| Zhang Qian 張騫 |
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|---|---|
Zhang Qian taking leave from emperor Han Wudi, for his expedition to Central Asia from 138 to 126 BCE, Mogao Caves mural, 618 - 712. |
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| Born | 200 BCE Hanzhong, Shaanxi, China |
| Died | 114 BCE China |
| Occupation | Explorer and diplomat |
Zhang Qian (traditional Chinese 張騫; simplified Chinese 张骞; Wade-Giles Chang Ch'ien, pronounced "Jang Chyen") was an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the 2nd century BCE, 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 a part of the world then unknown to the Chinese. 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 BCE . Today Zhang Qian is considered a national hero and revered for the key role he played in opening China to the world of commercial trade.
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Zhang Qian was born in Chenggu district 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 BCE and 134 BCE as a Gentleman (郎), serving Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. At the time the nomadic Xiongnu tribes controlled what is now Inner Mongolia and dominated the Western Regions, Xiyu (西域 ), the areas neighbouring 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 BCE 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 guide named Ganfu (甘父), a Xiongnu who had been captured in war.[2] The objective of Zhang Qian's first mission was to seek a military alliance with the Yuezhi,[3] 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.[4] During this time he married a Xiongnu wife, who bore him a son, and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Zhang and Ganfu (as well as Zhang's Xiongnu wife and son) 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.[11] 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. Of the original mission of just over a hundred men, only Zhang Qian and Ganfu managed to return to China.
Zhang Qian returned in 125 BCE with detailed news for the Emperor, showing 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".[12] Upon Zhang Qian's return to China he was honoured with a position of palace counselor.[13] Although he was unable to 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 BCE 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 Xiongnu 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 119-115 BCE Zhang Qian was sent on a third mission by the emperor, to develop ties with the Wusun people.[14]
The reports of Zhang Qian's travels are quoted extensively in the 1st century BCE 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 (Arsacid territories), Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia?), Shendu (India) and the Wusun.
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 BCE.
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".
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 Anxi and Dayuan, and the population was numerous.
Zhang Qian also reports about the existence of India southeast of Bactria. The name Shendu (身毒) comes from the Sanskrit word "Sindhu", meaning the Indus river. Sindh was one of the richest regions of India at the time, ruled by Indo-Greek Kingdoms, which explains the reported cultural similarity between Bactria and India:
Notice the fact, that the Chinese character Shen can also be pronounced as yuan in certain ancient texts. Which might be the origin of Chinese word for India, yindu.
Zhang Qian identifies "Anxi" as an advanced urban civilization, like Dayuan (Ferghana) and Daxia (Bactria). The name "Anxi" is an approximation of "Arsacid", the name of a dynasty that ruled the regions along the silk road between the Tedzhen river in the east and the Tigris in the west, and running through Aria, Parthia proper, and Media proper.
Zhang Qian's reports on Mesopotamia are in tenuous terms. He did not himself visit the region, and was only able to report what others told him.
Zhang Qian also visited directly the area of Sogdiana (Kangju), home to the Sogdian nomads:
Following 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 BCE and the 1st century BCE, 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 BCE tomb of King Zhao Mo of Nanyue.
Murals in Mogao Caves in Dunhuang describe the Emperor Han Wudi (156-87 BCE) worshipping Buddhist statues, explaining them as "golden men brought in 120 BCE 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 Anxi, which were followed up by reciprocal missions from Parthian envoys around 100 BCE:
The Roman historian Florus describes the visit of numerous envoys, including Seres (Chinese), to the first Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BCE and 14:
In 97 the Chinese general Ban Chao dispatched an envoy to Rome in the person of Gan Ying.
Several Roman embassies to China followed from 166, and are officially recorded in Chinese historical chronicles.
The Shiji reports that Zhang Qian returned from his final expedition to the Wusun in 115 BCE. After his return he "was honoured with the post of grand messenger, making him among the nine highest ministers of the government. A year or so later he died."[15]
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 c. 114 BCE after spending some twenty-five years traveling on these dangerous and strategic missions. 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.[16][17][18]
Zhang Qian'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.[19]