China and Bactria during the reign of Emperor Wu in written tradition and in archaeology

Interaction between Hellenistic Bactria and its successors on the one side and China on the other remains difficult to trace. Central Asian archaeology has so far provided little indication of an influx of Chinese objects, and the extant Western written sources say next to nothing about the eastern neighbours of the Bactrians. Chinese sources highlight a brief episode of intense interaction taking place during the last decades of the second century BC but remain silent on the period when Hellenistic culture in Central Asia was at its height during the preceding two centuries. The results of archaeology in China to some extent support the story line given in the Shiji about the intensification of contacts during the reign of Emperor Wu, but further indicate exchange with Central Asia had emerged earlier, beginning already in the third century BC and continuing through the Han period. The current discussion offers a new perspective on the contents of Chapter 123 of the Shiji.