Chang’an, the modern Xi’an, was the capital of China under the Han, the Sui and the Tang. The Shiji gives the distance from the Salt Marsh of the Tarim to Chang’an as about five thousand li.[1] The Sogdian Ancient Letters call the city Khumdan. The name renders Xianyang, the capital of the Qin dynasty, as it was then pronounced. Xianyang lay close to Chang’an and was abandoned for it about 200 BC.[2] The Sogdians called the Chinese by a name derived from the Qin. They called China cynstn, the land of the Qin.[3] The names reached them through the peoples of the steppe and of the Tarim at the end of the third or the beginning of the second century BC.[3]
In the eighth century the Sogdians who came with the Uyghur envoys often stayed behind in the capital. Their number approached a thousand.[4] From 807 Manichaeans served as Uyghur ambassadors and traded at Chang’an.[4]
References
Sources
- Sogdian Ancient Letters
- Shiji, juan 123
Literature
- Étienne de la Vaissière, Sogdian Traders: A History (2005)
What links here35
- Persons
- Dieluozhi · Emperor Wuzong of Tang · Emperor Yizong of Tang · Kuhanzhen · Moduo Daguan · Poshi Tegin · Princess Taihe · Tuyuhun Hunye · Wen-wu Alp · Zhenzhu Tong Irkin · Zhu-wu Alp Sol
- States
- Northern Zhou · Uyghur Khaganate · Western Wei · Xiongnu Han
- Battles & Events
- Banquet of the Wine Fountain (647) · Battle of Jingyang (626) · Capture of Ilig Khan (630) · Göktürk Aid to Li Yuan (617) · Ilig Khan's Dance at the Weiyang Palace (633) · Killing of Heshana Khan (619) · Kirghiz Embassies to the Tang (842–848) · Music of Empress Ashina (568) · Rescue of Princess Taihe (840–843) · The Qingmen Executions (555) · The Standoff at Binzhou (624) · The Woye and Luoyang Campaign (564) · Xuanzang's visit to Tong Yabgu
- Religions
- Following in Death
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Chang'an.” Turkic Atlas, revised 22 October 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/places/chang-an/
Last revised: 22 October 2026
