In the history of world civilization, there was once a great channel of international exchange between the east and the west, which was first opened by the Chinese, connecting Chinese civilization with Indian civilization, Arab civilization, Western civilization and other civilizations, so that they can connect with each other. This great channel of international exchange is the world-famous "Silk Road". Without the "Silk Road" of the past, there would be no globalization today, no global village would have formed, and then the foundation for the formation of a community with a shared future for modern mankind would have been lost.
However, no matter how long the Silk Road is, it is based on cities. Like pearls, those cities connect the Silk Road into a large passage running east and west, carrying a heavy Silk Road culture and leaving a precious Silk Road heritage. Of all the cities, Xi'an (known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty) is seen as the starting point of the Silk Road. So why did our ancestors break through obstacles and open up the "Silk Road"? What kind of cultural memory has the opening of the "Silk Road" left for Xi'an?
"Map of Zhang Qian's Envoy to the Western Regions", mural painting of Cave 323 of Mogao Grottoes
(Image from Digital Dunhuang)
Regrets in the glory:
Zhang Qian's legendary life
Whenever people mention the opening of the "Silk Road", they always think of a resounding name - Zhang Qian, who is considered to be the pioneer of "hollowing out" the Western Regions and opening the door of the "Silk Road", a great diplomat, explorer and traveler. So, who is Zhang Qian? Why did he risk thousands of dangers to go to the distant and mysterious Western Regions?
After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, it created a prosperous situation of "the rule of Wenjing". By the reign of Emperor Wudi of Han (140-87 BC), the Han Dynasty was politically stable, economically prosperous, and powerful. National stability, economic development and prosperity of the people are the main indicators of the success of a country's governance, but it does not mean that everything is fine.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty's rule, a powerful nomadic regime, the Xiongnu, emerged in the steppe region of the northern part of the continent. The Xiongnu were good at riding and shooting, with more than 300,000 troops, and constantly sent troops to invade the northern and northwestern borders of the Han Dynasty. Because the Han Dynasty had just been established and needed to rest and recuperate, Emperor Wudi of Han's old ancestors, Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Wen of Han, and Emperor Jing of Han, all took measures to seek perfection, making peace with the Xiongnu, and giving a large amount of grain, cloth and money every year, hoping to exchange this for peace. But contrary to expectations, the Xiongnu not only did not stop harassing the border, but even threatened the safety of the capital Chang'an from time to time. By the time of Emperor Wudi of Han, after decades of Taoguang and cultivation, the country was rich and the army was strong, and the time was ripe to take the initiative to counterattack the Xiongnu.
According to historical records, the war against the Xiongnu by Emperor Wudi of Han lasted for more than ten years, with more than one million cavalry units and more than 1.2 million infantry. During this period, Emperor Wudi of Han boldly appointed the young military generals Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, but he still had no chance of victory in his heart. Therefore, the wise Emperor Wudi of Han also planned to use another trick - to find allies and jointly attack the Xiongnu. The first ally that Emperor Wudi of Han favored was a nomadic tribe called the Dayue clan.
Before the Han Dynasty, the Yue people originally lived in the Dunhuang area of the Hexi corridor and lived a free and nomadic life. After the rise of the Xiongnu in the north, the Yue people had conflicts with the Xiongnu. In the Xiongnu Lao Shangshan Yu (瞮稽粥, BC?) -160 BC), the Huns defeated the Yue tribe. Lao Shangshan Yu not only brutally killed the Yue King, but also made the head of the Yue King into a wine vessel to drink. In this way, the Yue people formed a blood feud with the Xiongnu. Under the blows of the Xiongnu, the Yue people gradually moved west, and most of them migrated to the area of today's Central Asia. The tribe formed by this part of the Yue people who migrated west is called the "Otsuki clan" tribe. At this time, Emperor Wudi of Han planned to send envoys to the distant Dayue clan. He wanted to take advantage of the huge grievances between the Yue people and the Xiongnu, and tried to unite with the Dayue clan, attack the Xiongnu from the east and west, and completely eliminate the threat of the Xiongnu to the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wudi of Han's plan seemed perfect, but the process was extremely difficult and the effect was not very ideal. The first step in uniting the Otsuki clan was to find suitable envoys. There was no suitable candidate in the dynasty, so Emperor Wudi of Han used the method of conscription and discovered Zhang Qian from the people.
