By Prof. Richard T. Griffiths
This is the first of a series of articles about the diplomats that travelled along the fabled ancient silk roads. Their role was to help maintain peace or to prepare for war. On those outcomes rested the fate of the merchants and travellers, the preachers and adventurers who formed the transmission belts for the passage of merchandise and culture.
Some of these envoys became legends, etched into the lore and histories of their nations. Others remain nameless, overshadowed by the great events they helped shape. One of the pioneering diplomats whose name has passed down through history was Zhang Qian (张骞). This is his story.
An inauspicious start
In 138 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han (汉武帝) dispatched Zhang Qian, a military officer, with one hundred men to reach the Yuezhi people and forge an alliance against their joint enemy, the Xiongnu.
The success of the mission depended on being able to pass undetected through Xiongnu territory. Unfortunately they were captured and made slaves. Most of the prisoners acclimatised and assimilated into their new lives. As a result, vigilance may have relaxed. Indeed, Zhang Qian’s apparent compliance might have contributed to it. But Zhang Qian had not forgotten his mission and, after ten years, he and his loyal servant Ganfu, managed to escape.
The journey home
The Xiongnu’s lands were vast, marked by open steppes, deserts, and mountainous regions. Zhang Qian and Ganfu travelled mostly on foot, subsisting on what they could forage, and constantly remained on high alert to avoid capture. Eventually, the party arrived at the centre of the Yuezhi peoples in what is now northern Afghanistan. The Yuezhi had thrived in their new environment and had settled into a peaceful and prosperous existence. They showed little interest in Zhang’s proposal for a military alliance against the Xiongnu or anyone else. Despite the Yuezhi’s disinterest in his proposal, Zhang Qian spent a year diligently documenting their customs and the riches of their lands, understanding the broader implications for the Han Empire. On his way home, Zhang Qian travelled through Central Asia, documenting the wealth and sophistication of regions such as Bactria and Ferghana. He reported bustling markets filled with precious goods and high-quality horses. Then, unbelievably, the Xiongnu captured them again. Two years later, Zhang Qian and Ganfu used the confusion following a dynastic struggle, to escape once again. In 125 BCE they returned to China.
The success of a failure
Zhang had failed to bring the alliance, but he told the Emperor of the (relatively) small but prosperous civilisations in Central Asia with goods that fed into trade routes that extended even further westward. These civilisations had wealth to form a market for Chinese goods and resources to exchange. Beyond these lay even more fabulous civilisations -– the Parthian Empire to the West and India to the South. Zhang, himself, was sent on a second mission to establish a trade route to India (whose products fascinated the Chinese court), which also ended in failure. However, in 119 BCE he was sent to establish peaceful links with the Wusun people, whose territory lay between that of the Xiongnu and Yuezhi. The ‘silk roads’ were now open to Chinese trade.
The story of an accidental hero
Zhang Qian’s story is known to us primarily through Sima Qian’s ‘Shiji’ (史记), a text completed no more than forty years after Zhang Qian’s return. Sima Qian, writing during a time when the Han Dynasty sought to define its place in a vast and interconnected world, framed Zhang Qian’s journey in a way that highlighted the Confucian virtues of loyalty and perseverance. However, as with many ancient sources, the line between historical fact and interpretive narrative is often blurred. Sima Qian’s account, while invaluable, should be understood as part of a broader effort to articulate the Han Dynasty’s imperial ideology and worldview.
Sima Qian likes to frame his history around individuals – high and low. He likes to show that individuals matter; that the virtues and vices they embody do help shape the course of history. In Zhang Qian’s story he concentrates on the Confucian virtues of loyalty, perseverance, and the pursuit of duty.
Sima Qian also shares the traditional Chinese idea of the ‘mandate of heaven’. By sending Zhang Qian on his mission, the emperor is fulfilling his imperial destiny of bringing order and stability to the world. By embracing the new opportunities for trade and exchange offered by Zhang Qian’s observations on foreign peoples and cultures, the emperor is helping unite diverse cultures under the auspices of one just and moral authority.
Zhang Qian’s story is framed as an epic tale of survival, showcasing his unwavering commitment to his mission despite the overwhelming odds. In many ways he is an accidental hero of an historical narrative devoted to show-piecing far larger messages.
Reflection
Zhang Qian’s journey exemplifies the profound impact of individual endeavour on the course of history. Though his mission to secure an alliance failed, his accounts of the Western Regions opened the Han Empire’s eyes to the vast opportunities for trade and cultural exchange. Sima Qian’s portrayal of Zhang Qian not only celebrated his perseverance and loyalty but also served to bolster the Han Dynasty’s imperial narrative.
This blend of fact and interpretation reminds us that history is as much about those who record it as those who live it. Even so, Zhang Qian’s legacy lies not just in the paths he traversed but in the enduring narrative of his journey, illustrating how the bravery of a single envoy can turn attention towards new horizons and help transform the fate of empires.
About the author:
Richard Griffiths is Director of the Silk Road Virtual Museum, covering the years 500-1500 CE, with twenty exhibition spaces providing access to over nine hundred exhibits. You can visit it here
