[Ch’ang-an], Capital of the Western Han dynasty in China and, moved to a site just southeast of the Han city, of the Tang dynasty; the modem city of Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, occupies the latter site. In the Tang period, Chang’an was the eastern terminus of the Silk Route and one of the world’s great cities, its walls enclosing an area of 84 square kilometres. The site of the Qin capital Xianyang is near Xi’an, and the Western Zhou capitals Feng and Hao are supposed to have been in this area as well, possibly lying within the boundaries of the modem Chang’an district southwest of Xi’an (see Zhangjiapo, Kexingzhuang).
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied