Liqian village

Liqian (Chinese: 骊靬 Pinyin: líqián) is a defunct county in today's northern province of Gansu in China. The ancient Liqian city is situated in a village called Zhelaizhai today. [

[http://www.gs.xinhuanet.com/dfpd/2006-11/18/content_8554114.htm 古罗马人在中国河西的来龙去脉]

]

cite news
first = Richard
last = Spencer
title = DNA tests for China's legionary lore
url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/dna-tests-for-chinas-legionary-lore/2007/02/02/1169919531024.html
work = The Sydney Morning Herald
date = 2007-02-03
accessdate = 2007-02-05
language = English]

It is in the northwestern region of China, near the Gobi desert. Some inhabitants of the area have Caucasian-appearing physical traits, such as wider noses, blond or lighter colored hair, blue or green eyes or fairer skin color mixed with their typical Chinese features. In the 20th century, theories have developed suggesting some inhabitants may be descended from Roman legionaries.

In the 1950s, Homer Dubs, a professor of Chinese history at Oxford University was the first to make a connection between Liqian and ancient Rome. He suggested the inhabitants were descendants from a lost Roman army that had been commanded by Marcus Crassus. This army may have wandered eastward, becoming mercenaries who took part in the Battle of Zhizhi between the Chinese and the Huns in 36 B.C.

Cite web
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1541421/Roman-descendants-found-in-China.html
title = Roman descendants found in China?
accessdate = 2008-10-07
publisher = Telegraph Media Group Limited
year = 2007
author = Spencer, Richard
work = Telegraph.co.uk]

Several investigations have been conducted since. Rob Gifford commented on the theory and described it as one of many "rural myths." [Gifford, Rob. '"We Want to Live!".' "China Road". 185.] One DNA study found that: "a Roman mercenary origin could not be accepted as true according to paternal genetic variation, and the current Liqian population is more likely to be a subgroup of the Chinese majority Han."

cite journal
author = Ruixia Zhou, Lizhe An, Xunling Wang, Wei Shao, Gonghua Lin, Weiping Yu, Lin Yi, Shijian Xu, Jiujin Xu and Xiaodong Xie
title = Testing the hypothesis of an ancient Roman soldier origin of the Liqian people in northwest China: a Y-chromosome perspective.
journal = Journal of Human Genetics
year = 2007
volume = 52
issue = 7
page = 584-91
url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/h715lv1315473n16/?p=4f30566206884dd0a04b9d535cb4f459&pi=2]

Geography

The village is located on the edge of the Gobi desert. [cite news
title = Scientists Take DNA from Chinese Villagers in Hopes of Solving Roman Mystery
url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250297,00.html
work = FOXNews.com
date = 2007-02-05
accessdate = 2007-02-05
language = English.] It is rural, the nearest city being 300 kilometres away.

See also

*Crassus's "missing legion"

References