This country [[Roman economy#Mining and metallurgy|produces plenty]] of gold [and] silver, [and of] rare and precious they have luminous jade, "bright moon pearls", ''Haiji'' rhinoceroses, [[coral]], yellow [[amber]], opaque glass, whitish [[chalcedony]] [i.e., ''[[langgan]]''], red [[cinnabar]], green [[gem]]stones, gold-thread embroideries, woven gold-threaded net, delicate polychrome silks painted with gold, and [[asbestos]] cloth.

「又有細布，或言水羊毳，野蠶繭所作也。合會諸香，煎其汁以為蘇合。凡外國諸珍異皆出焉。以金銀為錢，銀錢十當金錢一。與安息、天竺交巿於海中，利有十倍。[...]其王常欲通使於漢，而安息欲以漢繒綵與之交市，故遮閡不得自達。」

They also have [[sea silk|a fine cloth which some people say is made from the down of "water sheep"]], but [[wild silk|which is made, in fact, from the cocoons of wild silkworms]].  They blend all sorts of fragrances, and by boiling the juice, make a compound perfume. [They have] all the precious and rare things that come from the various foreign kingdoms. They make gold and silver coins. Ten silver coins are worth one gold coin. They trade with [[Parthia|Anxi]] and [[Tenjiku|Tianzhu]] by sea.  The profit margin is ten to one. ... The king of this country always wanted to send envoys to the Han, but Anxi, wishing to control the trade in multi-coloured Chinese silks, blocked the route to prevent [the Romans] getting through [to China].<ref name="Hill 2009, p. 25" /><ref name="toyoshi.lit.nagoya-u.ac.jp"/>}}

===Geographical descriptions in the Weilüe===
{{main|Weilüe}}
{{Further|Geography of Egypt}}

In the ''Weilüe'' written by [[Yu Huan]] ({{circa|239}}–265), a text that is preserved in the ''[[Records of the Three Kingdoms]]'' by [[Pei Songzhi]] (published in 429), a more detailed description of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire is given, particularly the province of [[Roman Egypt]]. The 19th-century sinologist [[Friedrich Hirth]] translated the passages and identified the places named in them, which have been edited by Jerome S. Arkenberg in 2000 (with [[Wade-Giles]] spelling):<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

{{Blockquote|Formerly [[Babylonia|T'iao-chih]] was wrongly believed to be in the west of [[Roman Syria|Ta-ts'in]]; now its real position is known to be east. [...] Formerly it was, further, wrongly believed that the [[Dead Sea|Jo-shui]] was in the west of T'iao-chih; now the Jo-shui is believed to be in the west of Ta-ts'in. Formerly it was wrongly believed that, going over two hundred days west of T'iao-chih, one came near the place where the sun sets; now, one comes near the place where the sun sets by going west of Ta-ts'in. The country of Ta-ts'in, also called [[Syria (region)|Li-kan]], is on the west of the great sea {{bracket|the [[Indian Ocean]]}} west of [[Parthian Empire|Ar-hsi]] and T'iao-chih. From the city of [[Uruk|Ar-ku]], on the boundary of Ar-hsi one takes passage in a ship and, traversing the west of the sea, with favorable winds arrives [at Aelana, modern [[Elat]], on the Gulf of Aqaba] in two months; with slow winds, the passage may last a year, and with no wind at all, perhaps three years. This country is on the west of the sea whence it is commonly called [[Egypt|Hai-hsi]]. There is a river {{bracket|the [[Nile River|Nile]]}} coming out from the west of this country, and there is another great sea {{bracket|the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]}}. In the west of the sea there is the city of [[Alexandria|Ali-san]]. Before one arrives in the country one goes straight north from the city of [[Aden|U-tan]]. In the south-west one further travels by a river which on board ship one crosses in one day [again the Nile]; and again south-west one travels by a river which is crossed in one day [still the Nile]. There are three great divisions of the country {{bracket|i. e., [[Nile Delta|Delta]], [[Heptanomis]], [[Thebaid]]}}. From the city of Ar-ku one goes by land due north to the north of the sea; and again one goes due west to the west of the sea; and again you go due south to arrive there. At the city of Ali-san, you travel by river on board ship one day, then make a round at sea, and after six days' passage on the great sea [the Mediterranean], arrive in this country. There are in the country in all over four hundred smaller cities; its size is several thousand li in all directions of the compass. The residence of their king lies on the banks of a river estuary {{bracket|[[Antioch-on-the-Orontes]]}}. They use stone in making city walls. In this country there are the trees sung [pine], po [cypress], huai [sophora?], tzu [a kind of euphorbia?]; bamboos, rushes, poplars, willows, the wu-t'ung tree, and all kinds of other plants. The people are given to planting on the fields all kinds of grain. Their domestic animals are: the horse, the donkey, the mule, the camel, and the mulberry silk-worm. There are many jugglers who can issue fire from their mouths, bind and release themselves, and dance on twenty balls. In this country they have no permanent rulers, but when an extraordinary calamity visits the country, they elect as king a worthier man, while discharging the old king, who does not even dare to feel angry at this decision. The people are tall, and upright in their dealings, like the Han [Chinese], but wear foreign dress; they call their country another "[[Names of China|Middle Kingdom]]" [probably from "Mediterranean" or "Middle of the Land"].<ref name="halsall 2000"/>}}

[[File:Green glass Roman cup unearthed at Eastern Han tomb, Guixian, China.jpg|thumb|Green [[Roman glass]] cup unearthed from an [[Eastern Han dynasty]] (25–220 AD) tomb, [[Guangxi]], China]]

The ''Weilüe'' also noted that the Daqin had small "dependent" [[vassal]] states, too many to list as the text claims, yet it mentions some as being the [[Iskandariya|Alexandria-Euphrates]] or [[Charax Spasinu]] ("Ala-san"), [[Nikephorium]] ("Lu-fen"), [[Palmyra]] ("Ch'ieh-lan"), [[Damascus]] ("Hsien-tu"), [[Emesa]] ("Si-fu"), and [[Al-Hirah|Hira]] ("Ho-lat").<ref name="halsall 2000"/> Perhaps some of these are in reference to certain states that were temporarily conquered during the [[Roman–Parthian Wars]] (66 BC – 217 AD) when, for instance, the army of Roman Emperor [[Trajan]] reached the [[Persian Gulf]] and captured [[Characene]], the capital of which was Charax Spasinu.<ref>Garthwaite, Gene Ralph (2005), ''The Persians'', Oxford & Carlton: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd., {{ISBN|1-55786-860-3}}, p. 81.</ref> The ''Weilüe'' provides the traveling directions and approximate distances between each of these cities, counted in [[Li (unit)|ancient Chinese miles (''li'')]], and along with the ''[[Book of Later Han]]'' even mentions the [[pontoon bridge]] ("flying bridge") across the [[Euphrates]] at the Roman city of [[Zeugma, Commagene]] (in modern-day Turkey).<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

Hirth and Arkenberg identified Si-fu (Chinese: 汜復) with Emesa. However, John E. Hill provides evidence that it was most likely [[Petra]] (in the [[Nabataean Kingdom]]), given the directions and distance from "Yuluo" (i.e. [[Al Karak]]) and the fact that it fell under Roman dominion in 106 AD when it was annexed by Trajan.<ref name="hill 2004 web notes">{{cite web|url=http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/notes11_30.html#19_1 |title=The Peoples of the West from the Weilue'' 魏略 ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265, Quoted in zhuan 30 of the Sanguozhi, Published in 429 CE [Section 11 – Da Qin (Roman territory/Rome)] |first=Huan |last=Yu |editor= John E. Hill |translator= John E. Hill|website=Depts.washington.edu |date=September 2004 |access-date=2016-09-17}}</ref> Even more convincing for Hill is the fact that Si-fu in Chinese means "an arm of a river which rejoins the main stream" or more aptly "rejoined water courses".<ref name="hill 2004 web notes"/> He believes this is directly related to the [[reservoir]] and [[cistern]] flood-control system harnessing the many streams running through the settlement and nearby canyons, or wadis, such as the [[Wadi Musa]] ("Valley of Moses").<ref name="hill 2004 web notes"/>

===Christianity===
{{Further|Daqin Pagoda}}
[[File:Da Qin Pagoda.jpg|thumb|The [[Daqin Pagoda]], which allegedly once formed part of a [[Church of the East in China|Nestorian church]]]]
[[File:Nestorian-Stele-Budge-plate-X.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Nestorian Stele]] entitled "Stele to the propagation in China of the luminous religion of Daqin" (大秦景教流行中國碑), was erected in China in 781.]]

