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Zhang Qian (張騫; Wade-Giles Chang Ch'ien) was an imperial envoy to the outside world in the 2nd century BC, during the time of the Han Dynasty. He was the first official diplomat to bring back reliable information about Central Asia to the Chinese imperial court, then under Emperor Wu of Han, and played an important pioneering role in the Chinese colonization and conquest of the region now known as Xinjiang. Today Zhang Qian's travels are associated with the major route of transcontinental trade, the Silk Road. In essence, his missions opened up to China the many kingdoms and products of an unknown and new part of the world. Zhang Qian's accounts of his explorations of Central Asia are detailed in the Early Han historical chronicles ("Records of the Grand Historian" or "Shiji"), compiled by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC . Today Zhang Qian is considered a national hero for the key role he played in opening China to the world of commercial trade.
Zhang Qian's Missions
Zhang Qian was born just east of Hanzhong in the north central province of Shaanxi, China.[1] He entered the capital, Chang'an, today's Xi'an, between 140 BC and 134 BC as a Gentleman (郎), serving Emperor Wu of Han of the Han Dynasty. At the time the nomadic Xiongnu tribes, the name given the Turkic peoples of Central Asia by the Chinese, controlled what is now Inner Mongolia and dominated the Western Regions, Xiyu (西域 ), the areas surrounding the territory of the Han Dynasty. The Han emperor was interested in establishing commercial ties with distant lands but outside contact was prevented by the hostile Xiongnu. The Han court dispatched Zhang Qian, a military officer who was familiar with the Xiongnu, to the Western Regions in 138 BC with a group of ninety-nine members to make contact and build an alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu. He was accompanied by a Xiongnu guide named Ganfu (甘父), a Xiongnu who had been captured in war, who was a skilled archer.[1] The objective of Zhang Qian's first mission was to seek a military alliance with the Yuezhi,[2] in modern Tajikistan. However to get to the territory of the Yuezhi he was forced to pass through land controlled by the Xiongnu who captured him (as well as Ganfu) and enslaved him for ten years.[3] During this time he married a Xiongnu wife and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader. Zhang and Ganfu (as well as Zhang's wife) were eventually able to escape and, passing Lop Nor and following the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, around the Kunlun Mountains and through small fortified areas in the middle of oases in what is now Xinjiang until they made their way to Dayuan and eventually to the land of the Yuezhi. The Yuezhi were agricultural people who produced strong horses and many unknown crops including alfalfa for animal fodder. However, the Yuezhi were too settled to desire war against the Xiongnu. Zhang spent a year in Yuezhi and the adjacent Bactrian territory, documenting their cultures, lifestyles and economy, before beginning his return trip to China, this time following the southern edge of the Tarim Basin.[1] On his return trip he was again captured by the Xiongnu who again spared his life because they valued his sense of duty and composure in the face of death. Two years later the Xiongnu leader died and in the midst of chaos and infighting Zhang Qian escaped. Zhang Qian returned in 125 BC with detailed news for the Emperor, which showed that sophisticated civilizations existed to the West, with which China could advantageously develop relations. The Shiji relates that "the emperor learned of the Dayuan, Daxia, Anxi, and the others, all great states rich in unusual products whose people cultivated the land and made their living in much the same way as the Chinese. All these states, he was told, were militarily weak and prized Han goods and wealth". [4]. Upon Zhang Qian's return to China he was honoured with a position of palace counselor.[5] Although he was unable develop commercial ties between China and these far-off lands, his efforts did eventually result in trade mission to the Wu-sun people in 119 BC which led to trade between China and Persia. On his mission Zhang Qian had noticed products from an area now known as northern India However, the task remained to find a trade route not obstructed by the Xiongnue to India. Zhang Qian set out on a second mission to forge a route from China to India via Sichuan, but after many attempts this effort proved unsuccessful. In 115 BC Zhang Qian was sent on a third mission by the emperor, to develop ties with the Wusun people living southeast of Lake Balkhash in what is now theIli Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture.[1] Zhang Qian's reportsThe reports of Zhang Qian's travels are quoted extensively in the 1st century BC Chinese historic chronicles "Records of the Great Historian" (Shiji) by Sima Qian. Zhang Qian visited directly the kingdom of Dayuan in Ferghana, the territories of the Yuezhi in Transoxiana, the Bactrian country of Daxia with it remnants of Greco-Bactrian rule, and Kangju (康居). He also made reports on neighbouring countries that he did not visit, such as Anxi (Parthia), Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia), Shendu (India) and the Wusun. Dayuan (Ferghana)
Zhang Qian starts with a report on the first country he visited (after his captivity among the Xiongnu), Dayuan, in Ferghana, west of the Tarim Basin. They are considered by him as sophisticated urban dwellers, on the same footing as the Parthian and the Bactrians. The name Dayuan (meaning Great Yuan), may be a transliteration of the word Yona used to designate Greeks, who occupied the region from the 4th to the 2nd century BC.
