Shanshan

Shanshan (Chinese: 鄯善; pinyin: Shànshàn; Uyghur: پىچان‎, ULY: Pichan, UYY: Piqan^?) was a kingdom located at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert near the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as kroran. It was previously known as Loulan Kingdom, but was renamed Pichan after the king of kroran was assassinated by a Chinese envoy in 77 BCE, and thereafter existed intermittently as a puppet state of China.

Location

The kingdom of Pichan included the strategic walled town of Kroran (or Loulan) near the northwest corner of Lop Nur, next to the then outflow of the Tarim River into Lop Nur (40° 9’ N, 89° 5’ E). The site of Kroran covered about 10.8 hectares (27 acres) with a Buddhist pagoda about 10 metres (33 feet) high, numerous houses, and irrigation ditches. It also include Charklik which is located near the modern town of Ruoqiang to the south-west of Lop Nur. It also includes the kingdoms of Cherchen (Pichan has been suggested as the origin of the name "Cherchen," now Qiemo), as well as Niya further to the south-west.

Shanshan (disambiguation)

Shanshan may refer to:

Places

People

Films

See also