Zhang Qian 張騫 was a Chinese official and diplomat who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China during the Han dynasty. Today, Zhang Qian's travels are associated with the major route of transcontinental trade, the Silk Road. His missions opened trade routes between East and West and exposed different products and kingdoms to each other through trade. Zhang's accounts were compiled by Sima Qian in the 1st century BC. The Central Asian parts of the Silk Road routes were expanded around 114 BC largely through the missions of and exploration by Zhang Qian. Today, Zhang is considered a Chinese national hero and revered for the key role he played in opening China to the wider world of commercial trade.
At the time the nomadic Xiongnu tribes controlled what is now Inner Mongolia and dominated the Western Regions, Xiyu (西域), the areas neighbouring the territory of the Han Dynasty. The Han emperor was interested in establishing commercial ties with distant lands but outside contact was prevented by the hostile Xiongnu.
However to get to the territory of the Yuezhi he was forced to pass through land controlled by the Xiongnu who captured him (as well as Ganfu) and enslaved him for ten years. During this time he married a Xiongnu wife, who bore him a son, and gained the trust of the Xiongnu leader.
On his mission Zhang Qian had noticed products from an area now known as northern India. However, the task remained to find a trade route not obstructed by the Xiongnu to India. Zhang Qian set out on a second mission to forge a route from China to India via Sichuan, but after many attempts this effort proved unsuccessful.
In 119–115 BC Zhang Qian was sent on a third mission by the emperor, to develop ties with the Wusun (烏孫) people. This time, more than three hundred people were along with Zhang. They arrived at Wusun smoothly and visited Qangly, dayuan, dayueshi, Daxia, Anxi, Sindhu (in India) and other countries.
From his missions Zhang Qian brought back many important products, the most important being alfalfa seeds (for growing horse fodder), strong horses with hard hooves, and knowledge of the extensive existence of new products, peoples and technologies of the outside world. He died c. 114 BC after spending twenty-five years travelling on these dangerous and strategic missions. Although at a time in his life he was regarded with disgrace for being defeated by the Xiongnu, by the time of his death he had been bestowed with great honours by the emperor. Zhang Qian's journeys had promoted a great variety of economic and cultural exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. Because silk became the dominant product traded from China, this great trade route later became known as the Silk Road.