Zhang Qian (BC?) - 114 BC) was a native of Chenggu in Hanzhong, Shaanxi. As an adult, Zhang Qian joined the Han Dynasty army and became a low-level lang official in the capital Chang'an, responsible for taming horses. Zhang Qian likes to read since he was a child and has a certain amount of knowledge. At the same time, he is "strong", that is, very strong, and does not admit defeat. In his early years, he followed his father to raise horses in the nomadic region of the northwest, and he had a little understanding of the customs and customs of the northwest region. The positive urban weather of Chang'an during the Han Wudi period also had a profound impact on Zhang Qian, and he set great ambitions to make a difference. After receiving the news that Emperor Wudi of Han wanted to recruit envoys from the Western Regions, Zhang Qian was very excited, feeling that the opportunity to serve the country and fulfill his ambitions had come. Therefore, he recommended himself and was appreciated by Emperor Wudi of Han. Emperor Wudi of Han eventually allowed him to send an envoy to the Western Regions. In this way, Zhang Qian went from an unknown low-level official to the big stage of the history of the Han Dynasty.
According to records, Emperor Wudi of Han twice sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions in an attempt to find allies and jointly fight the Xiongnu. The first was in the third year of the founding of the Yuan Dynasty (138 BC), and the destination of the mission was the Taiyue clan (present-day central Amu Darya River, the main area in present-day Afghanistan); The second mission was in the fourth year of Yuangari (119 BC), and the destination of the envoy was Wusun (around the present-day Ili River and Lake Issyk-Kul), and the purpose of both missions was to unite the Taiyue clan and Wusun to attack the Xiongnu from both sides.
Zhang Qian's envoy to the Dayue clan was in the third year of Jianyuan (138 AD), and his return to Chang'an was in the third year of Yuan Shuo (126 BC). When Zhang Qian set out, he led a huge delegation of more than 100 people, and when he returned to Chang'an, only two people remained: Zhang Qian and Tangyi Father (or Tangyi Ganfather, Tangyi is a compound surname, and Ganfu is a first name). Why are there only two people left in the huge mission? What happened during this mission?
It turned out that when Zhang Qian's mission crossed the Yellow River, entered the Hexi corridor, and headed for the kingdom of Dayue, it was discovered by the Xiongnu's rangers and captured by the Xiongnu. After being captured, Zhang Qian and his party were taken to the Shan Yu Wang Court in the northern steppe region. When the Xiongnu learned of Zhang Qian's intentions, they were very angry, but he did not kill Zhang Qian. On the contrary, the Xiongnu, just to appreciate Zhang Qian's courage, put him under house arrest in the royal court, and found him a Xiongnu girl as his wife, hoping that Zhang Qian would stay with the Xiongnu for a long time. Soon, Zhang Qian had a child with this Hu wife, who had no name in history. In this way, Zhang Qian stayed in the Xiongnu for ten years.
Ten years is a long time, enough to wear down a person's will! Coupled with a virtuous wife and children, according to common sense, Zhang Qian can be completely satisfied with the status quo and live in the grassland. But Zhang Qian never forgot his original intention and was loyal to his mission. Zhang Qian understood that he was a Han envoy and his mission was not yet completed! Even after being captured in the court of the Xiongnu king, he always tenaciously protected the scepter in his hand. Ten years later, taking advantage of the loose supervision of the Xiongnu, he and his father secretly fled the Xiongnu royal court and continued their march towards the Dayue clan.