In later eras, starting in AD 550, as [[Syriac Christians]] settled along the [[Silk Road]] and founded mission churches, Daqin or Tai-Ch'in is also used to refer to these Christian populations rather than to Rome or the [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman church]].<ref name="lhc" />  So, for example, when the Taoist [[Emperor Wuzong of Tang]] closed Christian monasteries in the mid-9th century, the imperial edict commanded:<ref>{{cite book | last= Philip | first= TV | year= 1998 | title= East of the Euphrates: Early Christianity in Asia | chapter= Christianity in China | url= http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1553&C=1363 | access-date= 2008-11-30 | url-status=dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112523/http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1553&C=1363 | archive-date= 2015-09-24 }}</ref>
{{Blockquote | As for the Tai-Ch'in (Syrian Christian) and Muh-hu (Zoroastrian) forms of worship, since Buddhism has already been cast out, these heresies alone must not be allowed to survive.<ref>{{cite book | last=Foster | first= John | year=1939 | title=The Church in T'ang Dynasty | publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge | location=Great Britain | page = 123}}</ref>}}

The name "Daqin" for Rome was used on Chinese maps as late as the 16th century, such as the [[Sihai Huayi Zongtu]]. The identification of "Daqin" with the Western Roman Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, or the [[Church of the East]] varies with the era and context of the document. The [[Nestorian Stele]] erected in 781 in [[Tang dynasty|the Tang]] capital [[Chang'an]] contains an inscription that briefly summarizes the knowledge about Daqin in the Chinese histories written up to that point and notes how only the "luminous" religion (i.e. Christianity) was practiced there.<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

===Capital cities===

In the ''[[Hou Hanshu]]'' and the ''[[Weilüe]]'', the chief city of Daqin is said to be more than 100 ''li'' around. It is described as being located near a river and having five palaces, with the king travelling to one of these palaces each day. Some scholars have identified in this description the city of [[Rome]], the [[Tiber river]] and the Imperial residences of the [[Palatine hill]]. However, other scholars, including Hirth and Hoppál, identify it with Antioch. It has also been suggested that the capital of Daqin described in those works is a conflation of multiple cities, chiefly Rome, Antioch and Alexandria.<ref>"Chinese notions of Daqin" in ''The Archaeology of Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World''(2020), Himanshu Prabha Ray, India: Taylor & Francis.</ref>

In Gan Ying's report the capital of Daqin is "An-tu",  [[Antioch]].<ref>Foster, p. 4.</ref> However, the ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'' and ''[[New Book of Tang]]'', which identified Daqin and "Fulin" (拂菻; i.e. ''Primus'', the Byzantine Empire) as the same countries, noted a different capital city ([[Constantinople]]), one that had [[Walls of Constantinople|walls of "enormous height"]] and [[Siege of Constantinople (674-678)|was eventually besieged]] by the commander "Móyì" ([[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 摩拽伐之; [[Pinyin]]: ''Móyì fá zhī'') of the ''Da shi'' (大食; i.e. [[Early Muslim conquests|the Arabs]]).<ref name="halsall 2000">{{cite web|orig-year=1885|date=2000|author=Hirth, Friedrich|author-link=Friedrich Hirth|editor=Jerome S. Arkenberg|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/romchin1.html|title=East Asian History Sourcebook: Chinese Accounts of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. - 1643 C.E.|publisher=[[Fordham University]]|website=Fordham.edu|access-date=2016-09-10|archive-date=2014-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910050947/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/romchin1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Friedrich Hirth]] identifies this commander as [[Mu'awiyah I]], who was first governor of Syria before becoming [[caliph]] and founder of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]].<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

=== Characteristics attributed from the Book of Jin to the Romans ===
The encyclopedic part of the [[Book of Jin]] classified the appearance of the Romans as being genuinely [[Xirong]], a barbaric people who lived west of the [[Zhou dynasty]], however, the characteristics attributed to Daqin tend to be more positive than the others, saying that their people when they reached [[adult]]hood looked like the [[Han Chinese|Chinese]], they used [[glass]] on the walls of their houses (considered a [[Luxury goods|luxury item]] in the [[Tang dynasty]]), their tiles were covered with [[coral]], their "[[List of Roman governors of Syria|king]]" had 5 palaces, all huge, and all far from each other, just as what was heard in one palace took time to reach another and so on.<ref>{{Cite web |title=晉書/卷097 - 维基文库，自由的图书馆 |url=https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%99%89%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7097 |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=zh.wikisource.org |language=zh}}</ref>

===Embassies===
{{Further|Zhang Qian|Smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire}}

