Food in Xi'an and Beijing

Hello everyone! I have been back from my trip for a while, though I haven't made any updates to my blog, because of a sudden visit by my in-laws and grandparents. These kinds of visits only happen at the spur of the moment, so there isn't usually much time to prepare. Anyhow, I'm sorry I didn't get finished with the post about Empress Wu. I really tried to get it finished on the morning we left, but I ended up just staring at my computer dumbstruck. I really don't know what the problem was. Unfortunately, I will have to put that post on hold, but I'll definitely get back to it! For now, I'm going to give you a food blog that gets a five star rating (the food, not the blog) from your's truly.         

 There is a Chinese phrase 民以食为天, which basically means "food is the god of the people." If you have spent any amount of time in China, you will know that, for it's people, this is so true! In other places, we make small talk about the weather, but in China people make small talk about what they have eaten. Food is one of the most important things for people near me, and people are so generous with it. I often joke with my friends that before I came to China, I used to say "no thank you," but now I say "please no," because of all the snacks my friends offer me.
             China is already famous for it's great food, and I have had some really excellent culinary experiences here, but I have to say my experience in Xi'an was like a food epiphany. I think it might have changed my dietary habits, but that has yet to be seen as my in-laws just went back home and they've successfully fattened me up with their cooking. Hui and I have already begun actively seeking out some of these foods in Hangzhou, but so far we are not satisfied. We may have to return to Xi'an soon!
             To tell you a bit of background about the food of Xi'an, the city is home to many of China's Hui minority people, and you will find them all over the more touristy eating spots. Hui people are Muslims, and I read on Wikipedia that there more than 50,000 Muslims in Xi'an. This means that if you were planning on finding a place to get something alcoholic, you might find it a little difficult. I know on our first night Hui and I wanted to go out drinking, and we were surprised. In China, the Muslims are famous for their delicious food. When we asked the taxi drivers for their recommendations, they just said go to where the Muslim food is, because everything there is equally delicious, and the place to go for tourists is Hui Street (回民街). You will find this maze of  endless food stalls from heaven placed conveniently tucked right next to the Xi'an drum tower. We were lucky enough to be staying at a hotel next door, so we ate their for most of our meals.
               On our first night in Xi'an we had the city's most famous dish, lamb paomo 羊肉泡馍. The word paomo roughly means drenched bread, but if you try to translate it, you will get paomo, because the word refers specifically to this dish. The mo in the name is a kind of bread which you are usually given to tear apart yourself and put into a noodle soup, hence the name I have given it "drenched bread." This dish was so delicious that we ate it more than once during our two day visit. Second, we had lamb kebabs, and I cannot stress enough, I have had many a lamb kebab in China, as they are very popular, but this is the best one I have ever had. Some of them are sold on big wooden sticks, and those are the ones you want. The wood gives them a special taste, and it is just sooooooo good (just don't read this if you haven't eaten. Sorry, I forgot to warn you)! Next to the kebabs there is a thing called roujiamo 肉夹馍, which is kind of like a pulled pork sandwich but with lamb, and it tastes like ten times better and it is just 98ibfeu8brfg87ore8a8ibufiubfd. I am getting emotional over this food, and I really don't even have a proper adjective for how it tastes. That wasn't a typo. I've actually got a friend who used to eat roujiamo every day when our company used to be next to a Muslim noodle place. They made it a little too oily for my taste, so I never tried it. I'll just say I'm very glad I tried it this time.

On that night we also had a very special kind of baozi. This famous Chinese bun is usually steamed, but these are baked, and so they are called baked baozi. I believe the inside of the ones we tried was glass noodle with beef or lamb. I'm sure they have different flavors, but, of course, no pork!
       







             After dinner it was time to explore the street! We bought some snacks to bring back to our friends, and we scouted out places to eat in the future. One thing we found in our search was pomegranate juice. There are lots of pomegranates in Xi'an, and they are very cheap. We overheard someone saying that they sell there for one yuan per pomegranate. That's why you see so many places selling fresh pomegranate juice. Some are sweet, and some are sour, but they are mostly all fresh and delicious. Hui and I drank pomegranate juice I would say at least six times in the two days we were in Xi'an. We are making plans to buy the machines we saw in Hui Street, get pomegranates wholesale from Xi'an online, and start making our own.
           

the biggest dates I have ever seen!