On the way to the Dayue clan, facing the vast Gobi Desert and facing the barbaric land infested by wolves, Zhang Qian endured hunger, ate and slept rough, and experienced thousands of hardships. Fortunately, he also had a cousin by his side. Tang Yi's father is a Hu man, he originally lived in the northern steppe region, good at riding and shooting, kind and loyal. Later, he came to live in Chang'an and was recruited as an envoy to the Dayue clan with Zhang Qian. During the long journey, Father Tang Yi used his precise shooting skills, occasionally shot some aerial birds and beasts on the ground, and drank blood with Zhang Qian, surviving the survival crisis. The two finally arrived in the country of the Otsuki clan and met the king of the Otsuki clan as they wished.
However, to Zhang Qian's surprise, the Yue Clan people at this time were no longer the Yue Clan people of the year. After the Yue people migrated to present-day Central Asia, they defeated the kingdom of Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) and settled on the original territory of Bactria Dynasty. At that time, the Taiyue clan was already far away from the Xiongnu, and their new residence was rich in products and water. The years seem to have healed the wounds of the Yue people, and they are no longer willing to fight with the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian stayed in the Dayue Clan for more than a year, but he was never able to convince the King of the Dayue Clan. As a last resort, he had to return to the Han Dynasty with regret.
On the way back, Zhang Qian wanted to avoid the Xiongnu's sphere of influence, so he chose to go south and pass through Qinghai. Unexpectedly, the Qinghai region was also controlled by the Xiongnu, and Zhang Qian became a prisoner of the Xiongnu again and was brought to the court of the Xiongnu royal court. This echoes the saying: it should be a curse, but it cannot be avoided. But fortunately, Zhang Qian saw his Xiongnu wife again. Soon after, the Xiongnu Shan Yu died. In order to compete for the throne of Shan Yu, civil unrest broke out in the Xiongnu, and Zhang Qian took the opportunity to escape from the Xiongnu with his father and Hu's wife and returned to Chang'an. The trip of the Otsuki Clan can be described as nine deaths!
In the fourth year of Yuangari (119 BC), the seventh year after Zhang Qian's first envoy to the Western Regions returned to Chang'an, the Han army, led by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, defeated the Xiongnu army in the northern steppe region, despite not receiving the help of the Dayue clan. The Xiongnu forces retreated northwest, relying on the region south of the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang to confront the Han Dynasty. In order to completely defeat the Xiongnu, Zhang Qian proposed to Emperor Wudi of Han: unite with Wusun in the Western Regions and cut off the right arm of the Xiongnu. Emperor Wudi of Han accepted Zhang Qian's suggestion and appointed Zhang Qian as a general and envoy of Zhonglang, and once again led a large mission to Wusun.
Why did Zhang Qian propose to unite Wusun? Located in the Junggar Basin and the Ili River Valley south of the Altai Mountains and north of the Tianshan Mountains, Wusun has a strong national strength and excellent cavalry units. The water and grass are abundant here, and the people are nomadic herders. Wusun was dissatisfied with the Xiongnu's control of the northwestern region, so Wusun has always been the main opponent of the Xiongnu in the Western Regions.
In order to achieve the goal of successfully uniting Wusun, this time, the size of the mission led by Zhang Qian was even larger than the first time, and the total number of mission personnel reached 300 people, two horses each, for a total of 600 horses. The mission carried valuable gifts, tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, as well as tens of millions of gold coins and silk drapery. The mission was relatively smooth. However, unfortunately, the Wusun king Kunmo was old and had a division of power in the country, and was unable to confront the Xiongnu. The Han Dynasty's military intention to "cut off the right arm of the Xiongnu" through Wusun was once again frustrated.
That is to say, for various reasons, Emperor Wudi of Han sent Zhang Qian to unite with the Dayue clan and Wusun to attack the Xiongnu, not only that, but the Han Dynasty also spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, and even sacrificed many lives. On the surface, as an envoy, Zhang Qian's two envoys to the Western Regions did not satisfactorily complete the tasks assigned to him by Emperor Wudi of Han. However, surprisingly, Emperor Wudi of Han not only did not surrender Zhang Qian, but successively appointed Zhang Qian as Taizhong Dafu and Daxing, and then made him the Marquis of Bowang, staying by his side to listen to him. This series of practices is obviously contrary to common sense, what is the reason for Emperor Wudi of Han to do this?
