Zhang qian biography of alberta
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Zhang qian - wikipedia.
Dec 1, © Ulrich Theobald
Zhang Qian 張騫 (d. BCE) was a traveller and discoverer of the mid-Former Han period 前漢 ( BCE-8 CE).
He hailed from Chenggu 成固 (modern Chenggu 城固, Shaanxi) and became a court attendant (lang 郎) in BCE.
In order to check the strength of the steppe federation of the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. BCE) planned to create an alliance with the Tokharians (Chinese name Yuezhi 月氏) that lived in the southern region of modern Uzbekistan.
Zhang qian biography of alberta
Zhang Qian participated as a voluntary member of the embassy to the Yuezhi.
When the mission crossed the land of the Xiongnu, Zhang Qian was captured and spent more then ten years among them. He even married a native woman but was later able to escape.
He travelled westwards into the lands of the Dayuan 大宛 (in the Ferghana Basin, eastern Uzbekistan) and the Kangju 康居 (middle course of the River Syr-Darya in Uzbekistan) before he finally arrived in the land of the Yuezhi. Although the Tokharians had been expelled by the Xiongnu fr