the character for biang

               We woke up super early the next morning (as we did on every single day of the trip), so we didn't have much time for breakfast. Hui was thrilled by the lack of people at the terracotta army, and so he was extra enthusiastic for the whole morning. The terracotta army is actually out of the city in the countryside, so I was expecting to see nothing else, but to my surprise their were literally hundreds of food vendors outside the historic landmark. Going back a few months, one of my friends had just taken some time off to go and visit Xi'an. She had brought back tales of a wonderful noodle dish. The dish is called biang biang noodles, and they are wide, thick noodles which are usually spicy, but the ones we ate had vegetables. This goes without saying that they were equally as delicious as the food of the previous night. These noodles are famous for their unusual name, written with a character so complicated that it isn't even programmed into the Chinese keyboards on phones and computers. Biang is a character that has 57 or 58 strokes depending on who you ask, and which has a questionable origin. Some say it's the sound that you make when you eat it, some say it's the sound it makes when it's being made, some even say the character was made up by a person trying to get out of paying their bill. Wherever it came from, it makes the dish all the more memorable for me, and I'd love to try it again.

        Xi'an is also known for it's dumplings, and the dumplings we had were excellent. They were really spicy, but not too spicy, with peppercorns, which is my favorite kind of spicy. During our exploration of the food of Xi'an we also found a kind of dessert snack called osmanthus cake 桂花糕. During the fall, there is a flower blooming all over China called the osmanthus, or gui flower. I have three osmanthus trees right outside the living room of my home. This flower makes the air smell sweet, which I have to guess is the inspiration behind this treat. In the fall, you should be able to find this snack not just in Xi'an, but all over China. That's just like the ice cream puppies that have been so popular this year, but Hui wouldn't let me eat one, because he said they weren't special.

osmanthus cakes

There is one final dish from Shanxi province I would like to talk about here. This dish is called 胡辣汤, or in English spicy soup. If I was on a mission to try biang biang noodles, it was Hui's mission to try this spicy soup. Since it is usually eaten for breakfast, and since Hui and I woke up early to take a taxi the first day, it was not so easy for us to find. Finally, on the second day we found it before going to Shanxi Museum, which I might regret showing up late to if this dish were a little less delicious. If you don't like spicy food, this is not the dish for you. It definitely cleared out my sinuses! I might describe it as a kind of spicy congee with no rice that isn't really congee at all. That's exactly how it tasted to me. I'd like to maybe try it again at a somewhat nicer restaurant to see how they compare.

The Temple of Heaven 天坛 and the Yonghe Temple 雍和宫

           Have you ever heard these Chinese cultural terms: 天命 (the mandate of heaven), 平天下 (tranquility of all under heaven), or 天子 (son of heaven)? They are terms that date back all the way to the Zhou dynasty. You might notice they all have the character 天, meaning sky, day, or, in ancient times, heaven (heaven in the western sense is called 天堂). All of these words derive from Chinese heaven worship. Here I will explain the concepts of these three terms as pertains to their importance in traditional Chinese culture, especially in statecraft.

           The term 天命 or, mandate of heaven, refers to the doling out of justice upon leadership by heaven. This mandate is what caused the ruling dynasty to end, and for the future dynasties to begin. It would usually manifest itself as a natural disaster such as a flood, earthquake, or famine. Such disasters would be interpreted by the people as a sign that the emperor has lost the mandate, and begin to revolt.
             Of course, the system wasn't so simple that a large scale revolt would begin at the first sign of a little rain. Unfortunately, because the government was filled with bureaucracy, it was very easy for leaders to become corrupt, and it was in the people's plight from corruption that they would start to notice these natural signs and begin the revolt.
             Since the emperor was said to have the mandate of heaven, it follows that he should be considered by heaven as more important than everyone else. He was given the name 天子, or son of heaven. In Confucianism, being a son to someone, you need to respect them with 孝(filial piety), meaning that the emperors in Beijing needed to go to the temple of heaven to pray to their ancestors, which the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty would do annually (I am sure other emperors probably did this, they just didn't do it in Beijing).
                   Recently, I have been reading an ancient Chinese book called "The Great Learning" or 大学in Chinese. It is thought of as a primer for anyone wanting to study Confucianism. It goes over eleven terms that are considered important for the study called the 三纲八目, which I haven't been able to properly translate, so I will call them the three cardinal guides and the eight goals. Once of them is called 平天下, which means tranquility of all under heaven, but really means a tranquil empire (because China was considered the center of the world). In "The Great Learning," it basically says that the emperor should behave well, because everything he does should and will act as a trickle down to the lower groups of society (the state, the family, etc.). He should lead by example for all of his subjects.

