John Hill's eagerly awaited second edition - in two volumes - of the annotated translation of the Hou Hanshu - renamed Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome - has been extensively revised. The book grew so big that it had to be published in two volumes. Readers will require both volumes. � Volume I includes the original Chinese text, a detailed introduction, maps and comprehensive notes to the text. � Volume II has 26 appendices which highlight extra fascinating information of special interest - such as Rhinoceroses, the Story of Sea-silk and the Significance and Use of Skull Cups - and the comprehensive bibliography. This updated, definitive English translation of the complete Chronicle on the Western Regions from the Hou Hanshu, presents an intriguing picture of this little-known period of history. It describes the origins of the Silk Routes using information collected from soldiers, merchants, envoys and spies. The text is based on the report to the Chinese Emperor An, circa 125 CE, by Ban Yong, his senior general in the Western Regions. The Chronicle contains the earliest geographical, historical, political, economic and cultural information in Chinese about the Roman Empire, Egypt, India, Parthia and many other kingdoms, and also describes the routes between East and West. Along these arteries travelled people, cultures, languages, philosophies, religions, technologies, animals, plants, countless precious and rare trade items, and the knowledge of distant places. These exchanges were critical for the development and flowering of the great civilizations of China, Rome, Parthia, the Kushans and India, and unquestionably laid the foundations of modern globalisation. The first edition of this work received critical acclaim from scholars world-wide and is widely quoted in academic works. This much expanded second edition should prove to be an even more useful guide and source-book on the early history of the Silk Routes. "This treasure house of remarkable facts and speculations should appeal to both scholars and the curious."

A generously annotated translation from the Hou Hanshu giving details on the Silk Routes connecting China, India, Central Asia and the Roman Empire in the 2nd Century.

Rome and China provides an updated history and analysis of contacts and mutual influence between two of ancient Eurasia’s most prominent imperial powers, Rome and China. It highlights the extraordinary interconnectivity of ancient Eurasia which allowed for actual contacts between Rome and China (however fleeting) and examines in detail the influences from both ends of Eurasia which had cultural and political consequences for both Rome and China. This volume will be of interest to anyone working on the Roman Empire, Inner Asia, the Silk Routes and China in the Classical and Late Antique periods.

Similar in size and in duration, the Chinese and the Roman empires ruled half the world's population at the time of their co-existence. But what did they know about each other? In China and the Roman Orient Friedrich Hirth uses linguistic, geographical and historical analysis of ancient Chinese records to reconstruct the ancient trade routes used by the Chinese and to show what knowledge they had of the Roman Empire. His careful research on the original Chinese sources also tells us much about the geography, history and commerce of the period. China and the Roman Orient quickly established itself as a landmark work. It remains an important and much cited work but is now scarce. This new edition contains a new introduction by leading contemporary scholar Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, USA

A critical new interpretation of the early history of Chinese civilization based on the most recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries.

Studies the complex system of trade exchanges and commerce that profoundly changed Roman society.

For a long time, the idea of China as a culture and society which was voluntarily secluding itself from the rest of the world was dominant. But, in reality, China has always been part of the world, just as the world has always sought to penetrate China. The relationship between China and the world was, in the past, sometimes smooth, and at other times it was difficult, but nevertheless the bond remained alive. This collection presents an analysis of China from a global perspective within a broad temporal and spatial spectrum. It reveals the early relations established between the Roman Empire and China, the dynamics developed with the countries of the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and Japan, and the gradual path of Europeans and Americans towards China. The book reviews the development of diplomatic relations, the signing of agreements and alliances, and the rise and resolution of conflicts. It also analyses the forging of economic relations, the establishment of commercial exchanges and the creation of companies, professional bodies and institutions of collaboration.