Starting in the 1st century BC with [[Virgil]], [[Horace]], and [[Strabo]], Roman histories offer only vague accounts of China and the silk-producing ''[[Serica|Seres]]'' of the distant east. The 2nd-century historian [[Florus]] seems to have conflated the Seres with peoples of [[India]], or at least noted that their skin complexions proved that they both lived "beneath another sky" than the Romans. The 1st-century geographer [[Pomponius Mela]] noted that their lands formed the center of the coast of [[Pacific Ocean|an eastern ocean]], flanked by India to the south and the [[Scythians]] of the [[Eurasian Steppe|northern steppe]], while the historian [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] (c. 330 – c. 400) wrote that the land of the Seres was enclosed by great natural walls around a river called Bautis, perhaps the [[Yellow River]]. In his ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geography]]'', [[Ptolemy]] also provided a rough sketch of the [[Gulf of Thailand]] and [[South China Sea]], with a port city called [[Cattigara]] lying beyond the [[Golden Chersonese]] (i.e. [[Malay Peninsula]]) visited by a Greek sailor named Alexander.<ref name="young 2001 p 29"/> Among the proposed sites for Ptolemy's Cattigara are [[Oc Eo]], Vietnam, where Roman artefacts have been found.<ref>Granville Allen Mawer (2013), "The Riddle of Catigara" in ''Robert Nichols and Martin Woods (eds), Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia'', 38-39, Canberra: National Library of Australia, {{ISBN|9780642278098}}, p. 38.</ref>

[[File:Marc'aurelio da probalinthos, 161 dc. circa.JPG|thumb|[[Bust (sculpture)|Bust]] of [[Marcus Aurelius]] from [[Probalinthos]], [[Attica]] (c. 161 AD; now in the [[Louvre]], Paris)]]

In contrast, [[Twenty-four Histories|Chinese histories]] offer an abundance of source material about their interactions with alleged Roman embassies and descriptions of their country. The first of these embassies is recorded in the ''[[Book of Later Han]]'' as having arrived by sea in 166 AD and came by way of [[Jiaozhou (region)|Jiaozhou]], later known as [[Annam (Chinese province)|Annam]] ([[northern Vietnam]]), as would later embassies.<ref name="halsall 2000"/> Its members claimed to be representatives of the Daqin ruler "Andun" (安敦), either [[Antoninus Pius]] or more likely his co-emperor [[Marcus Aurelius|Marcus Aurelius Antoninus]], and offered gifts to the court of [[Emperor Huan of Han]].<ref name="de crespigny 2007 600">[[Rafe de Crespigny|de Crespigny, Rafe]]. (2007). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD)''. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 600, {{ISBN|978-90-04-15605-0}}.</ref><ref>[[Yu Ying-shih|Yü, Ying-shih]]. (1986). "Han Foreign Relations", in ''The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220'', 377-462. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 460–461, {{ISBN|978-0-521-24327-8}}.</ref> Other embassies arrived sporadically afterwards. The ''[[Book of Liang]]'' mentions a Daqin embassy to [[Sun Quan]] of [[Eastern Wu]] in 226, while the ''[[Book of Jin]]'' records a Daqin embassy to [[Emperor Wu of Jin]] in 284.<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

Although [[Emperor Yang of Sui]] (r. 604–618) had desired to send an embassy to Daqin, this never came to fruition.<ref name="halsall 2000"/><ref>Warwick Ball (2016), Rome in the East: Transformation of an Empire, 2nd edition, London & New York: Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-72078-6}}, pp 152-153.</ref> Instead, an embassy from a country that was now called ''Fulin'' (拂菻, i.e. the Byzantine Empire), which the ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'' and ''[[New Book of Tang]]'' identified as being the same as Daqin, arrived in 643 at the court of [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]] and claimed to represent their king ''Bo duoli'' (波多力; i.e. Kōnstantinos Pogonatos, "Constantine the Bearded", the nickname of [[Constans II]]).<ref name="halsall 2000"/> Several other ''Fulin'' (i.e. [[Byzantium]]) embassies during the Tang dynasty are mentioned for the years 667, 701, and 719.<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

