Zhang Qian

Twice went as an envoy to the Western Regions, opening official knowledge of the lands along what became the Silk Road.

Life

Volunteered for a mission

Zhang Qian was a native of Hanzhong. When Emperor Wu of Han sought envoys to the Western Regions to form an alliance with the Greater Yuezhi for a pincer attack on the Xiongnu, Zhang Qian answered the call and set out from Chang'an at the head of a mission of more than a hundred men; while crossing the Hexi Corridor he was captured by the Xiongnu and held for more than ten years, during which he married and had a son, yet never forgot his mission.

Journey west and return

He finally found a chance to escape and continued west to Dayuan and Kangju, eventually finding the Greater Yuezhi, who had migrated westward, but they no longer wished to return east for revenge. He had no choice but to return to Chang'an in 126 BCE, bringing back intelligence on the geography, products and customs of the states of the Western Regions, previously unknown in China. Late in life he was sent as an envoy to the Wusun, further opening the road to Central Asia.

Opened up the Western Regions

The military and diplomatic aims of his missions were in fact never achieved—he never persuaded the Greater Yuezhi or the Wusun to join in attacking the Xiongnu—but the intelligence he gathered along the way provided a key basis for the Han dynasty's later management of the Western Regions and the opening of the Silk Road, and Sima Qian described his achievement as "breaking open the way." Later generations often credit the opening of the Silk Road to him alone, but private trade may already have existed sporadically before then; his contribution lay rather in establishing official knowledge and contacts.

Legacy

Zhang Qian's opening of the Western Regions was a milestone in the history of exchange between China and the outside world: he was the first to bring the geography, products and customs of the lands west of the Pamirs into the view of the Central Plains, laying the groundwork for the Han dynasty's establishment of the four Hexi commanderies, its administration of the Western Regions and the opening of the Silk Road; Sima Qian praised his pioneering achievement as "opening the way." Later generations often credited him with introducing crops such as alfalfa and grapes, but the Records of the Grand Historian says only that Han envoys took their seeds and brought them back, not necessarily that he brought them himself.

Major works & achievements

• Twice served as envoy to the Western Regions; his first round trip took more than ten years
• Brought back intelligence on Dayuan, the Greater Yuezhi, Kangju and other lands
• Distinguished himself in Wei Qing's campaigns against the Xiongnu and was made Marquis of Bowang
• Went as envoy to the Wusun and sent deputies to Dayuan, Parthia and other states

Did you know? He was held by the Xiongnu for more than ten years, yet according to the Records of the Grand Historian he "never let go of the Han envoy's staff."

Key dates

• 138 BCESent by Emperor Wu of Han as envoy to the Greater Yuezhi
• 137 BCEDetained by the Xiongnu for over ten years on the way
• 129 BCEEscaped and continued west to Dayuan and Kangju
• 126 BCEReturned to Chang'an with accounts of the Western Regions
• 119 BCESent again as envoy to the Wusun
• 114 BCEDied