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northward of the Celestial Mountains, the other southward, and both converging at Turfan, whence the chief towns of northern China in Shansi and Shensi were reached by a single route through the mountains on the confines of the present Kansuh,—the Pass of Kia-yuh. China up to that time had been divided into two empires, a northern with its metropolis at Hsian, and a southern with its metropolis at Nanking. There is some reason—not quite conclusive, however—to believe that southern China also had tradal relations with the Roman Empire through Burma, but no oversea route had yet been opened, nor does it appear that the northern Chinese possessed any direct knowledge of the Occident beyond Parthia, or the southern Chinese any beyond the confines of Burma. At the close of the second century before the Christian era—by which time the whole Empire of China had passed under one sceptre—there was a considerable access of information, for in the north, Khotan, the Pamirs, and Kokand having been annexed, the Chinese learned the situations of Parthia, Mesopotamia, and even Syria, which widening of their horizon was shortly followed by acquaintance with the Greek dynasties of Bactria and Afghanistan. Practically at the same time (110–109 B. C.) the provinces of Szechuan and Yunnan having been overrun by the armies of northern China and the Empire having acquired a continuous seaboard from Canton to the Gulf