Silk Road, Cultural China 1500 words essay

When Zhang Qian, the great explorer and diplomat, was a doctor in the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, some of the Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty. They said that there were Yueshi (Yue clan) in Dunhuang (to the west of Dunhuang in today's Gansu Province) and the Tianshan Mountains. rùzhī) country, hated the Huns and wanted to take revenge. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to join forces with the Yuezhi to cut off the Xiongnu's connections with other countries in the Western Regions. He issued an edict to recruit smart and capable people to contact the Yuezhi, and Zhang Qian applied. There was a surrendered Huns named Tang Yifu and more than a hundred warriors who were willing to follow Zhang Qian to find the Yuezhi Kingdom.

In 138 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy, taking more than a hundred people with him from Longxi (the administrative seat is now south of Lintao, Gansu). Outside Longxi is the territory of the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian and his companions walked for several days, but were finally surrounded by Xiongnu soldiers and made prisoners, so they had to live there for more than ten years. Everyone else dispersed, only Tang Yifu and Zhang Qian were together. As time went by, they spoke and acted no differently from the Huns, and the Huns relaxed their supervision of them.

One day, Zhang Qian and his father-in-law Tang Yi took the dry food and escaped on two fast horses while others were not paying attention. They wanted to go to Yuezhi, but they didn't know where Yuezhi was, so they just went west. They ran for dozens of days, escaped from the Huns' territory, and broke into a country called Dawan (in today's Central Asia).

Dawan is located to the north of Yuezhi and is a place that produces fast horses, grapes and alfalfa (mùsù). Dayuan is a neighboring country of the Xiongnu and understands the Xiongnu dialect. Zhang Qian and Tang Yifu can both speak the Xiongnu dialect. The people of Dawan reported to the king that the king of Dayuan had long heard that there was China far away in the east. The place was very rich, and the food, clothing, and housing were indescribably exquisite. There were a lot of gold, silver, silks, and cloth. I couldn't use it all up. Now I heard that the envoy from the Han Dynasty had arrived, and I quickly welcomed him.

Zhang Qian met with King Dayuan and asked the king to send someone to send them to Yueshi. King Dayuan sent someone to escort Zhang Qian and others to Yuezhi. Zhang Qian met with King Yuezhi and said that the Han Dynasty was willing to unite with the Yuezhi to fight against the Xiongnu.

However, King Yuezhi didn’t want this. It turns out that after the Yuezhi old king was killed by the Huns, the Yuezhi people made his son king. The new king led all the men, horses and livestock to flee westward until they reached Bactria (now northern Afghanistan). The Yuezhi people defeated Daxia and established a large Yuezhi Kingdom. The Yuezhi King did not want to fight with the Xiongnu anymore, but just entertained the Han Dynasty envoys politely.

Zhang Qian and Tang Yi’s father lived in Yuezhi for more than a year. They could not ask the king of Yuezhi to fight against the Xiongnu, so they had to leave Yuezhi and return home. They passed by Kangju (about the area between today’s Balkhash Lake and Xian County). Between the Sea) and Dawan, they reached the border of the Xiongnu and were captured by the Xiongnu again. They had to spend more than a year there. The Xiongnu prince and the Chanyu competed for the throne, causing chaos in the country. Zhang Qian and his father-in-law fled back. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty met Zhang Qian, whom he had not seen for thirteen years, and worshiped him as Taizhong Dafu, and made Tang Yifu the envoy king.