Bowang Spiritual Legacy for 10,000 Years:
Naming of the "Silk Road"
Modern society is an information society, without which people cannot survive. If you forget to bring your mobile phone when you go out alone, it is as if you are temporarily cut off from the world. In ancient times, information was just as important to a country as to a person. And the reason why Emperor Wudi of Han praised Zhang Qian was also because of the important information brought back by Zhang Qian's "gouging" of the Western Regions.
In ancient times, people had two understandings of the Western Regions: the narrow sense of the Western Regions referred to Yumen Pass, west of Yangguan, east of Congling, mainly the Xinjiang region of the present-day mainland. The broad Western Regions include the vast areas west of the Green Ridge, central and western Asia, and eastern Europe. The Western Regions that Zhang Qian sent to include both the Western Regions in the narrow sense and a part of the Western Regions in the broad sense. This process demonstrates Zhang Qian's resilience and perseverance, and more importantly, Zhang Qian's act of "hollowing out" the Western Regions has opened a door to the outside world for Chinese more than 2,000 years ago.
As you know, the mainland is an oriental country. In the Chinese before the Qin and Han dynasties, the West had always been a very mysterious place. Before Zhang Qian, although the Chinese people of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties had sporadic contacts with present-day Xinjiang, Central Asia and West Asia, there were also some scattered records of the mountain situation and terroir products east of the Green Ridge in documents such as the "Classic of Mountains and Seas, the Great Wilderness and the Western Classic" and "The Legend of Mu Tianzi", but these records were often vague. Some of these documents even mistakenly believe that the western boundary is the Kunlun Mountain, and the owner of the Kunlun Mountain is the Queen Mother of the West. Therefore, for the Chinese before the Qin and Han dynasties, the Western world was full of mystery.
Zhang Qian, on the other hand, made two envoys to the Western Regions, traveling tens of thousands of miles, covering Wusun, Guizi (Xinjiang Kuqa), Yanqi (Xinjiang Yanqi), and Cheshi (Xinjiang Turpan) in present-day Xinjiang, as well as Dawan (east of the upper reaches of the Syr Darya River in the Fergana Basin), Dayue clan, Kangju (the lower reaches of the Syr Darya River and its north), Daxia (Afghanistan), Anxia (Iran), Tiaozhi (Syria) and other places in Central Asia and West Asia. He told Chinese that the Kunlun Mountains are not the border of western China, and beyond the Kunlun Mountains, there is a vast world waiting for Chinese to recognize. This changed Chinese previous worldview and inspired Chinese continued exploration of the Western world for more than two thousand years. For example, the "western wind" under Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty and the "west wind in the east" after the Opium War are the inheritance of Zhang Qian's spirit by later Chinese.
Zhang Qian also introduced to Emperor Wudi of Han the unique products he had seen in the Western Regions, such as wool cloth, felt, sweat and blood horses, pomegranates, grapes, as well as musical instruments such as the gong and pipa of Central Asian countries, as well as cultural forms such as music and dance. These were all unheard of and unseen by the people of the Han Dynasty at that time. Emperor Wudi of Han opened his eyes. Zhang Qian also reported to Emperor Wudi of Han that Dawan, Anxi and other countries did not have silk and lacquerware, and did not master the technology of casting money and iron. At that time, agriculture and handicrafts in the Western Regions were relatively backward, and there was a demand for silk, lacquerware and other products produced in the Central Plains, as well as technologies such as iron smelting and steelmaking. This made Emperor Wudi of Han realize the need to open a communication channel between China and the West.
In 114 BC, the year after Zhang Qian's second envoy to the Western Regions to return to Chang'an, Zhang Qian died in Chang'an. In the history books, there is no clear record of the year in which Zhang Qian was born; How old he was when he died, we don't know. The only thing we can be sure of today is that Zhang Qian made two envoys to the Western Regions, spanning 23 years (138-115 BC), and he devoted his life to the cause of exploring the Western Regions. During his lifetime, Emperor Wudi of Han made Zhang Qian the Marquis of Bowang, which means "broad and broad vision". In the eyes of Emperor Wudi of Han, Zhang Qian was the most knowledgeable and far-sighted person of that era.
