Yancai Explained

Yancai (< LHC *ʔɨam^A-sɑ^C < OC (125 BCE) *ʔɨam-sɑs, a.k.a. 闔蘇 Hésū < *ĥa̱p-sa̱ĥ; compare also Latin Abzoae^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}) was the Chinese name of an ancient nomadic state centered near the Aral Sea during the Han dynasty period (206 BC—220 AD). They are generally considered to have been an Iranian people of the Sarmatian group. After becoming vassals of the Kangju in the 1st century BC, Yancai became known as Alan . Yancai 奄蔡 is often connected to the Aorsi of Roman records,^[6] while 阿蘭 Alan has been connected to the later Alans.

History

Yancai is first mentioned in Chapter 123 of the Shiji (whose author, Sima Qian, died c. 90 BC), based on the travels of 2nd century BC Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian:

The people of Yancai are usually considered an Iranian people of the Sarmatian group. They are often connected to the Aorsi of Roman records, who dominated the area between the Don and the Aral Sea and were both a wealthy mercantile people and a powerful military force. According to Chinese sources, Yancai belonged to the northern part of the Silk Route, known as the Northern Route. The Chinese sent embassies to Yancai and actively promoted trading relations.

The Later Han dynasty Chinese chronicle, the Hou Hanshu, 88 (covering the period 25–220 and completed in the 5th century), mentioned a report that Yancai was now as vassal state of the Kangju known as Alanliao:

Y. A. Zadneprovskiy writes that the subjection of Yancai by the Kangju occurred in the 1st century BC. The westward expansion of the Kangju obliged many of the Sarmatians to migrate westwards, and this contributed significantly to the Migration Period in Europe, which played a major role in world history. The name Alanliao has been connected by modern scholars with that of the Alans.

Yancai is last mentioned in the 3rd century Weilüe:

In the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Alans emerged as the dominant people of the Sarmatians either through conquering or absorbing other tribes. At this time they migrated westwards to Southern Russia and frequently raided the Parthian and Roman Empire.

See also

• Yuezhi
• Wusun
• Xiongnu
• Dayuan
• List of ancient Iranian peoples

References

Sources

• Book: Brzezinski . Richard . Mielczarek . Mariusz . 2002 . The Sarmatians, 600 BC-AD 450 . . 184176485X . 7 June 2015 .
• Book: Zadneprovskiy, Y. A. . The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After The Invasion of Alexander . Harmatta . János . János Harmatta . 1 January 1994 . History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civilizations, 700 B. C. to A. D. 250 . . 457–472 . 9231028464 . 7 June 2015 .
• Hill, John E. 2015. Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. 2nd Edition. Volume I. CreateSpace. Charleston, S.C.

Notes and References

1. Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes on Hàn Period Transcriptions of Foreign Names and Words" (PDF). Studies in Chinese and Sino-Tibetan Linguistics: Dialect, Phonology, Transcription and Text. Language and Linguistics Monograph Series. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica (53). p. 268
2. [Hanshu]
3. Yu. Taishan. A Study of Saka History. Sino-Platonic Papers. 80. July 1998. Yan Shigu's 顏師古 commentary says: "Hu Guang 胡廣 adds: "Some 1,000 li to the north of Kangju was a state named Yancai, which also was named Hesu. Hence Hesu was identical with Yancai." This shows that the Yancai were also called the Hesu in the Han times..
4. [Pliny the Elder]
5. Hulsewé. A. F .P. (1979) China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC - AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. p. 129, n. 316. cited in John E. Hill. Translator's Notes 25.3 & 25.4 to draft translation of Yu Huan's Weilüe. quote: "Chavannes (1905), p. 558, note 5, approves of the identification of Yen-ts’ai with the ‘Αορσοι mentioned by Strabo, as proposed by Hirth (1885), p. 139, note 1 ; he believes this identification to be strengthened by the later name Alan, which explains Ptolemy’s “Alanorsi”. Marquart (1905), pp. 240-241, did not accept this identification, but Pulleyblank (1963), pp. 99 and 220, does, referring for additional support to HSPC 70.6b where the name Ho-su 闔蘇, reconstructed in ‘Old Chinese’ as ĥa̱p-sa̱ĥ, can be compared with Abzoae found in Pliny VI, 38 (see also Pulleyblank (1968), p. 252). Also Humbach (1969), pp. 39-40, accepts the identification, though with some reserve."
6. [Yu Huan]