Editing Dunhuang (section)

===Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties===
[[File:Summer Vacation 2007, 263, Watchtower In The Morning Light, Dunhuang, Gansu Province.jpg|thumb|left|The ruins of a [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 220 AD) Chinese [[watchtower]] made of [[rammed earth]] at Dunhuang.]]
There is evidence of habitation in the area as early as 2,000 BC, possibly by people recorded as the [[Qiang (historical people)|Qiang]] in Chinese history. According to [[Zuo Zhuan]] and [[Book of the Later Han]], the Dunhuang region was a part of the ancient Guazhou, which was known for its production of melons.<ref>{{cite book |title=Book of the Later Han|chapter=5 |url=https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/%E5%BE%8C%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8 |quote=古瓜州，出美瓜。}}</ref> Its name was also mentioned in relation to the homeland of the [[Yuezhi]] in the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]''. Some have argued that this may refer to the unrelated [[toponymy|toponym]] [[Dunhong]] – the archaeologist Lin Meicun has also suggested that ''Dunhuan'' may be a Chinese name for the [[Tukhara]], a people widely believed to be a Central Asian offshoot of the Yuezhi.<ref>Lin Meicun (1998 ), ''The Western Regions of the Han–Tang Dynasties and the Chinese Civilization'' [Chinese language only], Beijing, Wenwu Chubanshe, pp.&nbsp;64–67.</ref>