In the late 19th century, a German geographer, Richthofen, traveled to China for many years. After returning to China, in the first volume of his five-volume magnum opus, China – Personal Travels and the Results of Research Based on It, he first proposed the "Silk Road" ("Seidenstrassen" in German; The concept of "Silk Road" in English refers specifically to the Western Regions communication route that connected China with Hezhong (between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya in Central Asia) and China and India through the "Silk Road" trade from 114 BC to 127 AD.
Generally speaking, Richthofen named the land passage connecting the Han Empire with Central Asia and West Asia during the Two Han Dynasties to the Roman Empire for thousands of kilometers between the East and the West as the "Silk Road", and marked it on the map: starting from Chang'an, China, ending in Rome, Italy. Once the term "Silk Road" was coined, it was widely adopted by Chinese and Western scholars. Later, although some scholars tried to replace it with terms such as "jade road", "tea road" and "porcelain road", these names could not be generally accepted by scholars. Therefore, the term "Silk Road" has been used to this day.
Why did Richthofen set the starting point of the opening of the "Silk Road" in 114 BC? It was precisely because this year was the year that Zhang Qian died. At the time of Zhang Qian's death, the main line of the "Silk Road" had actually been officially opened. This road starts from Xi'an, passes through Baoji and Tianshui, passes through the Hexi corridor, goes out of Yumen Pass and Yangguan into Xinjiang, follows the northern and southern edges of the Taklamakan Desert, merges in Kashgar, Xinjiang, and then crosses the Pamir Plateau into Central Asia and West Asia, and reaches the Mediterranean coast. Following the path taken by Zhang Qian before his death, a large number of Chinese and Western envoys, merchants, monks, travelers, and explorers appeared on this road more and more frequently, linking Chinese civilization, ancient Indian civilization, Arab civilization, Persian civilization and European civilization. Therefore, Richthofen set the beginning of the opening of the "Silk Road" in 114 BC, and commemorated Zhang Qian, the great pioneer of the "Silk Road".
Cultural Communication and Cultural Exchange:
Silk Road memory in Chang'an
Wang Wei, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once wrote in a poem:
Weicheng is light and dusty in the rain, and the guest house is green and willowy.
Persuade Jun to drink more wine, and go west to Yangguan without cause.
——Wang Wei "Sending the Second Envoy of the Yuan to Anxi"
The name of the poem is "Sending the Second Envoy of the Yuan to Anxi", Anxi is the abbreviation of Anxi Dufu, an institution established by the central Tang Dynasty to govern the Western Regions region, and its seat is in Kucha, present-day Xinjiang. Weicheng was the old city of Xianyang, the capital of the Qin Dynasty, on the north bank of Weishui northwest of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty (Xi'an was called Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty). Yangguan is a pass at the end of the Hexi Corridor and southwest of Dunhuang, and it enters the Western Regions after leaving Yangguan. Since Zhang Qian opened the "Silk Road", Chang'an has been recognized as the starting point of the "Silk Road". The capital of the Tang Dynasty was Chang'an, and the "Silk Road" entered a period of prosperity and development, and Chang'an became a metropolis with a population of nearly one million. The starting point of the "Silk Road" was at the Kaiyuan Gate of Chang'an City (one of the three gates in the western city wall). According to records, there was a stone tablet outside the Kaiyuan Gate, on which the following words were inscribed: "Go west to Anxi nine thousand nine hundred li." It is generally believed that the overland "Silk Road" is about 7,000 kilometers from Chang'an to Rome and about 4,000 kilometers within China. The Tang Dynasty estimated the distance from Chang'an to Kuqa as "9,900 li", which is an approximation, but it is very close to today's actual calculation of 4,000 kilometers, which is amazing. Wang Wei's poem describes the scene of the poet himself bidding farewell to a friend named Yuan Er who is about to leave Anxi in Weicheng. Among them, "persuade the jun to drink more wine, the west out of the Yangguan without cause" has become a famous phrase in the farewell poem, which has been recited through the ages. Here, Wang Wei tells us that his friend named Yuan Er is about to embark on the distant and mysterious "Silk Road" to fulfill his mission.
