Zhang Qian was from the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In BC 139, he was ordered to send people to the western regions to find and contact the Yue family who had been driven away by the Huns and jointly attack the Huns.
Zhang Qian and his party set out from Chang 'an and went west via Longxi. Along the way, the sun and rain, snow and snow hit, and the environment was sinister and difficult. But he was confident, regardless of difficulties and obstacles, and ventured westward. When they came to the Hexi Corridor, they were discovered by tarquin in the occupied area. Zhang Sai and his entourage were all captured.
Xiongnu Khan knew the purpose of Zhang Qian's Western Expedition, so he wouldn't let it go easily. Scattered out to put sheep and horses, strictly controlled by Huns. Back in Zhang Qian, I married a Hun woman, one to spy on him, and the other to induce him to surrender. However, Zhang Qian is unyielding. Although he has been under house arrest and grazing, he has been waiting for the opportunity to escape to complete his mission.
After eleven spring and autumn periods, the supervision of Xiongnu was relaxed. Zhang Qian took the opportunity to escape with his personal entourage, Gan Fu, and left the Xiongnu territory to continue westward. Because they fled in a hurry and didn't prepare dry food and drinking water, they were often hungry and thirsty along the way and would fall on the desert beach at any time. Fortunately, he was good at archery, and he often hunted some birds and animals along the way, drank blood to quench his thirst and ate meat to satisfy his hunger, only to escape the threat of death.
In this way, I ran around for many days, and finally crossed the desert Gobi, crossed the snow-covered green ridge (now Pamir Plateau), and came to Dawan country (now Fergana). King Dawan with a high nose and blue eyes had long heard that the Han Dynasty was a rich country and wanted to establish contact with it. However, due to the long distance and inconvenient transportation, it has not been possible. So I was overjoyed to hear that the emissary of the Han Dynasty came, and received Zhang Qian warmly in Beijing. He invited Zhang Qian to visit the Blood Horse in Dawan. With the help of King Dawan, Zhang Qian went to Kangju (now Samarkand), Da Yue and Daxia successively. However, the Yue family lived happily in the upper reaches of the Amu Darya River and did not want to go east to fight the Huns. Zhang Qian failed to complete the mission of forming an alliance with Dayue people to attack Xiongnu, but he gained a lot of knowledge of human geography in western countries.
Zhang Qian was captured by Huns again on his way back to the East, and then he planned to escape. Finally, he went through all kinds of hardships and returned to Chang 'an after 13. This trip to the Western Regions made people living in the hinterland of the Central Plains understand the reality of the Western Regions, inspired the ambition of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to "expand the territory" and launched a series of wars against the Huns.
In BC 1 19, in order to further contact with Wusun, the Han Dynasty broke off the "Xiongnu's right-hand man" and sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions again. This time, Zhang Qian took more than 300 people and arrived in Wusun smoothly. He also sent envoys to visit Kangju, Dawan, Da Yue, Daxia, Rest in Peace (now Iran), Body Poison (now India) and other countries. However, due to the civil strife in Wusun, the purpose of the alliance was not achieved. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Huo Qubing to attack the Xiongnu with heavy troops, wiped out the Xiongnu occupying Hexi Corridor and Mobei, established four counties and two customs in Hexi, and opened the Silk Road. And won the Xiongnu's "Golden Sacrifice" and brought it back to Chang 'an.
Zhang Qian braved difficulties and obstacles, sent two missions to the western regions, communicated the traffic arteries in the interior of Asia, officially started friendly exchanges with western European countries, promoted extensive economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West, and opened up the Silk Road, making him the first person in China to go to the world.
The western end of the northern wall of Cave 323 in Mogao Grottoes is the story of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions. According to this picture, it was argued that the introduction of Buddhism into China was the beginning when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to Daxia to ask the name of the Golden Man (Buddha). However, some people hold objections and think that this is an incidental statement. But in any case, Zhang Qian's historical contribution to the Western Regions and the opening of the Silk Road is true. This map is the earliest existing map of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions. у! the original