https://jis.ut.ac.ir/ Western Superpower in Chinese Viewpoints: Arsacid Territory in Chinese Historical Sources Kolsoum Ghazanfari 1 | Amin Babadi 2 1. Corresponding Author, Assistant Professor of History, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Email: k.ghazanfari@ut.ac.ir 2. PhD student of ancient Iranian history, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Email: Aminabdalbadadi69@gmail.com Article Info. Abstract Received: 2022/06/21 Accepted: 2023/02/05 Primary Chinese sources are considered important for studying Parthian history. The Parthian Empire came to power almost simultaneously with the Han Empire and had political, economic, ... relations with it. Therefore, this government has been considered by Chinese sources. The geographical scope of this government, especially in the eastern regions, is one of the issues addressed in these sources, and due to the lack of resources in this period, it can be very useful in explaining this issue and completing the report of Western sources. In the present study, the main question is what range of territory do Chinese sources draw for the Parthians, and what was the Parthian share in this illustration? Our study shows that information from Chinese sources about the Parthian territory is valuable, especially for the eastern borders. The Parthians, on the other hand, seem to have sought to portray their territory as larger than it was in the eyes of the Chinese by defining themselves as the sole superpower of the West, while excluding the Romans from international political and economic relations. Keywords: Parthian Empire, Chinese Sources, Han Empire, Indo- Parthian State, Balkh, Kushan Empire. How To Cite: Ghazanfari, Kolsoum; Babadi, Amin (2023). Western Superpower in Chinese Viewpoints: Arsacid Territory in Chinese Historical Sources. Journal of Iranian Studies, 12(2), 101-123. Publisher: University of Tehran Press. Print ISSN: 2252-0643 Online ISSN: 2676-4601 10.22059/JIS.2022.344823.1123 doi Research Paper Vol. 12, No. 2, Autumn & Winter 2022-2023, 101-123