In 119 BC, the year of the victory in the Battle of Mobei, Zhang Qian made his second mission to the Western Regions.
His goal this time was to unite the old rival of the Xiongnu Wusun against the Xiongnu, and secondly, to promote the prestige of the Han Dynasty and exert influence on the countries of the Western Regions.
Strictly speaking, Zhang Qian failed to complete his first task. Wusun was in the midst of civil strife, unable to spare his hands to get involved in the affairs of the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu, and did not have a deep understanding of the Han Dynasty, and was unwilling to easily unite with the Han Dynasty.
However, Zhang Qian's second task was done very well. Although his final destination was Wusun, he sent many deputy envoys to visit many countries in the Western Regions before returning to the Han Dynasty.
Since then, the "Silk Road" has taken shape through the Hexi Corridor with envoys and merchants who traveled between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions.
The historical significance of Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions is really too significant. He let the people of the Han Dynasty know for the first time that there was such a vast world outside the Xiongnu, which promoted material and cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
Even some of the things we eat now were originally not available in the land of the Han Dynasty, and were transmitted from the Western Regions after Zhang Qian passed through the Western Regions.
In this article, let's take a look at what Zhang Qian brought back from the Western Regions after he went to the Western Regions, which was very novel to the people at that time.
01. Fruits, vegetables and other plants.
Grape wine luminous glass, want to drink pipa immediately urge. Drunk and lying on the battlefield, Jun Mo smiled, and a few people came back to fight in ancient times.
This poem is quite familiar to many people.
Before Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, the Han Dynasty had no grapes, let alone wine. Grapes and wine were both introduced by Zhang Qian in Dawan in the Western Regions.
This is recorded in the biography of Dawan in the historical records: Dawan is in the southwest of the Xiongnu, in the west of the Han Dynasty, and goes to Han Ke Wanli. Its custom natives, ploughing the fields, paddy and wheat. There is pu pottery wine. The "Pu Tao wine" here is what later generations said about wine.
Another plant that has been recorded in historical records is alfalfa. This is a leguminous plant eaten by horses, and the envoys of the Han Dynasty brought back alfalfa seeds from the Western Regions and planted them all over the palace of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
The histories and notes of the Han Dynasty and the Wei and Jin dynasties record more fruits and plants imported from the Western Regions.
According to legend, the "Xijing Miscellaneous Records" written at the end of the Western Han Dynasty pointed out that walnuts were introduced from the Western Regions, and the emperor of the Han Dynasty planted walnut trees in Shanglin Garden.
Walnut is what we usually call walnut.
In the last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it is said that Zhang Qian brought back an pomegranate from the Western Regions, which is what we usually call a pomegranate.
According to legend, cucumbers, carrots, shallots, sesame seeds and other fruits or plants were also brought back by Zhang Qian. But this lacks sufficient basis, and it is very likely that later generations of merchants brought the Central Plains Dynasty through **, but they were all named in the name of Zhang Qian.
The introduction of these crops is related to the Silk Road. Therefore, whether Zhang Qian himself brought it back or not, Zhang Qian has made a great contribution
02, ** tricks and other entertainment.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was a famous court musician named Li Yannian.
He is the elder brother of Madame Li, the favorite concubine of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the famous "There is a beautiful woman in the north, peerless and independent." One look at the city, and then look at the country. Rather than know the city and the country?Beautiful women are hard to come by!"It's from Li Yannian's hand.
He is not only an ordinary relative, but also a ** family that has a profound impact on future generations, and has made a lot of music that will be passed down to future generations.
Among them, according to the records of the "Book of Jin" of later generations, Li Yannian referred to a song "Mahatule" that Zhang Qian learned from the Western Regions, and wrote 28 tunes in one breath, "taking advantage of public opinion as martial music", which means that it is used as a military song.
Later, the emperor of the Han Dynasty also gave these tunes to the generals on the border, "and the emperor had to use them by the generals of ten thousand people". The influence of the Western Regions on the Han Dynasty can be seen.
The musical instruments of the Western Regions were also introduced to the Han Dynasty. The most famous is a wind instrument called the huji.
Composed by the famous talented woman Cai Wenji and known as one of the top ten famous songs in ancient China, "Eighteen Beats of Hu Ji" is said to have been composed by the tone of Hu Ji.
The trick masters from the Western Regions also performed many wonderful tricks for the emperors and ministers of the Han Dynasty that they had never seen before.
It is recorded in the Book of Han: And the envoys of the Dawan countries came with the Han envoys, watched the vast Han Dynasty, and dedicated the big bird eggs and dizzy people to the Han.
Yan Shigu commented on this: Dazzle reading is the same as illusion. Nowadays, swallowing knives and spitting fire, planting melons and trees, and slaughtering people and horses are all the same. Ben came from the Western Regions.
These were all kinds of tricks that came from the Western Regions at that time.
In the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, it is recorded that the Shan Kingdom in the southwest did a magic show for Emperor An of the Han Dynasty, and the content of the performance included "spitting fire, self-supporting, and changing the head of a cow and a horse", and Emperor An of Han was amazed.
Although the Shan Kingdom is not in the Western Regions, it is in the area of present-day Southeast Asia. But in the Han Dynasty, they also came to the Han Dynasty through the Silk Road and went around in a big circle.
From this, we can see that various tricks passed down through the Silk Road also became part of the entertainment activities of the Han Dynasty.
03. Something that came out of the Han Dynasty.
The exchange of material and culture is mutual. The novelties of the countries of the world passed through the Han Dynasty through the Silk Road, and the things of the Han Dynasty were also transmitted through the Silk Road.
The one we are most familiar with, of course, is silk. Silk, as a famous luxury at that time, actually spread from the Han Dynasty to Rome on the other side of the world, and almost became a status symbol of Roman aristocracy.
Because silk is so important, this passage connecting China and the West, even named after silk, is called the Silk Road.
Of course, there was much more to the goods transported along the Silk Road than silk.
For example, in the book "Iran and China", it is found that around the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, that is, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, peaches and apricots were transmitted to the West through the Silk Road.
According to the book's research, these two fruits did not exist in the West during the time of Alexandria. But by the time of the Romans, these two fruits had been on the tables of the Romans.
In the "Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty", Xuanzang recorded how peaches and pears were transmitted to India through the Silk Road around the 2nd century AD.
These are just the tip of the iceberg.
A large number of materials, through the Silk Road, spread in large quantities between countries around the world in ancient times, and cultures also influenced each other.
The greatness of the Silk Road can be seen.
04. Write at the end.
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions for the first time, he did not expect how much change this envoy would bring to the Han Dynasty and the world.
All he wanted was to find the old rival of the Xiongnu, the Da Yue clan, and fight against the Xiongnu together with the Da Yue clan, so as to increase the chances of victory for the Han Dynasty.
This mission, judging from the mission itself, was not a success, and Zhang Qian failed to persuade the Dayue clan to unite with the Han Dynasty.
However, the significance of this mission goes far beyond the mission itself. Zhang Qian opened the eyes of the Han Dynasty to an unprecedented vast world, creating a feast of material and cultural exchanges.
Zhang Qian is really an amazing explorer.
And Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was indeed an emperor of great talent. He also did not limit his eyes to Zhang Qian's task itself, let alone fear this unknown world, but immediately launched a new layout through the new information brought by Zhang Qian.
This is an eternal monument on the Silk Road. History