The ''[[Wenxian Tongkao]]'' written by [[Ma Duanlin]] (1245–1322) and the ''[[History of Song (Yuan dynasty)|History of Song]]'' record that the Byzantine emperor [[Michael VII Doukas|Michael VII Parapinakēs Caesar]] (''Mie li sha ling kai sa'' 滅力沙靈改撒) of ''Fulin'' (i.e. Byzantium) sent an embassy to China that arrived in 1081, during the reign of [[Emperor Shenzong of Song]] (r. 1067–1085).<ref name="halsall 2000"/><ref name="SezginEhrig-Eggert1996">{{cite book|author1=Fuat Sezgin|author2=Carl Ehrig-Eggert|author3=Amawi Mazen|author4=E. Neubauer|title=نصوص ودراسات من مصادر صينية حول البلدان الاسلامية|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3ygAAAAMAAJ&q=nicholas+in+the+year+1338+had+not+yet+arrive+in+peking+for+the+christians+there+compalined+ina+letter+written+at+the+above+that+that+they+were+eight+years+without+a+curate|year=1996|place=Frankfurt am Main|publisher=Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften (Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University)|page=25|isbn=9783829820479}}</ref> During the subsequent [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368), an unprecedented number of [[Europeans in Medieval China|Europeans started to visit and live in China]], such as [[Marco Polo]] and [[Katarina Vilioni]], and papal missionaries such as [[John of Montecorvino]] and [[Giovanni de Marignolli]].<ref>[[Jonathan D. Spence]] (1998). "[https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/spence-continent.html The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds]". ''The New York Times''. {{ISBN|0-393-02747-3}}. Accessed 15 September 2016.</ref><ref>[[Frances Wood]] (2002), ''The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia'', University of California Press, pp 125-126, {{ISBN|0-520-24340-4}}.</ref><ref>Stephen G. Haw (2006), ''Marco Polo's China: a Venetian in the Realm of Kublai Khan'', London & New York: Routledge, p. 172, {{ISBN|0-415-34850-1}}.</ref> The ''[[History of Yuan]]'' recounts how a man of ''Fulin'' named Ai-sie (transliteration of either Joshua or Joseph), initially in the service of [[Güyük Khan]], was well-versed in Western languages and had expertise in the fields of [[Byzantine medicine|medicine]] and [[Byzantine astronomy|astronomy]].<ref name="bretschneider 1888p144"/> This convinced [[Kublai Khan]], founder of the Yuan dynasty, to offer him a position as the director of medical and astronomical boards, eventually honoring him with the title of Prince of Fulin (Chinese: 拂菻王; ''Fú lǐn wáng'').<ref name="bretschneider 1888p144"/> His biography in the ''History of Yuan'' lists his children by their [[Chinese name]]s, which are similar to the [[Christian name]]s Elias (''Ye-li-ah''), Luke (''Lu-ko''), and Antony (''An-tun''), with a daughter named ''A-na-si-sz''.<ref name="bretschneider 1888p144">[[Emil Bretschneider|Bretschneider, Emil]] (1888), ''Medieval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, Vol. 1'', Abingdon: Routledge, reprinted 2000, p. 144.</ref>

The [[History of Ming]] explains how the founder of the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644), the [[Hongwu Emperor]], sent a merchant of ''Fulin'' named "Nieh-ku-lun" (捏古倫) back to his home country with a letter announcing the [[History of the Ming dynasty|founding of a new dynasty]].<ref name="halsall 2000"/><ref name="Grant2005">{{cite book|author=R. G. Grant|title=Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat|url=https://archive.org/details/battlevisualjour0000gran_e3z7|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=DK Pub.|isbn=978-0-7566-1360-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/battlevisualjour0000gran_e3z7/page/99 99]–}}</ref><ref name="Hirth 1939 1885 p 66">{{cite book|author=Hirth, Friedrich|author-link= Friedrich Hirth|title=China and the Roman Orient: Researches Into Their Ancient and Mediaeval Relations as Represented in Old Chinese Records|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dk4uAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66|orig-year=1885|date=1939|location=Leipzig, Munich, Shanghai, & Hong Kong |publisher=Georg Hirth; Kelly & Walsh|page =66|isbn= 9780524033050}}</ref> It is speculated that this "merchant" was actually a [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Beijing|former bishop]] of [[Khanbaliq]] named Nicolaus de Bentra.<ref name="Luttwak2009 2">{{cite book|author=Edward Luttwak|title=The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cBjc6QCBXkC&pg=PA170|date=1 November 2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-03519-5|pages=170–}}</ref> The ''History of Ming'' goes on to explain that contacts between China and ''Fulin'' ceased thereafter, whereas an envoy of the great western sea (i.e. the [[Mediterranean Sea]]) did not arrive again until the 16th century, with the Italian Jesuit missionary [[Matteo Ricci]].<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

==Currency and coinage==
{{Further|Roman currency|Byzantine currency}}
[[File:Bronze coin of Contantius II 337 361 found in Karghalik.jpg|thumb|upright|Bronze coin of [[Constantius II]] (337–361), found in [[Kargilik Town|Karghalik]], modern [[China]]]]

