Chapter Thirteen Ban Chao Cast Pen from Rong
Ban Biao in the Eastern Han Dynasty was a very learned man. Ban Biao had two sons, one named Ban Gu and the other named Ban Chao, who studied literature and history with his father from an early age. After Ban Biao's death, Emperor Ming of Han asked Ban Gu to do the history of Lantai Lingshi and let him complete the historical book "Book of Han" that Ban Biao had not written.
Network illustration
"Throwing Pen from Rong"
Ban Chao is Ban Gu's younger brother, so he followed his brother to do some copying work. Saying that the brothers were very learned, but their temperaments were different, Ban Gu liked to study the Hundred Schools of Thought and concentrate on writing the Book of Han. On the contrary, Ban Chao did not want to lie on the desk, and when he heard that the Xiongnu were constantly invading the frontier and plundering the residents and livestock, he threw his heart into the battle from Rong to the front line to kill the enemy.
In 73 AD, Emperor Ming of Han sent the general Dou Gu to attack the Xiongnu, and Ban Chaoru went out with the army to serve as the acting Sima under Dou Gu. Because of Ban Chao's bravery in battle, he reached Dou Gu's appreciation and sent an envoy to the Western Regions as an emissary to contact the countries of the Western Regions to jointly oppose the Xiongnu.
Ban Chao, with his entourage, first arrived at Shanshan (in present-day Xinguo) in the Western Regions.
Shan shan was originally attached to the Xiongnu, but because the Xiongnu let them pay taxes and pay tribute and extort their property, they were very reluctant. This time, when the envoys of the Han Dynasty came, they were very enthusiastic to entertain these guests from afar. However, a few days later, Ban Chao found that King Shanshan was gradually becoming cold to them.
The reason for this was that the Xiongnu knew that the Han Dynasty had sent people to contact Shanshan, so they sent emissaries to provoke them. After Ban Chao knew the details, he discussed countermeasures with his subordinates.
Late one night, Ban Chao took 36 people and quietly ran to the camp of the Xiongnu emissaries, and took advantage of the wind to set a fire and shouted loudly. The Hun emissaries were defenseless, awakened from their dreams, and wandered everywhere. Ban Chao rushed into the tent, and the rest followed suit, killing the Xiongnu emissaries and more than 30 retinues, and burning all the tents.
After dawn, Ban Chao invited King Shanshan over. Seeing that the Xiongnu emissaries were killed by Ban Chaoquan, King Shanshan expressed his willingness to make peace with the Han Dynasty and jointly resist the Xiongnu.
"Communicating the Western Regions"
This time, Ban Chao returned to Luoyang, and Emperor Ming of Han promoted him to be a military commander and sent an envoy to Khotan.
The king of Khotan saw that there were few people in Ban Chao, and the reception was not enthusiastic. Ban Chao advised him to break away from the Xiongnu and reconcile with the Han Dynasty. The king of Khotan could not make up his mind for a while, so he asked a wizard for advice. The shaman said, "The envoys of the Han Dynasty have a good horse that can be brought to the gods, and the gods will bless our king." ”
After the King of Khotan heard this, he sent the minister of state to Ask Ban Chao for a horse.
Ban Chao said, "Okay, ask you wizards to take it yourself." "The wizard came with great interest when he could get his horse. Ban Chao didn't say anything more to him and immediately pulled out his knife and killed the wizard. Ban Chao raised the wizard's head to the king of Khotan and said, "If you collude with the Xiongnu again, this wizard will be your example." The King of Khotan had long said ban chao's prestige, and when he saw this scene, he was frightened and softened, and expressed his willingness to reconcile with the Han Dynasty.
Later, Ban Chao continued to send envoys to the countries of the Western Regions, and many countries in the Western Regions were annexed to the Eastern Han Dynasty and also freed from the shackles of the Xiongnu.
Ban Chao lived in the Western Regions for many years, strengthened the ties between the Western Regions and the Central Plains, restored the situation during Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, and often had emissaries and businessmen interact with each other, making outstanding contributions to the formation, consolidation and development of China's multi-ethnic state.
Historical Archives
Bangu and the Book of Han
The Book of Han is China's first chronicle of the dynasty, and it is also another important historical masterpiece in ancient China after the "History". The Book of Han has 12 books, 8 tables, 10 zhi, 70 columns, a total of 100 articles, recording the history of Han Gaozu's first year (206 BC) to the fourth year of Wang Mangdi Emperor (23 AD) a total of 229 years. This kind of chronicle is the idea of Bangu. Since then, the "correct history" of successive dynasties has adopted this genre. Ban Gu's "Two Capitals" was also a very influential literary work at that time.