Zhang Qian Is Sent West to Find an Ally Against the Xiongnu
Han Emperor Wu's envoy is captured, held for a decade, and still completes his mission
Quick facts
- Sent by
- Emperor Wu of Han (Wudi)
- Goal
- Alliance with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu
- Time in Xiongnu captivity
- About 10 years
- Total length of mission
- 13 years (138-125 BCE)
What happened
In 138 BCE the Han emperor Wudi sent an official named Zhang Qian west from the capital to find the Yuezhi, a people the nomadic Xiongnu had driven from their homeland and, according to Han court informants, forced to make a drinking cup from the skull of the Yuezhi king. Wudi wanted a military alliance against the Xiongnu, who had been raiding Han territory and extracting tribute from Chinese emperors for decades. Zhang Qian never reached his goal directly: Xiongnu horsemen captured him almost immediately and held him for about ten years, during which he married and had a son, before he escaped westward and eventually reached the Yuezhi in Bactria. The Yuezhi, comfortably resettled and uninterested in revenge, declined the alliance. Zhang Qian was captured again on his return journey and did not reach Chang'an until 125 BCE, thirteen years after he had left.
Why it matters
Zhang Qian failed at the one thing he was sent to do, but his report to the Han court on Ferghana, Bactria, Parthia, and the other kingdoms of Central Asia gave China its first firsthand intelligence on the region, and the Han acted on it: the routes he traveled were soon garrisoned, taxed, and traveled by merchants rather than only diplomats. Chinese and Western historians alike treat his journey as the event that opened the corridor later named the Silk Road.
How we know
Zhang Qian's mission is recorded in the Han-era historical narratives (the Shiji and Han Shu), translated selections of which are hosted by the University of Washington's Silk Road Seattle project; his own words describing his capture and escape survive in the Han court chronicler's account, which quotes him telling the king of Ferghana directly that he had been "made prisoner by the Hsiung-nu" and had escaped.
Sources
- Silk Road Seattle, University of Washington. Selections from the Han Narrative Histories · Primary source (author-declared)depts.washington.edu · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Daniel C. Waugh, University of Washington, Silk Road Seattle. The Origins of the Silk Road (Wednesday University Lecture Series) · Reputable sourcedepts.washington.edu · The domain "depts.washington.edu" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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- History of China → · See the full Han dynasty story on the History of China timeline.