Shā chē (English spelling)

Japanese: 莎車 - さしゃ（英語表記）Shā chē

A country in the Western Regions of China during the Han and Wei periods. It appears in the Wei Shu as the Qusha Kingdom. It corresponds to Yarkand (Yerqiang) in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Its current population is about 45,000. It is an oasis city located in the Yarkand River basin, and was already known in China around the time of Christ as a producer of sapphire with a population of 16,373, and as a key location on the Silk Road leading from China to the Yuezhi and Anshan. However, since it was located between two powerful oasis cities, Kashgar in the west and Khotan in the east, it often became subordinate to one of them after that.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中国，漢･魏時代の西域の一国。《魏書》には渠沙国として見える。新疆ウイグル自治区のヤルカンド(葉爾羌)にあたる。現在の人口は約4万5000。ヤルカンド川流域に位置するオアシス都市で，すでに紀元前後の中国に，人口1万6373を擁する青玉の産地，中国より大月氏，安息に向かうシルクロード上の要地として知られる。しかし西のカシュガル，東のホータンという二つの有力なオアシス都市の中間に位置したため，以後はそのいずれかに服属することが多かった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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