Through the "Silk Road" opened up by Zhang Qian, China's handmade products such as silk, porcelain, tea, lacquerware, ironware, papermaking, printing, compass, gunpowder, as well as food, clothing, architecture, literature, art and other living works of art, have been continuously imported into all parts of the world, playing a huge role in world civilization and progress. For example, around the 1st century BC, silk from China could already be purchased in Rome. One of the most famous monarchs of the Roman Empire, Caesar (102-44 BC), once had a tunic made of silk from China.
In addition to a large amount of silk circulating on the "Silk Road", China's scientific and technological inventions also flowed into the West. As we all know, papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, and papermaking was invented on the mainland during the Two Han Dynasties. After the opening of the "Silk Road", paper produced in China was introduced to Central Asia and West Asia. This cheap, fine, white paper is very popular there. However, papermaking technology is a national patent and is strictly forbidden to be transmitted. So, when and through what channels, the mainland's papermaking technology spread to the West?
One of the more popular views is that the western spread of papermaking is related to a war that took place in the Tang Dynasty. This war is called the Battle of Tyros, and the two sides were the Tang Dynasty and the Great Eclipse (in the area of present-day Iran, Arabia). Tyros is a city in the Stone State of Central Asia, located in present-day Kazakhstan (Zhambyl City) in Central Asia, on the Silk Road. In the tenth year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's Tianbao (751 AD), in order to fight for control of Tyros, Gao Xianzhi, a general of the Tang Dynasty and an envoy of Anxi Jiedu, led an army of 30,000 and fought a fierce battle here with the 70,000 army of the Great Food. As a result, Gao Xianzhi was defeated and more than 20,000 soldiers were captured. Big Cannibal has long coveted China's papermaking technology, but it is only suffering from not getting the opportunity to make paper, and this time the opportunity has come. Among the captured Tang soldiers, some mastered papermaking technology. So the shrewd cannibals organized these people and built paper mills in the places under their jurisdiction. In this way, the papermaking technology invented by China was officially introduced to Central Asia, and later from Central Asia to West Asia, and then to the countries bordering the Mediterranean.
At the same time as the spread of Chinese culture to the west, in turn, animals, plants, vegetables, fruits, music, dance, games, as well as religious and scientific and technological achievements of the Western Regions entered the Chinese mainland through the "Silk Road", which had a profound impact on the daily life, ideology and belief of the Chinese, and even Chinese civilization.
Today, pomegranates, grapes, watermelons, walnuts, carrots, sesame, cucumbers and other crops have greatly enriched the Chinese table, changed the diet of Chinese, and even changed the daily life of Chinese. But let's not forget that these species were introduced to the mainland from the Western Regions through the "Silk Road" opened by Zhang Qian. In the Tang Dynasty, after the introduction of these crops, they were first tried to plant in Chang'an and its vicinity, and after successful planting, they spread to other areas, which is the advantage of Chang'an as a capital city.
The Tang dynasty poet Yuan Shu once wrote a poem in which he wrote:
What year An Shiguo, Wanligong durian?
Passing the source of the river, because of the Han envoy.
——Yuan Shu "Twenty Rhymes of Feeling Pomegranate"
Anguo and Shiguo are small Central Asian countries, in the territory of present-day Uzbekistan (Bukhara, Tashkent), rich in pomegranates (originating in Persia), so pomegranates are also known as Anpomegranates. The first and second sentences of the poem raise the question: When did An Shiguo pay tribute to the imperial court with pomegranate flowers? Then the poet Yuan Shu asked himself and said: Perhaps Zhang Qian, who was sent to the Western Regions, took a raft to explore the source of the Yellow River and established friendly relations with the countries of the Western Regions, so that the envoys of An Shi State came to Chang'an with Zhang Qian and offered pomegranate flowers.
