Nationality: China.

Ethnic group: Han nationality

Occupation: Eastern Han official

Alias: Chonglan

Main achievements: enhanced understanding of Central Asian countries in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the first China man who arrived in the Persian Gulf as recorded in history books.

Gan Ying —— Introduction of Class Nurses in Western Regions of Daqin.

Ban Chao's subordinate Gan Ying moved to the Western Regions with Ban Chao. In 97 AD, Ban Chao sent Gan Ying to Daqin.

Gan Ying led a delegation from Qiuci (now Kuqa, Xinjiang) to Shule (now Kashgar, Xinjiang), across Qingji (now Pamir Plateau), through Dawan (now Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan) and Dayuejia to rest in peace in the capital (now Iran), and then through Manchu, Sibin and Luo Yu to Tiaozhi (now Iran). Arrive at the coast of the rest West Sea (now Persian Gulf) and want to cross. The local boatman said to him, "the sea is vast, and people who come and go in March will get a good wind." If there is a night breeze and there are people who are one or two years old, then they will get food for three years old when they enter the sea. The goodness in the sea makes people yearn for land, and there are several deaths. " Hearing this, Gan Ying gave up crossing the sea before heading west. Gan Ying returned, turned north to east, rested for more than 60 days, and then returned to the east via Mulu and Tuholo.

Although the mission did not arrive in Daqin, it enhanced China people's understanding of Central Asian countries at that time.

history

According to "The Biography of the Western Regions in the Later Han Dynasty" and "The Biography of Rest":

In the ninth year of Emperor Yongyuan, Ban Chao sent Gan Ying to protect Daqin and arrived in Wendu. The boatman in the western frontier near the sea wanted to kill time. He said to Britain, "The sea is vast and the wind is good in March, so people who come and go get time. If there is a night breeze, it is also two years old, so people who enter the sea are all three years old. " The goodness in the sea makes people yearn for land, and several of them died. "English is the only way to stop.

Rest country is a transit point for the trade between Han Dynasty and Daqin. Silk and silk products of Han Dynasty traded with Daqin, from which they gained monopoly profits. Perhaps considering that if the Han Dynasty directly opened the trade route with Daqin, it would damage its monopoly interests, so the others did not provide Gan Ying with a more direct land route through Syria, but prepared for the difficulty of crossing the sea: "Legend has exaggerated the horror of maritime navigation:" The goodness in the sea makes people miss the land, and several people died in the land they yearn for. As soon as this was said, although Gan Ying stopped in the West Sea and failed to reach Daqin in the end, Gan Ying was the first China person recorded in the history books to arrive in the Persian Gulf. His trip enriched the understanding of Central Asia in the Han Dynasty at that time and was an important page in the history of Sino-Western exchanges.

Some scholars have pointed out that the "goodness in the sea makes people yearn for land" mentioned by the rest of the boat people is probably the Sai Ren banshee who confuses sailors with songs in Greek mythology. The records in the Book of Jin, Biography of Siyi, Biography of Xirong and Biography of Qin State are slightly different:

During the Han Dynasty, Ban Chao was protected and Gan Ying was sent to his own country. When entering the sea, the boatman said, "There are things I yearn for in the sea, and everyone who goes there is sad. If Han makes people not love their parents and wives, they can enter. " English can't pass.

Gan Ying was born inland. After returning to China, he even reported that the seawater was not drinkable: "After passing through the sea, the seawater is salty and bitter, and it is inedible." (The Book of Jin) Perhaps it was because of his little knowledge of maritime navigation that Gan Cai believed the exaggerated description of the dangers of navigation by the shipbreaker and stopped to rest.