The Chinese characters for Anxi.

Anxi (Chinese: 安息; Pinyin: ānxī) is the ancient Chinese name for Parthia. Anxi was described by the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian who visited the neighbouring countries of Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BC, making the first known Chinese report on Parthia. In Chinese the name "Anxi" (pronounced anshiak in Tang Dynasty Chinese) is a transliteration of the name Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid Dynasty of Parthia. Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Parthia[1] (Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was a civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, the Persian Gulf... Zhang Qian taking leave from emperor Han Wudi, for his expedition to Central Asia from 138 to 126 BCE, Mogao Caves mural, 618-712 CE. Zhang Qian was an imperial envoy in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Han Dynasty. ... Bactria, about 320 BC Bactria (Bactriana, Bākhtar in Persian, also Bhalika in Arabic and Indian languages, and Ta-Hia in Chinese) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra or Balhika or Bokhdi (now... Sogdiana, ca. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC - 120s BC - 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC Years: 131 BC 130 BC 129 BC 128 BC 127 BC - 126 BC - 125 BC 124 BC... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... Coin of Arsaces I. The reverse shows a seated archer carrying a bow. ... Iran Under the Arsacid Dynasty. ...

Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization, which he equates to those of Dayuan (in Ferghana) and Daxia (in Bactria): The Ta-Yuan (in Ferghana) was one of the three advanced civilizations of Central Asia around 130 BCE, together with Parthia and Greco-Bactria (Han Shu, Former Han Chinese Chronicles). ... Fergana is a city in the Fergana Valley, capital of the Fargona Viloyati of Uzbekistan. ... Ideograms for Ta-Hia. ... Bactria, about 320 BC Bactria (Bactriana, Bākhtar in Persian, also Bhalika in Arabic and Indian languages, and Ta-Hia in Chinese) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus); its capital, Bactra or Balhika or Bokhdi (now...

"Anxi is situated several thousand li west of the region of the Great Yuezhi (in Transoxonia). The people are settled on the land, cultivating the fields and growing rice and wheat. They also make wine out of grapes. They have walled cities like the people of Dayuan (Ferghana), the region contains several hundred cities of various sizes. The coins of the country are made of silver and bear the face of the king. When the king dies, the currency is immediately changed and new coins issued with the face of his successor. The people keep records by writing on horizontal strips of leather. To the west lies Tiaozi (Mesopotamia) and to the north Yancai and Lixuan (Hyrcania)." (Shiji, 123, Zhang Qian quote, trans. Burton Watson). Li: A Chinese unit of distance, 里 (Lǐ), a li is equal to 500 metres, or about 1/3 mile. ... Languages Unknown, although the epigraphy ranges from Greek language to Bactrian, and often considered to have spoken a Tocharian language. ... Transoxiana (sometimes also spelled Transoxania) is the now-largely obsolete name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan and southwest Kazakhstan. ... Gorgan (گرگان); Hyrcania ; Hyrcana (Old Persian Varkâna, land of wolves; modern Persian Gorgan): part of the ancient Persian empire, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea (present day Golestan, Mazandaran, Gilan and parts of Turkmenistan). ... The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor until his own time. ...