Since the pre-Qin period, the Huns have been threatening the Huaxia regime in the northern Central Plains. During the Warring States Period, Yan had the Great Wall to resist the Xiongnu, and Zhao Wuling rode horses and shot arrows against the Xiongnu in a rage. Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall and Meng Tian defended the frontier fortress, all in order to resist the Xiongnu fighters going south.
In the early years of his accession to the throne, Liu Bang tried to use force against the Huns. As a result, he was besieged by Huns in Deng Bai (near Datong, Shanxi) and almost captured. Later, he adopted Lou Jing's pro-DPRK policy, and the war between the two sides ended temporarily. In the second year after Liu Bang's death, Huns Khan Morton once challenged him to marry the widowed Lv Hou. Lv Hou submit to humiliation, personally wrote a letter, said khan had heard, said Ai Jia is ugly. I have prepared a beautiful Korean princess for you. During the Wenjing period, people were retired, so they took a break and continued to make up with the Xiongnu and their relatives.
After Emperor Wu ascended the throne, relying on the accumulation since the founding of the People's Republic of China 60 years ago, after full preparation, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and other outstanding generals were mobilized to fight against the Huns. It is against this background that Zhang Qian sent an envoy to rüzh: He.
There is a famous map of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions in the early Tang Dynasty in Cave 323 of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. According to legend, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu and won the Xiongnu's sacrifice to heaven, which was enshrined in Ganquan Palace. He sent Zhang Qian to Summer. What's the name of Jin people? The theme of this mural comes from Shu Wei's Shi Lao Zhi, which is not true. However, Zhang Qian, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, sent a mission to the Western Regions and opened the Silk Road, which was widely recognized by people in the Han and Tang Dynasties. This mural shows more clearly.
In BC 139, Zhang Qian went to Dayue, which was originally a military diplomatic act. Dayue nomadic in Hexi Corridor and Tianshan Mountains. Xiongnu and Yuejia also had their own conquests. During the reign of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, the Yue family was defeated, and the king of Chu was killed by Xiongnu. His head was made into a drowning instrument by the Huns, and the Yue family was forced to flee to the west. This kind of information was known by the Han people, so they sent Zhang Qian to contact the west, hoping to "break the Huns' right arm" with the joint action of Dayue people.
Zhang Qian rushed through the interception of Xiongnu, crossed the green ridge to the west, and went through hardships to reach Dawan (now Fergana Valley in Central Asia). Zhang Qian arrived at Dayue's home via Kangju (between Amu Darya River and Syr Darya River in Central Asia) under the escort of guards sent by Dawan King. After the Dayue family moved westward, it invaded the territory of the old Xia State (that is, Bactria in northern Afghanistan) and settled down to engage in agriculture. After negotiating with Zhang Qian for more than a year, I still failed to get to the point and had to return. In order to avoid being intercepted by Xiongnu again, Zhang Qian changed the southern margin of Tarim Basin to Qaidam Basin, and made a detour to Qinghai to return home. Unfortunately, he was captured by Xiongnu. A year later, the Xiongnu Khan was in civil strife (Xie Khan expelled his brother Khan's son and legitimate heir to the throne), and Zhang Qian escaped and returned to Chang 'an in 13 (before 126). Soon, Zhang Qian attacked Xiongnu with Wei Qing. Because he knew the geography of mountains and rivers and the position of aquatic plants in Xiongnu area, he made great contributions to the victory of the Han army and was named Bo Wanghou.
Although Zhang Qian's first trip to the Western Regions did not form an alliance with the Da Yue family, he unexpectedly reported the political, economic, geographical, cultural and customs information of the countries in the Western Regions to Emperor Wu, which aroused the interest of Emperor Wu in managing the Western Regions.
There was not only war between Da Yue and Xiongnu, but also trade. Wang Guowei believes that the Yue family is the "Yu family" in Yizhoushu or the "Yu family" in Mu Zhuan. For a long time since the pre-Qin period, the Yue people not only traded livestock products with neighboring ethnic groups, but also trafficked the jade articles from Khotan to the surrounding Huns, who then sold the goods to the Central Plains. This is how a chain on the jade road is connected. Chinese mainland's main commodity for jade or leather goods is silk. In BC 12 1 year, Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions again, which was no longer a purely military diplomatic act, but included more real economic, trade and cultural exchanges. The official-led Silk Road trade was formed, and the folk Silk Road trade that existed since the pre-Qin period was further developed.
At the same time that Zhang Qian made his first mission to the Western Regions, the Western Han Dynasty also launched a series of attacks on the Huns, among which the decisive battles were 127, 12 1,19 BC. In BC 127, Wei Qing defeated the Xiongnu and took control of Henan (now south of Hetao). In BC 12 1 year, the Xiongnu was divided under the attack of Huo Qubing, and the evil king surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and the Hexi Corridor was completely controlled by the Han Dynasty. In 1 19 BC, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing attacked the Huns separately, and the Huns fled in defeat, thus further expelling the Huns to Mobei. After these three large-scale counterattacks, the Western Han Dynasty took the initiative in the struggle with the Xiongnu, and the road to the Western Regions was basically smooth, which created the necessary conditions for Zhang Qian's second mission to the Western Regions, the safe and smooth Silk Road and the friendly exchanges between the countries in the Western Regions and the Western Han Dynasty.