Zhang Qian also wanted to go to the Western Regions again. He said to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty: "In Daxia, I saw bamboo sticks produced in Qiong Mountain (in today's Sichuan) and fine cloth produced in Shu (today's Chengdu, Sichuan). People in Daxia said that people were buying and selling poison from their bodies (juāndǔ). ) - Bought from Tianzhu (now India). Daxia is twelve thousand miles west of Chang'an. People in Daxia bought things from Shu, which shows that Shendu is not far from Shu. Let’s set off and take the southwest road, passing through Shendu to Daxia, so we don’t have to pass through the Xiongnu.” After hearing this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty planned to use gifts and morality to unite with these countries to deal with the Xiongnu. He once again sent Zhang Qian as an envoy from Shu, bringing gifts to make friends with Shendu. This time, Zhang Qian divided his troops into four teams, starting from four locations and walking two thousand miles. Some were beaten back by the local tribes, and some were killed. A group of troops heading south bypassed Kunming and arrived at Dian Kingdom (now southern Yunnan). The king of the Dian Kingdom turned out to be from the Chu Kingdom. He entertained the envoy politely and was willing to help the envoy find Dao'er to remove the poison from his body. However, the Kunming people refused to let him pass, so Zhang Qian had to return to Chang'an. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty thought that this time he had made friends with a country he had never heard of in the south, and he was very satisfied.

Later, many countries in the Western Regions saw that the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han Dynasty, and they were unwilling to pay tribute or pay taxes to the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took this opportunity to send Zhang Qian to the Western Regions.

Zhang Qian said: "There is a Wusun Kingdom (in today's Xinjiang) to the west of the Xiongnu. The emperor might as well make friends with the Wusun King and marry him. The countries to the west of the Wusun, such as Dayuan, Kangju, Daxia, and Yuezhi, can easily We have made friends."

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy with three hundred warriors, two horses each, and more than 10,000 cattle and sheep, gold, Gifts worth tens of millions, such as coins, silks, and cloths, set off.

When they arrived at Wusun, King Wusun came out to greet him. Zhang Qian gave him a very thick gift and said to him: "If the king can move to the east, the emperor is willing to grant the land there to the king, and also marry the princess to the king as his wife, and the two countries will become relatives." , and the Japanese will deal with the Huns together. This will be beneficial to both our countries."

King Wusun asked Zhang Qian to rest for a few days and convene the ministers to discuss. King Wusun and his ministers were all afraid of the Xiongnu. They discussed for several days but could not make a decision. Zhang Qian sent his deputies to carry envoys and gifts to contact Dayuan, Kangju, Dayuezhi, Daxia, Anxi (ancient Persia), Shendu, and Khotan (now Hotan, Xinjiang). ) and other countries. King Wusun also sent several translators to help them. Many envoys had been away for several days and had not returned, so King Wusun sent Zhang Qian back first. By sending Zhang Qian back, he sent dozens of people to Chang'an to have a look.

Zhang Qian brought Wusun’s envoy to see Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very happy to see them. He also saw the dozens of tall horses given to him by King Wusun. He liked them very much and treated Wusun's envoys particularly favorably.

A year later, Zhang Qian fell ill and died. A few years later, the deputies sent by Zhang Qian came back one after another with envoys from various countries. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very happy. He knew that there were thirty-six countries in the Western Regions. They were afraid of the Huns, so they had to hand over their slaves and wealth to the Huns. At this time, the Han Dynasty was on good terms with these countries. They did not have to pay taxes and were happy to make friends with the Han Dynasty.

King Wusun was unwilling to move to the east, so Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established two counties there, one was called Jiuquan County (today's Jiuquan, Gansu) and the other was called Wuwei County (the seat of government is today's Minqin, Gansu). Northeast) were guarded by officials and soldiers all year round to prevent the Xiongnu from invading southward.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions. All the thirty-six countries in the Western Regions knew that Zhang Qian was kind-hearted and a good friend. Therefore, over a long period of time, friendly relations between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions were established. The Han Dynasty obtained dozens of products such as tall horses, grapes, alfalfa, walnuts, broad beans, and pomegranates from the Western Regions. Countries in the Western Regions obtained silk and silk fabrics from China, learned farming, digging wells, and iron smelting, and developed production. The road Zhang Qian took through the Western Regions promoted cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and later people called it the "Silk Road."