Zhang Qian—-the Pioneer of the Silk Road

Zhang Qian, was one of the most outstanding envoys and explorers in Chinese history. He also made a great contribution to the opening up of the ancient Silk Road which is a bridge for cross-culture exchange.

Zhang Qian was sent to visit Yuezhi tribe and unite the tribe to combat their common enemy – the nomadic Hsiung-nu people (the Huns) during the reign of the Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). However, Zhang Qian was captured and then imprisoned by the Huns for 10 years. Fortunately, he escaped and visited the Yuezhi tribe. Another three years later, he returned to China. His first journey cost 12 years in total. Emperor Han Wudi was delighted with Zhang Qian’s detailed accounts of  previously unknown kingdoms of Ferghana, Smarkand, Bokhara and others in what are now the former Soviet Union, Pakistan and Persia as well as the city of Li Kun, Rome and heir special products. Emperor Wudi dispatched a successive mission to develop a further political contact led by Zhang Qian in 119 BC. The mission group from China later returned with foreign products, for instances, Ferghana horses, and furs and so on. At the same time, the kingdoms in Central Asia sent their own emissaries to Chang’an China. The demands of eastern precious goods from the West were grown rapidly. The ideas of Han Wudi making peace with the West countries had established not only the diplomatic contacts and economic relations but also the exchanges of the various culture and religion between East and West.