However, the counterattack of the Western Han Dynasty only wiped out the Huns' power in the desert south and Hexi Corridor, and the western countries were still controlled by the Huns, which still threatened the northwest border security of the Western Han Dynasty. In order to eradicate the Xiongnu forces and Liang Wudi's ambition to expand its territory, Liang Wudi sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions again in the same year when he attacked the Xiongnu for the third time, trying to contact Wusun and other countries in the Western Regions to contain the Xiongnu. This time, the mission team is huge, with 300 attendants, cattle and sheep 1 10,000, and coins and silk "tens of millions". But this time, Zhang Qian still failed to achieve the expected purpose. When they arrived in Wusun (the Ili River and the Chu River valley), it was at a time when Wusun was politically unstable because of the struggle for the throne, and the domestic nobles were afraid of the Huns. Therefore, the political goal of the Western Han Dynasty allied with Wusun to attack the Huns failed again.
However, during his stay in Wusun, Zhang Qian sent envoys to Dawan, Kangju, Da Yue's, Daxia, Rest in Peace, Body Poisoning and Khotan countries in Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia for extensive contacts. In 65438 BC+065438 BC+05 BC, when Zhang Qian returned to China, Wusun sent an interpreter and an envoy to Chang 'an to meet the rich people of the Han Dynasty. After the report, the prestige of the Han dynasty in the western regions was greatly improved. Soon, the envoys sent by Zhang Qian also returned home, bringing back many envoys from the countries they visited. Since then, the traffic between China and the West has been officially opened, and the political and trade relations between the Western Han government and the Western Regions and Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia have developed rapidly. Envoys from the west face to face on the road. The Western Han Dynasty sent a dozen missions a year, ranging from five or six to hundreds of missions. The places I have been to are far away, and the time required for a visit ranges from several years to 89 years. Businessmen from the East are also paying by the day. Since then, the land traffic between China and the West has continued to extend westward, reaching countries such as Chae Yeon (between Aral Sea and Caspian Sea) and Tiaozhi (between two river basins).
Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions was originally intended to unite all ethnic groups in the northwest to fight against the Huns, but objectively it played a role in opening up the east-west land transportation blocked by the Huns for a long time, communicating the economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West, establishing friendly ties between the Central Plains and the northwest frontier, and opening up a new era of direct exchanges between China and the West. This is of such great historical significance that Zhang Qian's mission is called "hollowing out" in history. /kloc-Richthofen, a German geographer in the 10th and 9th centuries, called this channel of trade and cultural exchange between the East and the West opened by Zhang Qian the "Silk Road".
Although Zhang Qian's two missions were of great significance to the opening of the Silk Road, the traffic between the Western Regions and the Central Plains was still blocked for a long time because the Xiongnu forces did not completely withdraw from the Western Regions during this period. The real prosperity and smoothness of the Silk Road should be attributed to the Western Han government's attack on Xiongnu and the establishment of the Western Regions.
Taking advantage of a series of victories in the Xiongnu War, the Western Han Dynasty established four counties in Hexi Corridor in BC 12 1 BC and BC11BC, commonly known as Hexi Four Counties, in order to cut off the connection between Xiongnu and Qiang people and ensure the smooth throat of the Silk Road. Since then, the Xiongnu forces have only developed westward and started a long-term struggle with the Western Han Dynasty for the western regions. In the end, the Western Han Dynasty won a great victory. In the third year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (108), the Han army defeated Loulan (the ancient city of Hanloulan is located in the northwest of Lop Nur today) and the automobile market of Xiongnu (now Turpan). In the fourth year of Tai Chu (before 10 1), Li Guangli conquered Dawan. Two years before the collapse of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, that is, the fourth year of the conscription system (the first 89 years), the Han army, together with the troops of the six western regions such as Loulan, once again defeated the Che kingdom supported by the Xiongnu, and the King Che surrendered, which greatly shook the Xiongnu's rule in the western regions.
Emperor Zhao Han, who succeeded to the throne (reigned in 74 years before 87 BC), strengthened the border defense. Xiongnu couldn't take advantage of the Han Dynasty, but focused on attacking Wusun State, and Princess Wusun asked Emperor Xian for help. Two years before Xuan Di, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (reigned in 49 years before 74 BC), the Han Dynasty mobilized150,000 troops and Wusun to attack the Huns, and won a great victory. After this war, the Huns were badly weakened and could not compete with the Western Han Dynasty in the Western Regions for a long time. In the second year of Xuan Di's knighthood (60 years before), the Huns clashed. Uhaanyehe ascended the throne in turmoil (the reign time was 3 1 year before 58 BC). Uhaanyehe sent many missions to the Han Dynasty. In the first month of the first year (the first 33 years), Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty called for the third time and invited himself as the husband of the Han Dynasty. Give the wall of the Han Palace to the queen as his wife (later), and call it "Zhaojun and Fan". It is also "affinity" or "harmony", but this time, not only has the situation in Han and Hungary changed, but it is no longer a forced humiliation for Han, but a benevolent move to soften the foreign country. Until Wang Mang usurped the throne, there was no war between Han and Hungary for forty years. At this stage, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ruled the frontier.
Looking back at the history of Qin Huang and Han Emperor governing the northwest frontier, we find that:
In order to resist the ravages of Xiongnu, Zhao Yan and Daqin Dynasty built the Great Wall.
In order to avoid the loss of life, the monarch made peace with his subjects in the early Han Dynasty and gave it to the princess of the Han family.
In order to safeguard the dignity of the country, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent a great lion to sweep the court of Lu. "If the Huns don't die, why should we do this?" There is also "don't teach Huma to cross the Yinshan Mountain", which especially reflects the heroism of the big fellow soldiers. So I opened the Western Regions and the Silk Road.
Finally, after the Xiongnu completely withdrew from the Western Regions and surrendered to the forces of the Han Dynasty, the children and grandchildren of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still solved the problem of good-neighborliness and friendship between Han and Hungary in a gentle way.
This cycle of alternating rigidity and softness shows the wisdom of our ancients in dealing with ethnic contradictions in the frontier, and also leaves us with useful historical reference and enlightenment!
(The writer is a professor and doctoral supervisor of Tsinghua University History Department. )