The Temple of Heaven 天坛
                  The Temple of Heaven was an important building in Beijing, because this is where the emperors would go each year to pray for a good harvest, and a tranquil empire. In other words, he was praying to keep the mandate of heaven so his family could continue to rule China. This building has a very interesting and complex design. I am really simplifying the explanation a lot, but you can see that the main temple is round, and inside the temple is square. The round part symbolizes heaven, and the square symbolizes the earth.
                 Unfortunately, the beautiful Temple of Heaven also suffered at the hands of the French and the British at the end of the Second Opium War. I want to cry some more! That's alright though, because it was rebuilt, and it now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can see it for yourself in all it's glory.

The Yonghe Temple 雍和宫

                The Yonghe Temple, also called the Palace of Peace and Harmony, was built during the Qing dynasty. During the reign of the Kangxi emperor it was a home for his son, and future emperor Yongzheng. When Yongzheng ascended the throne it was converted to a lamasery for Tibetan Buddhist monks from Mongolia and Tibet, and it became the Chinese national center for lama administration. Yongzheng was later buried their at the place that was his childhood home. One notable work of art from the temple is a statue of the Maitreya Buddha that was given as a gift to the emperor Qianlong (son of Yongzheng) as a gift by the seventh Dali Lama. It is famous, because it took three years for the statue to reach the temple. It reminds me of a similar but much more impressive story from the history of the Hexi Corridor, which I will leave for my series of blogs on that topic. Anyway, I will be sure to get a picture of the statue if I am allowed.

          That will be the end of this blog. I haven't seen any videos related to these two places in particular. If you are interested to learn more about Confucianism, you can read the ancient Confucian books, "The Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius," "The Works of Mencius," and "The Doctrine of the Mean," along with me. 

In the next blog I will be focusing back on Xi'an to discuss another very popular figure in Chinese history, Wu Zetian 武则天 also known in English as Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty along with the big and small Wild Goose Pagodas and the Daming Palace.

Yang Guifei 杨贵妃 and Huaqing Palace 华清宫

          In Chinese history there are four women said to be famous for their beauty. They are known in Chinese as 四大美女(sì dà měi nǚ), four beauties. One of these beauties, Yang Guifei, lived during the Tang dynasty. She was said to be full in figure, as was the beauty standard during this period, and so beautiful that every time she walked near a flower, they would turn away in shame. In Chinese, they say 贵妃羞花 (guì fēi xiū huā) or, Yang Guifei puts the flower to shame.

           Yang Guifei was originally the wife of emperor Xuanzong's son, prince Shou, during the Tang dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong took notice of her after his favorite wife died, so he began to think of how he could have her for his own without compromising his honor. In the end, she ended up becoming a nun for a while before finally becoming the emperor's wife, receiving the highest ranking title of guifei. She and her family enjoyed the highest favor of the emperor, and he spent all his time with her. He didn't even seem to notice any of his other wives. She famously loved eating lychees, but this fruit didn't grow in the north. The emperor sent horses across the country to make sure she always had some lychees to eat.

        Yang Guifei eventually became friends with a man named An Lushan (maybe more than friends, but we don't know that for sure). It was even said that emperor Xuanzong gave him to her as a son. She convinced the emperor to make An Lushan a commander of a huge area of land, giving him nearly two hundred thousand troops in his control. This would prove to be a grave mistake.
        An Lushan ended up using the troops that Yang Guifei convinced the emperor to give him to rebel, attacking Chang'an and forming his own dynasty, called the Yan dynasty. Eventually the Yan dynasty was defeated and the Tang dynasty was rebuilt. On the way to a safe haven in the western region, emperor Xuanzong had to make the difficult decision to have most of the Yang family killed and Yang Guifei strangled. Such was the end of the last of the four great beauties of China. She was beautiful enough to not only distract the emperor, but also to cause a successful rebellion against the Tang dynasty.

The Huaqing Palace 华清宫 (huá qīng gōng)
               Huaqing pool was the emperor's personal hot spring bath. The only people who were allowed to bathe there were Xuanzong himself and Yang Guifei. It is said she bathed there often to give her perfect skin. The palace structure dates back to the Zhou dynasty, before China was a unified country, but it was given the name Huaqing Palace during the Tang dynasty. It was partially destroyed during the An Lushan rebellion, but there is still much to see. I am looking forward to seeing the famous white statue of Yang Guifei. I will be sure to take a lot of photos there.