Pomegranates are easy to survive and can be planted in pots or directly on the ground. The whole body of pomegranate is a treasure, and the seeds can be eaten, quenching thirst, strengthening the spleen and nourishing the stomach; Peels and roots can be used medicinally; Flowers can be ornamental. At the same time, pomegranate has many seeds, which means that the descendants are full of children and many blessings, and is a symbol of auspicious wishes, which is deeply loved by Chinese. Emperor Wudi of Han ordered pomegranates to be planted in Shanglinyuan in Chang'an and Lishan Hot Spring Palace. Later, pomegranate trees were planted all over Chang'an City and gradually planted all over the country. Therefore, at that time, Chinese was accustomed to eating pomegranates and appreciating the blossoms of pomegranates.
From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, women liked to wear pomegranate red skirts very much, so during that period, red skirts were often called "pomegranate skirts". Over time, "pomegranate skirt" became synonymous with young and beautiful women in that period, and "bowing down under the pomegranate skirt" became synonymous with courtship. To this day, we still use this phrase. However, tracing back to the roots, as Yuan Shu mentioned in this poem, the pomegranate tree species first came from the Anshi Kingdom in the Western Regions, which was the direct result of Zhang Qian's envoy to the Western Regions.
In addition to pomegranates, how many new species Zhang Qian brought back to Chang'an from the Western Regions, we have no way to verify today. However, it can be determined that pomegranates, grapes, watermelons, walnuts, carrots, sesame, cucumbers and other species were introduced to China through the "Silk Road" in the Han Dynasty after Zhang Qian's envoy to the Western Regions. Around the time of Zhang Qian's death, Emperor Wudi of Han had already defeated the Xiongnu and officially set up the four counties of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang in the Hexi Corridor; In 60 BC, Emperor Xuan of Han established the Western Regions Protectorate to manage the affairs of the Western Regions. Since then, the Xinjiang region has become an inseparable part of the mainland's territory. Since then, the "Silk Road" has been unblocked. The Han Dynasty sent a large number of envoys to the countries of the Western Regions, and the countries of the Western Regions also sent a large number of envoys to visit Chang'an. After Zhang Qian "chiseled" the Western Regions, he was extremely famous among the countries of the Western Regions. Coupled with Zhang Qian's friendliness and integrity, he has won the trust of all countries in the Western Regions. Therefore, later Han envoys called themselves Marquis of Bowang in order to win the trust of foreign countries. In this way, a strange phenomenon was caused, that is, Bowanghou became a common name for the envoys of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty and became a golden signboard for passing through the Western Regions. From this, we can infer that some of the above species should have been brought back to Chang'an directly by Zhang Qian, some may have been brought back by later envoys, and some (such as pomegranate seeds) were paid tribute by foreign envoys. It's just that because these envoys are all under the banner of Bowanghou, the credit for introducing these species goes to Zhang Qian.
In addition to food, the entertainment methods of the Western Regions countries, as well as musical instruments such as the flute, pipa, hujiao, hujiao, hudi, etc., as well as music and dance, have also been introduced to Chang'an. Sima Qian recorded in the "Records of History" that the state of Lian, which belonged to the Roman Empire, contributed good dazzling people, which we now call magicians, to Emperor Wudi of Han. At that time, magicians showed Chang'an people two major skills: one ability was to breathe fire in the mouth, and the other was to be able to bind themselves, which opened the eyes of Chang'an people.
epilogue
Before the Ming Dynasty, Chang'an was today's Xi'an. Under the influence of the "Silk Road", the "Hu wind" of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty was prevalent, and Chang'an people's clothing, food, housing, entertainment, sports, culture and education, and even music, dance, painting, religion, etc. were deeply influenced by the culture of the Western Regions, and Chang'an truly became an open international metropolis, the center of world economic and cultural exchanges. The Han and Tang dynasties were the two prosperous dynasties in Chinese history, and Chang'an was fortunate enough to witness the opening of the Silk Road; Chang'an contributed the "Silk Road" to the world, and the "Silk Road" in turn gave back to Chang'an's prosperity and glory for thousands of years.
Author's affiliation: Henan University
This article was published in Biographical Literature, Issue 2, 2021