Although the [[Ancient Rome|ancient Romans]] imported Han Chinese silk while the [[Economy of the Han dynasty|Han-dynasty Chinese]] imported [[Roman glass]]wares as discovered in their tombs,<ref>Brosius, Maria (2006), ''The Persians: An Introduction'', London & New York: Routledge, p. 122 f., {{ISBN|0-415-32089-5}}.</ref><ref>An, Jiayao (2002), "When Glass Was Treasured in China", in Juliano, Annette L. and Judith A. Lerner, ''Silk Road Studies: Nomads, Traders, and Holy Men Along China's Silk Road, 7'', Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, pp. 79–94, {{ISBN|2-503-52178-9}}.</ref> [[Valerie Hansen]] (2012) claimed that no Roman coins from the [[Roman Republic]] (507–27 BC) or the [[Principate]] (27 BC–284 AD) era of the Roman Empire have been found in China.<ref name="hansen 2012 p97">Hansen, Valerie (2012), ''The Silk Road: A New History'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 97, {{ISBN|978-0-19-993921-3}}.</ref> Yet this assumption has been overturned; [[Warwick Ball]] (2016) notes the discovery of sixteen Roman coins found at [[Xi'an]], China (site of the Han capital [[Chang'an]]) minted during the reign of various emperors from [[Tiberius]] (14–37 AD) to [[Aurelian]] (270–275 AD).<ref name="ball 2016 p154">Warwick Ball (2016), ''Rome in the East: Transformation of an Empire'', 2nd edition, London & New York: Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-72078-6}}, p. 154.</ref> The earliest gold [[Solidus (coin)|''solidus'' coins]] from the Eastern Roman Empire found in China date to the reign of Byzantine emperor [[Theodosius II]] (r. 408–450) and altogether only forty-eight of them have been found (compared to thirteen hundred silver coins) in [[Xinjiang]] and the rest of China.<ref name="hansen 2012 p97"/> However, Roman golden [[medal]]lions from the reign of [[Antoninus Pius]], and possibly his successor [[Marcus Aurelius]], have been discovered at [[Óc Eo]] in southern [[Vietnam]], which was then part of the [[Kingdom of Funan]] bordering the Chinese province of [[Jiaozhi]] in northern Vietnam.<ref name="young 2001 p 29"/><ref>For further information on Oc Eo, see Milton Osborne (2006), ''The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future'', Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, revised edition, first published in 2000, {{ISBN|1-74114-893-6}}, p. 24 f.</ref> This was the same region where Chinese historical texts claim the Romans first landed before venturing further into China to conduct diplomacy.<ref name="young 2001 p 29">Gary K. Young (2001), ''Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC - AD 305'', London & New York: Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-24219-3}}, p. 29.</ref><ref name="halsall 2000"/>

Chinese histories offer descriptions of Byzantine coins. In discussing trade [[Sino-Indian relations|with India]], the [[Parthian Empire]] and the Roman Empire, the ''[[Book of Jin]]'', as well as the later ''[[Wenxian Tongkao]]'', noted how ten ancient Roman silver coins were worth one Roman gold coin.<ref name="halsall 2000"/> With fluctuations, the Roman golden ''[[aureus]]'' was worth about twenty-five silver ''[[denarius|denarii]]''.<ref>John Pike. (last modified 11 July 2011). "[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spqr/money.htm Roman Money]". ''Globalsecurity.org''. Accessed 15 September 2016.</ref> The ''[[History of Song (Yuan dynasty)|History of Song]]'' notes how the Byzantines made coins of either silver or gold, [[Ancient Chinese coinage#early round coins|without holes in the middle]] yet with an inscription of the king's name.<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

==Law and order==
{{Further|Roman law|Byzantine law}}
[[File:Roman Lictor Clothes.png|thumb|upright| An 1860 sketch depicting a Roman [[lictor]], a bodyguard for [[Roman magistrate]]s]]

The ''[[History of Song (Yuan dynasty)|History of Song]]'' described forms of punishment in criminal law as they were carried out in ''Daqin'' ([[Roman Empire]]) and ''Fulin'' (Byzantine Empire). It states that they made a distinction between minor and major offenses, with 200 strikes from a bamboo rod being reserved for major crimes.<ref name="halsall 2000"/> It described their form of [[capital punishment]] as having the guilty person being stuffed into a "feather bag" and thrown into the sea.<ref name="halsall 2000"/> This seems to correspond with the Romano-Byzantine punishment of ''[[poena cullei]]'' (from [[Latin language|Latin]] "punishment of the sack"), where those who committed [[parricide]] (i.e. murder of a father or mother) were sewn into a sack, sometimes with wild animals, and thrown into either a river or sea.<ref>Richard A. Bauman (2005), ''Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome'', London & New York: Routledge, reprint of 1996 edition, {{ISBN|0-203-42858-7}}, p. 23.</ref> The ''History of Song'' also mentioned how it was forbidden by law to [[counterfeit]] the coins minted by ''Fulin''.<ref name="halsall 2000"/> These descriptions from the ''History of Song'' are also found in the ''[[Wenxian Tongkao]]''.<ref name="halsall 2000"/>

==Naming conventions==
{{Further|Chinese name|Chinese surname|Roman naming conventions}}

