Zihe — Mediated Wiki

'''Zihe''' ({{zh|c=子合|w=Tzu-ho}})<ref name="hhs_zihe">{{cite wikisource |work=Book of the Later Han |author=Fan Ye |author-link=Fan Ye (historian) |wslanguage=zh |wslink=後漢書/卷88#子合國 | volume=88 | title = 子合國 | trans-title = Kingdom of Zihe }}</ref> is the name of a polity mentioned in ancient Chinese texts. Its exact location is a matter of debate, although it is usually assumed to be in modern south-west Xinjiang.

During the Former Han period (late 1st millennium BCE), Zihe was referred to as controlling the southern Silk Road town of Xiye ({{zh|c=西夜|w=Hsi-yeh}}, later known as Karghilik).<ref>{{cite wikisource |work=Book of Han |author= |wslanguage=zh |wslink=漢書/卷096上#西夜國 | volume=096上 | title = 西夜國 | trans-title = Kingdom of Xiye}}</ref> Xiye was also mentioned in the Book of the Later Han (1st and 2nd Centuries CE) as being distinct from Zihe.<ref>"Les pays d'Occident d'après le ''Heou Han chou''." Édouard Chavannes. T'oung Pao 8, (1907) p. 174.</ref><ref>Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the ''Hou Hanshu''." 2nd Draft Edition. [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html]</ref><ref name="hhs_xiye">{{cite wikisource |work=Book of the Later Han |author=Fan Ye |author-link=Fan Ye (historian) |wslanguage=zh |wslink=後漢書/卷88#西夜國 | volume=88 | title = 西夜國 | trans-title = Kingdom of Xiye }}</ref>

Most modern scholars believe that Zihe and Xiye were one and the same.<ref>{{citation |last=Xinjiang |first=Rong |chapter=The Rouran Qaghanate and the Western Regions during the Second Half of the Fifth Century based on a Chinese Document Newly Found in Turfan |editor1=Huaiyu Chen |editor2=Xinjiang Rong |title=Great Journeys across the Pamir Mountains: A Festschrift in Honor of Zhang Guangda on his Eighty-fifth Birthday |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=umZjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 |year=2018 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-36225-3 |pages=74–75}}</ref> The reasons for this include the phonological similarities between the names Xiye and Zihe.

Other sources state that Zihe may be synonymous with Shahidulla (Xaidulla), more than 200 km (120 mi.) south-south-east of Karghilik.<ref>{{Cite book | title = Notes to The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu | author = John E. Hill | section = Section 6 – The Kingdom of Zihe 子合 (modern Shahidulla) | publisher = Washington University | edition = 2nd | date = July 2003 | access-date = 3 February 2020 | url = https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html | section-url = https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/hhshu/notes6.html }}</ref><ref name="chin_Pish">{{Cite web | title = Pishan 皮山 and the states in the Pamir Range | author = Ulrich Theobald | publisher = ChinaKnowledge.de | date = Oct 16, 2011 | access-date = 3 February 2020 | url = http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/pishan.html | quote = During the Later Han period the state fell apart in Xiye proper and the state of Zihe 子合 (modern name Shahidullah). }}</ref> However, this identification is controversial.<ref>{{Cite journal | title = 阚氏高昌王国与柔然、西域的关系 | trans-title = Relations of the Gaochang Kingdom under the Kan Family with the Rouran Qaghanate and the Western Regions during the Second Half of the 5th Century | last = Rong | first = Xinjiang | date = Feb 2007 | access-date = 3 February 2020 | url = http://wenxueyuan.ruc.edu.cn/UploadFile/20170407/20170407085818929041.pdf | language = zh | quote = 子合国在西域南道, 今和田与塔什库尔干之间的叶城县治哈尔噶里克 (Karghalik) | journal = Historical Research | issn = 0459-1909 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=中国古代史|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MLIrAAAAMAAJ|year=1982|publisher=中国人民大学书报资料社|page=54|language=zh|quote=子合的位置应即今日帕米尔高原的小帕米尔东部,塔克敦巴什帕米尔南部地区,东延直至喇斯库穆及密尔岱西南山区一带。}}</ref>

==References== ===Footnotes=== {{reflist}}

Category:Sites along the Silk Road Category:Hotan Prefecture Category:Township-level divisions of Xinjiang