In 140 BC, Han Emperor Jingdi Liu Qi died, and his son Liu Che succeeded him. He became known as the Han Emperor Wu.
Once the young and aggressive Emperor Wu (who reigned from 140 BC-87 BC) ascended the throne, he was determined to resolve for once and for all the conflict with the Huns which had lasted for years. At that time, the Hun state was prosperous. Though it was related to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) through marriage, encroachments on Han territory were still not uncommon.
At that time, a state called Dayuezhi was being harassed by the Hun and they were eager for an opportunity to strike back. Emperor Wu issued a decree aimed at recruiting warriors to join up with the Dayuezhi in the Western Regions to deal decisively with the Hun.
In 138 BC, an official of the emperor called Zhang Qian (c. 164 BC-114 BC) and a Hun called Tangyifu led a group of 100-odd people from Chang’an on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions to make contact with the Dayuezhi State.
To reach Dayuezhi, they had to pass by the territory of the Hun. Though they were extremely careful, the diplomatic mission was still intercepted by the Huns. Zhang Qian and his entourage were detained by the Huns for over ten years.
During this period, Zhang Qian never forgot his mission. Even after he got married and had children under pressure from the Huns, he still maintained his loyalty to the Han Dynasty and tried to escape all the time.
Finally, Zhang Qian manged to escape from the Hun and went westward to a state called Dawan.
Since Dawan was a near neighbor of the Hun, the local people in Dawan knew the Hun language. Zhang Qian and Tangyifu impressed the Dawan people with their accounts of the prosperity of the Han Dynasty.
The state welcomed them and escorted them to Dayuezhi.
However, over ten years had passed. The Dayuezhi State which previously had harbored great enmity for the Hun had already settled by Balkh and were unwilling to rise again to fight against the Huns. Zhang Qian and Tangyifu stayed one year in Dayuezhi but achieved nothing. So, they had to return.
On the way back, they were detained once more by the Huns. Luckily, the Hun state at that time was beset by civil strife. Making the most of the opportunity, they managed to escaped back to the Han territory.
Zhang Qian and Tangyifu returned 13 years after they had departed on their mission.
In the 20 years after their return, the army of the Han Dynasty embarked on many westward military expeditions, driving the Huns further north all the time.
In 119 BC, Zhang Qian led 300 warriors to the Western Regions on another diplomatic mission. This time they took more than 600 horses, over ten thousand sheep and other livestock and a large amount of gold. They went to the Wusun State to try to persuade them to fight together against the Huns. Though the King of Wusun supported the Han, he was fearful of the Hun, so he was hesitant. Zhang Qian also sent emissaries to Dawan and Dayuezhi, but these overtures also failed. In 115 BC, Zhang Qian returned to the Han capital and was made Prefect of the Grand March. The following year, he passed away.
Originally, Emperor Wu had sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions for a military purpose. However, after the route to the Western Regions had opened, diplomatic and trade missions became even more important.
On his diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, Zhang Qian opened the way from the Han hinterlands towards the fertile lands of Central Asia. The route extended from Chang’an to Dunhuang in Gansu and then on to the states of Europe and Asia. This route connecting China and the western lands would become world famous as the Silk Road.