In the [[Twenty-Four Histories|Chinese histories]], the [[Roman naming conventions|names of Romans and Byzantines]] were often [[Transliteration|transliterated]] into [[History of the Chinese language|Chinese]] as they were heard, yet occasionally the [[surname]] stemmed from their country of origin, ''Daqin'' (大秦). For instance, the Roman merchant Qin Lun (秦論), who visited the [[Eastern Wu]] court of [[Sun Quan]] in 226 AD, bears the surname derived from the name for his homeland, while having a [[given name]] that is perhaps derived from the [[Greek name]] [[Leon (given name)|Leon]] (e.g. [[Leon of Sparta]]).<ref name="hill 2004 webpage">{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |title=The Peoples of the West from the Weilue'' 魏略 ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265, Quoted in zhuan 30 of the Sanguozhi, Published in 429 CE |first=Huan |last=Yu |editor=John E. Hill |translator=John E. Hill |website=Depts.washington.edu |date=September 2004 |access-date=2016-09-17 |archive-date=2005-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050315032618/http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the [[Eastern Han Chinese|Han-era stage of the spoken language]] intermediate between [[Old Chinese]] and [[Middle Chinese]], the pronunciation for his given name "Lun" (論) would have sounded quite different from [[Standard Chinese|modern spoken Mandarin]]: K. 470b ''*li̯wən'' / ''li̯uĕn'' or ''*lwən'' / ''luən''; [[Historical Chinese phonology#Periodization of Chinese|EMC]] ''lwən'' or ''lwənh''.<ref name="hill 2004 webpage"/>

Granting Roman individuals the surname "Qin" followed a common Chinese naming convention for foreign peoples. For instance, people from the [[Parthian Empire]] of [[ancient Persia]] such as [[An Shigao]] were often given the [[An (surname)|surname "An"]] (安) derived from ''Anxi'' (安息), the [[Arsaces I of Parthia|Arsacid dynasty]]. The [[Sogdia]]ns, an [[Eastern Iranian people]] from [[Central Asia]], were also frequently given the surname "An" (e.g. [[Li Baoyu|An Chongzhang]]), especially those from [[Bukhara]], while [[Sogdia|Sogdians]] from [[Samarkand]] were surnamed [[Kang (Chinese surname)|"Kang"]] (康; e.g. [[Kang Senghui]]), derived from ''[[Kangju]]'', the Chinese term for [[Transoxiana]].<ref>Hansen, Valerie (2012), ''The Silk Road: A New History'', Oxford University Press, p. 98, {{ISBN|978-0-19-993921-3}}.</ref><ref>Galambos, Imre (2015), "She Association Circulars from Dunhuang", in Antje Richter, ''A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture'', Brill: Leiden, Boston, p. 872.</ref><ref>Hill, John E. (2015) Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. CreateSpace, North Charleston, South Carolina. {{ISBN|978-1500696702}}, note 2.17, p. 183.</ref><ref>For information on [[Kang Senghui]], see: Tai Thu Nguyen (2008). ''The History of Buddhism in Vietnam''. CRVP. pp. 36-. {{ISBN|978-1-56518-098-7}}.</ref> The name given for either [[Antoninus Pius]] or [[Marcus Aurelius|Marcus Aurelius Antoninus]] in the Chinese histories was "An Dun" (安敦).<ref name="de crespigny 2007 600"/><ref group="note">The surname "An" (安) used here for the surname of [[Marcus Aurelius|Marcus Aurelius Antoninus]] is the same as the aforementioned surname used for [[Parthia]]ns and [[Sogdia]]ns.</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Politics|China|History|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Christianity in China]]
* [[Church of the East in China]]
* [[Daqin Pagoda]]
* [[Europeans in Medieval China]]
* [[Foreign relations of imperial China]]
* [[Michael Shen Fu-Tsung]], Chinese visitor to Europe in the 17th century
* [[Nestorian Stele]] (Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin)
* [[History of the Han dynasty]]
* [[Serica|Seres]] and [[Serica]], Latin Roman words for Chinese and China, respectively; see also ''[[Sinae]]''
* [[Sino-Roman relations]]
* [[Zhang Qian]], Western-Han Chinese explorer of Central Asia during the 2nd century BC

