Liqian: The Chinese town founded by Roman legionnaires

Three months ago, I started to learn a bit more about China’s ancient history as a part of writing the article on travelling to the Henan Province, as I sometimes do. At one point, I started to branch out and ended up reading articles about other things: first of all on the Silk Road, and from there, Sino-Roman relations and in the end, I ended up finding a curious article on a lost little town called Liqian.

Today’s article discusses this little town, where history is mixed with legends as well as political and economical interests, something which happens all the time in the middle kingdom.

What is Liqian?

Liqian (骊靬), currently known as Zhelaizhai (者來寨), is a small rural town in the Gansu province on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Liqian is located at more than 300 km from Lanzhou, the capital, and more than 60 km from the closest city, which is called Jinchang (金昌市).

This lost town in western China became famous thanks to a theory formulated in the 40′s by the Chinese history professor at the University of Oxford, Homer H. Dubs, who attributed a Roman origin to it.

Roman origin theory

Before explaining Professor Dubs’ theory/story, I would like to briefly present its main actors:

The Romans: I don’t think they need to be presented.

The Chinese: of the Han dynasty: Do I need to say anything more?

The Parthians: Also known as the ancient Persians, they formed a powerful empire which bordered on the Roman Empire and Han China, and because of this, controlled the Silk Road.

The Xiongnu: A confederation of nomadic tribes known in the west as the Huns, which extended across all of northern China including Mongolia, Manchuria, the south of Siberia and part of the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu.

This is how the story goes (my version):

Around the year 58 A.D. the richest man in Rome, Marcus Licinius Crassus, who formed part of the Roman triumvirate with the no less illustrious Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, decided to start a war, without the authorization of the senate, against the annoying Parthians who were making a killing on the trade on the Silk Road. In other words, Crassus wanted to kill the intermediary.

Crassus launched a powerful army of around 50,000 men towards Mesopotamia. What Crassus didn’t expect was that the Parthians had an army of horseback archers which was very effective against the Roman legions. The result of the war was a massacre and one of the most humiliating defeats of Rome. The Parthians killed 20,000 Roman soldiers, including Crassus and his son, and captured 10,000 more in what is called the Battle of Carrhae.

The destiny of the 10,000 legionnaires which were taken prisoner remains a mystery, and because of this, they are called the Lost Legion. Nonetheless, it is believed that they were sent to protect the eastern border of the Parthian Empire (in what is now Turkmenistan).
Source: http://www.saporedicina.com/english/liqian-the-chinese-town-founded-by-roman-legionnaires/