Note 1 — Chapter I · FROM CHʽANG-GAN TO THE SANDY DESERT.
James Legge translation
Chʽang-gan is still the name of the principal district (and its city) in the department of Se-gan, Shen-se. It had been the capital of the first empire of Han (B.C. 202–A.D. 24), as it subsequently was that of Suy (A.D. 589–618). The empire of the eastern Tsin, towards the close of which Fâ-hien lived, had its capital at or near Nanking, and Chʽang-gan was the capital of the principal of the three Tsʽin kingdoms, which, with many other minor ones, maintained a semi-independence of Tsin, their rulers sometimes even assuming the title of emperor.