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Bauman, Richard A. (2005). ''Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome''. London & New York: Routledge, reprint of 1996 edition, {{ISBN|0-203-42858-7}}.
* Ball, Warwick (2016). ''Rome in the East: Transformation of an Empire'', 2nd edition, London & New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-415-72078-6}}.
* Bretschneider, Emil (2000) [1888]. ''Medieval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century'', Vol. 1, reprint edition. Abingdon: Routledge.
* Brosius, Maria (2006). ''The Persians: An Introduction''. London & New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-32089-5}}.
* Foster, John (1939). ''The Church in T'ang Dynasty''. Great Britain: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
* Galambos, Imre (2015). "She Association Circulars from Dunhuang", in Antje Richter, ''A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture''. Leiden & Boston: Brill.
* Garthwaite, Gene Ralph (2005). ''The Persians''. Oxford & Carlton: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd., {{ISBN|1-55786-860-3}}.
* Grant, R. G. (2005). ''Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat''. DK Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-7566-1360-0}}.
* Hansen, Valerie (2012). ''The Silk Road: A New History, Oxford: Oxford University Press''. {{ISBN|978-0-19-993921-3}}.
* Haw, Stephen G. (2006). ''Marco Polo's China: a Venetian in the Realm of Kublai Khan''. London & New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-34850-1}}.
* Hill, John E. (2004). ''The Peoples of the West from the Weilue'' 魏略 ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265.'' Draft annotated English translation. [http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050315032618/http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |date=2005-03-15 }}
* {{cite book |title=Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE|year=2009|first=John E.|last=Hill|publisher=BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-4392-2134-1}}
* {{cite web|orig-year=1885|date=2000|author=Hirth, Friedrich|author-link=Friedrich Hirth|editor=Jerome S. Arkenberg|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/romchin1.html|title=East Asian History Sourcebook: Chinese Accounts of Rome, Byzantium and the Middle East, c. 91 B.C.E. - 1643 C.E.|publisher=[[Fordham University]]|website=Fordham.edu|access-date=2016-09-10|archive-date=2014-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910050947/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/romchin1.html|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book |author=Hirth, Friedrich |author-link=Friedrich Hirth |title=China and the Roman Orient: Researches Into Their Ancient and Mediaeval Relations as Represented in Old Chinese Records |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dk4uAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66 |orig-year=1885 |year=1939 |location=Leipzig, Munich, Shanghai, & Hong Kong |publisher=Georg Hirth; Kelly & Walsh |isbn=9780524033050 |edition=reprint }} 
* Jenkins, Philip (2008). ''The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia – and How It Died.'' New York: HarperCollins. {{ISBN|978-0-06-147280-0}}.
* Lieu, Samuel N.C. (2013). "The 'Romanitas' of the Xi'an Inscription," in Li Tang and Deitmer W. Winkler (eds), ''From the Oxus to the Chinese Shores: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia''. Zürich & Berlin: Lit Verlag. {{ISBN|978-3-643-90329-7}}.
* Luttwak, Edward. (1 November 2009). ''The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire''. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-03519-5}}.
* Mawer, Granville Allen (2013). "The Riddle of Catigara" in Robert Nichols and Martin Woods (eds), ''Mapping Our World: Terra Incognita to Australia'', 38–39. Canberra: National Library of Australia. {{ISBN|9780642278098}}.
* Osborne, Milton (2006) [2000]. ''The Mekong: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future''. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, revised edition. {{ISBN|1-74114-893-6}}.
* Ostrovsky, Max (2007). ''Y = Arctg X: the Hyperbola of the World Order''. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Plymouth: University Press of America. {{ISBN|0-7618-3499-0}}.
* Sezgin, Fuat; Carl Ehrig-Eggert; Amawi Mazen; E. Neubauer (1996). نصوص ودراسات من مصادر صينية حول البلدان الاسلامية. Frankfurt am Main: Institut für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften (Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University).
* Wood, Frances(2002). ''The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-24340-4}}.
* Young, Gary K. (2001). ''Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy, 31 BC - AD 305''. London & New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-24219-3}}.
* Yü, Ying-shih. (1986). "Han Foreign Relations," in Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe (eds), ''The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220'', 377–462. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-24327-8}}.
* [[Yule, Henry]] (1886). ''Cathay and the Way Thither''. Downloaded 22/12/04 from: http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-b-2/V-1/ and http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-b-2/V-2/.
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
*Leslie, D. D., Gardiner, K. H. J.: "The Roman Empire in Chinese Sources", ''Studi Orientali'', Vol. 15. Rome: Department of Oriental Studies, University of Rome, 1996
*Pulleyblank, Edwin G.: "The Roman Empire as Known to Han China", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 119, No. 1 (1999), pp.&nbsp;71–79

== External links ==
* [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html#sec11 Accounts of Daqin] in the Chinese history of the Later Han [[Hou Hanshu]]
* [https://h-ria.pl/changan-obecnie-xian/ Chang'an the ancient capital of China]

{{Ancient Rome}}

[[Category:Foreign relations of ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Historical Chinese exonyms]]
[[Category:History of Christianity in China]]
[[Category:History of the foreign relations of China]]
[[Category:China-Roman Empire relations]]