Book of Han, Western Regions

The Han Shu turns Zhang Qian's reports into administrative geography. The Western Regions appear as a named field west of the Xiongnu and south of the Wusun, bounded by passes, mountains, rivers, and the great salt basin.

For the Scythian shelf, the passage matters because it gives the map on which Chinese records place the peoples later compared with Saka, Yuezhi, Wusun, Kangju, and other Central Eurasian powers.

The translation below is from the Classical Chinese text of the Western Regions account.

Translation

The Western Regions first opened communication in the time of Emperor Wu. At first there were thirty-six states; afterward they gradually divided until there were more than fifty. All lay west of the Xiongnu and south of the Wusun.

To the north and south were great mountains, and through the middle there was a river. From east to west the land was more than six thousand li; from north to south, more than one thousand li. On the east it joined Han, constrained by the Yumen and Yangguan passes. On the west it was bounded by the Congling. The southern mountains ran eastward from Jincheng and joined the southern mountains of Han.

The river had two sources: one came from the mountains of Congling, one from Yutian. Yutian lay below the southern mountains. Its river flowed north, joined the river of Congling, and flowed east into Puchang Hai. Puchang Hai, also called the Salt Marsh, was more than three hundred li from Yumen and Yangguan, and was three hundred li in breadth and length. Its waters rested in place and did not increase or diminish in winter or summer. All said it ran hidden underground and came out southward at Jishi, becoming the River of China.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the source text printed below. The English is an independent rendering from the source-language Chinese, with existing public translations used only as controls for difficult or conventional passages.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

🌲

Source Text: Han Shu, Western Regions, Opening Geography

Classical Chinese source text from the Han Shu. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

西域以孝武时始通，本三十六国，其后稍分至五十馀，皆在匈奴之西，乌孙之南。南北有大山，中央有河，东西六千馀里，南北千馀里。东则接汉，厄以玉门、阳关，西则限以葱岭。其南山，东出金城，与汉南山属焉。其河有两原：一出葱岭山，一出于阗。于阗在南山下，其河北流，与葱岭河合，东注蒲昌海。蒲昌海，一名盐泽者也，去玉门、阳关三百馀里，广袤三百里。其水亭居，冬夏不增减，皆以为潜行地下，南出于积石，为中国河云。

Source Colophon

Classical Chinese text inspected from Chinese Text Project, Ban Gu, Han Shu, Western Regions, Part 1, paragraph 1. The source page identifies the digital base as the Wuyingdian Twenty-Four Histories edition of the Han Shu. The English rendering above is newly prepared from the Chinese, with the CTP English display used only as a control.

🌲