Ban Chao

Threw down the brush to join the army and managed the Western Regions for thirty-one years.

Life

Throwing Down the Brush to Join the Army

Ban Chao was the son of the historian Ban Biao and the younger brother of Ban Gu. In his youth he made a living copying documents for the government, and once threw down his brush and sighed that a true man should win glory in foreign lands like Fu Jiezi and Zhang Qian: "How can I spend my life among brushes and inkstones?"

Pacifying the Western Regions with 36 Men

In 73 CE he joined Dou Gu's campaign against the Northern Xiongnu and was sent as an envoy to the Western Regions. In Shanshan, learning that Xiongnu envoys had arrived, he declared, "If you do not enter the tiger's den, how can you catch its cub?" and led 36 men in a night attack on the Xiongnu mission, after which Shanshan submitted to Han. Then, using Shule as his base and allying with the states of the Western Regions, he subdued Yarkand, Kucha and Karasahr in turn, and more than fifty states of the Western Regions submitted.

Gan Ying's Western Mission

In 91 CE he was appointed Protector General of the Western Regions, and in 97 CE he sent Gan Ying on a mission to Daqin (Rome); Gan Ying reached the shore of the sea at Tiaozhi and turned back. After thirty-one years in the Western Regions, he petitioned in old age to return home, reaching Luoyang in 102 CE and dying the same year.

Legacy

With a tiny force, Ban Chao brought the Western Regions under control and reopened the Silk Road, and he is regarded as a model of managing the frontier through diplomacy and strategy.

Major works & achievements

• Pacified more than 50 states of the Western Regions
• Sent Gan Ying on a mission to Daqin

Did you know? His younger sister Ban Zhao completed the Book of Han, which their elder brother Ban Gu had left unfinished.

Key dates

• 73Joined Dou Gu's northern campaign; envoy to Shanshan
• 74Pacified Shule
• 87Crushed Shache
• 91Became Protector General of the Western Regions
• 94Subdued Karasahr; all the states of the Western Regions submitted
• 97Sent Gan Ying on a mission to Daqin
• 102Returned to Luoyang and died