Stories about explorers

Zhang Qian (? ~ 114 BC)

Diplomat during the Western Han Dynasty. He was born in Chenggu, Hanzhong (now Chenggu, Shaanxi). In the first year of the founding of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (140 BC), he became Lang. Emperor Wu wanted to unite Dayue clan troops to attack the Xiongnu, so Zhang Qian was recruited as an envoy. In the second year of Jianyuan, he left Longxi and passed through the Xiongnu, where he was captured. He lived in the Xiongnu for more than 10 years, married a wife and had children, but always adhered to the Han Dynasty. Afterwards, he escaped and traveled west to Dawan, passing through Kangju, arriving at Dayuezhi, and then to Daxia, where he stayed for more than a year before returning. On his way back, Zhang Qian changed his route to the south, in close proximity to Nanshan in order to avoid being discovered by the Huns. However, Zhang Qian was captured by the Huns and detained for more than a year. In the third year of Yuanshuo (126 BC), the Huns were in civil strife. Zhang Qian took the opportunity to escape back to the Han Dynasty and reported in detail the situation in the Western Regions to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu granted him the title of Taizhong Dafu. When Zhang Qian was in Daxia, he learned that Daxia could be reached by taking the road from the southwest of Shu (today's Sichuan Basin) to Shendu (today's India). He persuaded Emperor Wu to open a southwest barbarian road, but it was blocked by the Kunming barbarians and could not be passed. In the sixth year of Yuanshuo, Zhang Qian followed Wei Qing to conquer the Xiongnu, and for his meritorious service, he was granted the title of Marquis of Bowang. In the second year of Yuanshou (121 BC), he and Li Guang went out to Youbeiping (today's northeastern Hebei Province) to attack the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian had to be executed because of his delay in the army. Later, Zhang Qian persuaded Emperor Wu to unite with Wusun (in today's Ili River Basin). Emperor Wu then worshiped Qian as Zhonglang General and led 300 people, tens of thousands of cattle, sheep, gold and silk, as envoys to Wusun. Zhang Qian arrived at Wusun and sent deputy envoys to neighboring countries such as Dayuan, Kangju, Yuezhi, and Daxia. Wusun sent an envoy to send Zhang Qian back to the Han Dynasty and offered a horse to express his gratitude. In the second year of Yuanding (115 BC), Zhang Qian returned. He died the next year. The deputy envoys he sent successively led envoys from the Western Regions to the Han Dynasty; Wusun finally intermarried with the Han Dynasty and defeated the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian was the first to achieve Han's expansion into the Western Regions. Because of Zhang Qian's prestige in the Western Regions, the envoys sent by the Han Dynasty were often called Bowang Hou to win the trust of other countries. Zhang Qian made outstanding contributions to opening up the Silk Road from China to the Western Regions, and is still praised by the world. There were no historical records of the countries in the Western Regions at that time. Zhang Qian's reports were recorded in "Historical Records" and "Hanshu". They are the original data for studying the history of Central Asia and are of great value.

Xuan Zang (602～664)

A monk in the Tang Dynasty. Traveler, one of the four great translators, founder of Faxiang Sect. Commonly known as Tripitaka Master. Commonly known as Tang Seng. Common surname Chen?. A native of Fengshi, Luozhou (now Fengshi Town, Yanshi, Henan). He was ordained as a monk at the age of 13 and received full ordination at the age of 20. I visited famous teachers and studied the "Nirvana Sutra" and "The Mahayana Sutra", "Bi Lun", and "Chengshi Lun". I felt that the different schools of thought had different opinions and I didn't know what to follow. I decided to go west to seek Dharma to clear up my doubts. In the third year of Zhenguan (629), he set out from Chang'an, passed through Wuwei in present-day Gansu Province, left Dunhuang, and went south along the Northern Road of the Western Regions through present-day Xinjiang and Central Asia. Under Jie Xian's sect, he studied "Yogi Di Lun", "Exaltation of Holy Teachings", "Zhong Lun", "Hundred Lun", Yin Ming Sheng Xue and Sanskrit "Sheng Shen Ji Lun". He was highly respected in that temple for five years and was regarded as one of the ten great virtues. In the tenth year of Zhenguan, he left the temple to study in various countries in the southeast, northwest and India, and later returned to the temple. At the teacher's request, he gave lectures on "Mahayana Theory" and "Consciousness-Only Decision Theory"; he wrote "Hui Zong Lun" to refute the views of his teacher Ziguang; he wrote "Control of Evil Views" to refute the theory of Prajna Duoduo. Later, King Jiari held a Buddhist debate meeting in Qunv City. Xuanzang was the speaker of the debate, established the Mahayana doctrine and presented it to the public. Thousands of kings, monks, and heretics were present at the meeting, but no one dared to debate. Xuanzang won the victory. It is revered as the "Mahayana Heaven" and the "Liberation Heaven". Afterwards, he returned to Chang'an on the 25th day of the first lunar month of the 19th year of Zhenguan via the South Road of the Western Regions. It took 17 years and a journey of 50,000 miles, and he brought back 657 volumes of Mahayana and Mahayana scriptures. Later, he lived in Hongfu Temple and Ci'en Temple, and gathered famous monks to build a translation center. In 20 years, he translated 75 scriptures and 1,335 volumes, mainly including "Yogi Di Lu", "Mahaprajna Sutra", etc., and also translated "Laozi" into Sanskrit; Author of "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty". The disciples of the sect are like clouds, including Guiji, Yuanchi, Shenfang, Jiashang, Shentai, Daobao, etc.

Xu Xiake (1587～1641)

Ming Dynasty traveler, geographer and essayist. The first person in China who has made travel his lifelong career. His name was Hongzu, his courtesy name was Zhenzhi, and his name was Xiake. A native of Jiangyin (now part of Jiangsu) in southern Zhili. Born into a bureaucratic landlord family, he was eager to learn when he was young and was well-read in historical books and geographical records.

After failing in the examination, he lamented the political darkness and fierce party strife in the late Ming Dynasty, so he gave up on the idea of ??fame and ambition, and began to travel at the age of 21 with the ambition of "asking about the wonders of famous mountains and rivers". For more than 30 years, he crossed the Fujian Sea in the east, climbed Mount Huashan in the west, reached Yan and Jin in the north, and reached Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi in the south. He traveled to today's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi. , Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places. He experienced hardships and dangers during his travels. He was robbed, robbed, and begged for food, but his will was not dampened. The observations were recorded on a daily basis and compiled into "Xu Xiake's Travels" by others after his death. He corrected many errors in ancient geographical records and dispelled some superstitious assumptions based on the facts he witnessed. Starting from simple scientific methods, he clarified the principle of groundwater pressure, analyzed that river flow speed is inversely proportional to the process, and observed the impact of topography, temperature, and wind speed on plant ecology. In particular, he conducted field surveys of more than 100 limestone caves and correctly pointed out the origin and characteristics of karst landforms. This discovery preceded Europeans by about two centuries. He wrote travel prose in diary style, using rich descriptive techniques. Has lasting aesthetic value.