Lin Meicun argued that the present
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...
(), a
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
oasis town, was founded around 111 BC, that is, later than the report of
Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian (; died c. 114 BC) was a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and politician who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the late 2nd century BC during the Western Han dynasty. He was one of the first official diploma ...
on the Yuezhi (126 BC). Therefore, the Dunhuan referred to in the ''Shiji'' cannot be the city currently bearing that name, and is most likely an oasis near
Turpan
Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the ...
.
Place names such Dunhong and Qilian may have had
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...
etymologies, from at two possible sources. For example:
* Lin Meicun suggested that ''Dunhuan'' is the Chinese spelling of ''
Tushara'' (an
Eastern Iranian people), and;
* Victor Mair noted the word ''kaelum'' in the
Tocharian languages
The Tocharian (sometimes ''Tokharian'') languages ( ; ), also known as the ''Arśi-Kuči'', Agnean-Kuchean or Kuchean-Agnean languages, are an extinct branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by inhabitants o ...
of the Tarim Basin, meaning "sky" or "heaven" (and therefore related distantly to the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''caelum'') which may have been the basis of ''qilian''.
According to a Tang Dynasty commentator on the ''Shiji'', ''qilian'' was a
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...
word for "sky" – although Xiongnu may also have borrowed the word from an Indo-European language.
References
*K. Enoki, G.A. Koshelenko and Z. Haidary, "The Yueh-chih and their migrations" in "History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II - The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250" eds. Janos Harmatta, B.N. Puri, and G.F. Etemadi, UNESCO Publishing, p. 171f.
*Lin Meicun, "The Western Region of the Han-Tang Dynasties and the Chinese Civilization", pp. 64–67,
*
Liu, Xinru, “Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies,”
Journal of World History 12, no. 2, p. 26
*Barber, "The Mummies of Urumchi", pp. 122 – 123, p. 220,
*Victor Mair, "Reflections on the Origins of the Modern Standard Name 'Dunhuang,'" in Li Zheng et al., eds., Ji Xianlin Jiaoshou Huadan Jinian Wenji (Essays for the eightieth birthday of Professor
Ji Xianlin
Ji Xianlin (; August 6, 1911 – July 11, 2009) was a Chinese Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian and writer who has been honored by the governments of both India and China. Ji was proficient in many languages including Chinese, San ...
), vol. 2, p. 933.
{{coord missing, Xinjiang
Mountains of Xinjiang