                If you would like to know more about Yang Guifei, there are many television shows, plays, and movies about her, including one with Fan Bingbing. I will eventually have a look at a few of them, and I'll recommend if I enjoy them. For the next post I'll probably talk about another one or few of the many many places I will be visiting in Beijing. I might not have time to cover the big ones like Tiananmen, The Palace Museum, or the Great Wall before I leave on Sunday, because there is just so much to talk about. I will get to everything eventually!

The Terracotta Army 兵马俑(bīng mǎ yǒng) and The First Emperor of China 秦始皇帝 (qín shǐ huáng dì)

           Welcome to Xi'an, the ancient capital of China. Formerly known as Chang'an, Xi'an was the capital for (I want to say) the majority of China's dynastic period. It was the home of the previously mentioned Emperor Wu of Han and Zhang Qian. It was the beginning (or end depending on your perspective) of the famed Silk Road. It was also home to probably China's most famous ruler, the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇帝qín shǐ huáng dì). Qin Shi Huang was the first (but not the last) ruler to unify China during the Warring States Period (战国zhàn guó). He founded the Qin dynasty(秦朝qín cháo), adopted legalism (法家fǎ jiā) as his government style, began the construction of the Great Wall of China, and built a huge, complex, and mysterious tomb guarded by his terracotta army.

           Along with Confucianism, the early years of China's dynastic period's statecraft was shaped by a concept called Legalism. It is responsible in part for the bureaucracy that characterizes the dynastic government of China. I remember in one reading I was assigned in school, a man dies, and he begins his trip through the afterlife by filling out the appropriate paperwork, fighting his way from department to department to his final rest. Even the afterlife is filled with bureaucracy! (I really wish I remembered the name of this. Next time I go back to the states I'm going to grab my old textbook and bring it home with me.) I also remember that Legalism was quite cruel by western standards, and that I explained it to my friends with a story example. There are two ministers, the minister of capes and the minister of caps. When the emperor falls asleep, a cold wind blows, and the minister of caps puts a cape on the emperor. When he wakes up, the emperor asks who put the cape on him, and the minister of caps answers. Therefore, because the minister of capes hasn't done his job and the minister of caps overstepped his boundaries, they are both put to death. So, this is the kind of environment that has been set up by Qin Shi Huang.
           Most of the Great Wall we can see today was constructed during the Ming dynasty, but the original construction was begun by Qin Shi Huang. A large part of China's land was famously difficult to maneuver through giving the empire a natural barrier. However, part of the northwestern region was open to attack from the Xiongnu barbarians, so the construction of the great wall began.

             We can't see much of the Great Wall constructed during Qin Shi Huang's reign today, but the stories of it's construction continue to haunt. Thousands of men were sent to work on the wall, many of whom never came back. It is said that, when someone died, they would simply build him into the wall. This is not widely accepted by the historic community to be true, but these kinds of stories set the tone. There is a famous story of a woman named Mengjiang Nv who waited and waited for word from her husband, who had been sent to work on the wall. She decided she couldn't wait any longer, and traveled to the wall herself. When she arrived, she discovered that her husband had already died. Because her husband was the only person she had in the whole world to take care of her, she was stricken with deep grief. People say that her crying caused a part of the wall to fall down.

           The other impressive thing that Qin Shi Huang did during his reign was to create a massive and mysterious tomb guarded by his famous terracotta army. Based on all the things he had done during his reign, it is no surprise that Qin Shi Huang wasn't a very popular ruler. There is ample evidence that he was well aware. As is with many other famous Chinese rulers who stabbed their fare share of backs to get what they wanted, later in life he began to fear the ghosts of his enemies (it is often stated that famous Chinese historical figures see the ghosts of people they have killed when they are about to die. It happens a lot in Romance of the Three Kingdoms as well as many other Chinese stories). To protect himself from his enemies in death, Qin Shi Huang built a tomb that was filled with rivers of deadly mercury said to emulate the rivers of his empire. He also had a massive army based on his army in life to follow and protect him in death. 

                 

                           I personally have had many opportunities to see the terracotta warriors exhibit. I saw it once at the Indianapolis Children's Museum and a few years later I saw it at the Field Museum in Chicago the first time my husband went to America, but this will be my first time to see the terracotta army in China. I am really looking forward to sharing my experience with all of you!




               There is an excellent documentary about Qin Shi Huang called "The First Emperor of China." I highly recommend having a look. It was introduced to me years ago by my Chinese teacher back in the States. I'll leave a link here.