Yuezhi (Tocharians?)After obtaining the help of the king of Dayuan, Zhang Qian went southwest to the territory of the Yuezhi, with whom he was supposed to obtain a military alliance against the Xiongnu.
Zhang Qian also describes the origins of the Yuezhi, explaining they came from the eastern part of the Tarim Basin, a momentous explanation which has encouraged historians to connect them to the Caucasoid mummies, as well as to the Indo-European-speaking Tocharians that have been identified from precisely the same area:
A smaller group of Yuezhi, the "Little Yuezhi", were not able to follow the exodus and reportedly found refuge among the "Qiang barbarians" (Tibetans). Daxia (Bactria)Zhang Qian probably witnessed the last period of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, as it was being subjugated by the nomadic Yuezhi. Only small powerless chiefs remained, who were apparently vassals to the Yuezhi horde. Their civilization was urban, almost identical to the civilizations of Parthia and Dayuan, and the population was numerous.
Shendu (India)Zhang Qian also reports about the existence of India southeast of Bactria. The name Shendu (身毒) comes from the Sanskrit word "Sindhu", used for the province of Sindh (now a province of Pakistan) by its local people. Sindh was one of the most advanced regions of India at the time. Although it was part of India, it practiced separate authority over itself. Because of its coastal borders with Persia and the Arabian Sea, it invited great wealth from these regions. Parts of Northwestern India (modern Pakistan) was ruled by the Indo-Greek Kingdom at the time, which explains the reported cultural similarity between Bactria and India.
Anxi (Parthia)Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization, like Dayuan (Ferghana) and Daxia (Bactria). The name "Anxi" is a transliterations of "Arsacid", name of the Parthian dynasty.
TiaozhiZhang Qian reports about Mesopotamia, beyond Parthia, although in rather tenuous terms, because he didn't go there, and was only able to reports other's accounts.
Kangju (康居) northwest of Sogdiana (粟特)Zhang Qian also visited directly the area of Sogdiana (Kangju), home to the Sogdian nomads:
Yancai 奄蔡 (Vast Steppe)
Development of East-West contactsFollowing Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial relations between China and Central as well as Western Asia flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the end of the 2nd century BC and the 1st century BC, initiating the development of the Silk Road:
Many objects were soon exchanged, and travelled as far as Guangzhou in the East, as suggested by the discovery of a Persian box and various artifacts from Central Asia in the 122 BC tomb of the Chinese King Wen of Nanyue. 
Murals in Mogao Caves in Dunhuang describe the Emperor Han Wudi (156-87 BC) worshipping Buddhist statues, explaining them as "golden men brought in 120 BC by a great Han general in his campaigns against the nomads", although there is no other mention of Han Wudi worshipping the Buddha in Chinese historical literature. China also sent a mission to Parthia, which were followed up by reciprocal missions from Parthian envoys around 100 BC:
The Roman historian Florus describes the visit of numerous envoys, including Seres (Chinese), to the first Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BC and 14:
In 97 the Chinese general Ban Chao went as far west as the Caspian Sea with 70,000 men and established direct military contacts with the Parthian Empire, also dispatching an envoy to Rome in the person of Gan Ying. Several Roman embassies to China soon followed from 166, and are officially recorded in Chinese historical chronicles. DeathZhang Qian returned from his third and last expedition in 105 BC. From his missions he brought back many important products, the most important being alfalfa seeds (for growing horse fodder), strong horses with hard hooves, and knowledge of the extensive existence of new products, peoples, and technologies of the outside world. He died in 104 or 103 BC after spending over thirty years traveling on these dangerous and strategic missions. He was approximately sixty when he died. Although at a time in his life he was regarded with disgrace for being defeated by the Xiongnu, by the time of his death he had been bestowed with great honours by the emperor and has been held in esteem by posterity.[1][6] Although Zhang Quian's journeys had promoted a great variety of economic and cultural exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions, because silk was the dominant product traded this trade link became known as the Silk Route. [7] See alsoFootnotes
References
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