              That's all for now. In the next blog I will be talking about one of the famed "four most beautiful women in China."

Yuanmingyuan, "The Old Summer Palace" and the New Summer Palace

        So, big news! I'm going on vacation. We aren't quite ready or prepared to go on the Gansu Hexi Corridor trip yet, but we are doing something just as good if not WAY better. Finally, after all these years, I am going to Xi'an! As an extreme lover of history, Xi'an is at the top of the list of cities in China I have always longed but haven't ever had sufficient funds or time to visit, right up there with Zhengzhou and Shaolin temple (as I am also a huge lover of kung fu). We will be spending two days in Xi'an, and then we will be in Beijing for three days. It's national holiday for China, so there is a special version of the morning flag ceremony at 5am which is apparently a "must see." I'm still talking my husband (and myself) around on that one. Tienanmen is the first stop on the first day. We have already made a detailed travel plan, so I can go ahead and tell you all a bit about the historical sites we'll be visiting. By the way, I am buying a new phone with a super good camera on it just in time for this trip, so pictures should be awesome (I hope)!

       











          The first place I would like to talk to you about is not really a world famous tourist spot in Beijing, but out of all the places I am going to visit, it is the story that has left the strongest impression on me. It has many names: "The Old Summer Palace", "The Garden of Perfect Brightness", but it is, as far as I can tell, mostly called Yuanmingyuan (圆明园), which is actually just the garden of perfect brightness in Chinese. So, why do I care so much about this garden in Beijing that you most likely haven't even heard of before. Well, to put it in few words, it was beautiful, massive, so very unique, and today almost completely does not exist, because life is not fair and people are terrible! Of course, this explains nothing, so let me give a little more detail.
       It is often mentioned that the forbidden city, the capital of the Chinese empire and the center of the government, was uncomfortable to live in during the summer due to the heat, so the emperor would retreat to a separate location during this time. That location was Yuanmingyuan, as well as Yiheyuan, which has a history dating back to the Jin dynasty. Today, you can visit both of these palaces in Beijing, but you might not (definitely won't) see the same things that the emperors saw when they lived there.   
       
             Yuanmingyuan was an amazing construction project that was erected during the Qing dynasty. Starting from the reign of the emperor Kangxi, new constructions were continuously added, making it a massive pleasure palace. When I first learned about this place, I was completely taken in by it's vastness as well as it's unique construction. Unlike other palaces in China, Yuanmingyuan was designed as a fusion of traditional Chinese designs and western architecture. The most famous location in the garden was probably the huge water fountain with the heads of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.
             When I was learning the history of Yuanmingyuan, I listened attentively, planning my vacation to Beijing as I listened, wondering why I had never heard of this place before, and not knowing what type of ending the story would have. Unfortunately, I was fated to be let down. At the end of the Second Opium War, British and French troops were led into Yuanmingyuan and told to loot and burn it as quickly as possible. Almost the entire palace was destroyed, and a large number of the beautiful artifacts inside were lost or smashed to pieces. When I heard this, I really cried. I had no idea! I watched several videos relating to this trying to find out why such a thing was necessary. According to one video, due to unfair treatment of foreign prisoners, a choice had to be made weather to burn the Forbidden City or burn Yuanmingyuan. The foreign invaders chose to burn Yuanmingyuan, because it belonged to the emperor, and not to the Qing government. In my mind, this sounds like someone trying to justify something that is wrong. The palace was attacked a few more times during the boxer rebellion and the cultural revolution, leaving the little that we can see today if we were to travel to Beijing. Now, we can only dream of what the magnificent Yuanmingyuan must have looked like before it was destroyed, never to be seem again.

       After learning about the tragic tale of Yuanmingyuan, I searched for more resources to learn as much as I could. I found a Chinese movie called "The Burning of Yuanmingyuan," which I have included below along with a documentary about the palace. I hope you will consider checking it out.

The New Summer Palace/ Yiheyuan (颐和园)

         The New Summer Palace has a history dating back to the Jin dynasty, but it didn't become a summer palace until the reign of emperor Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty. At the end of the Second Opium War, Yiheyuan received similar treatment to Yuanmingyuan, being looted by French and British troops. However, the New Summer Palace was partially rebuilt by Empress Dowager Cixi in celebration of her 60th birthday. Afterward, it was destroyed and rebuilt again. After the overthrowing of the Qing government, Yiheyuan was owned by the last emperor of China, Puyi before he was finally kicked out and fled to the Japanese. It later became a tourist attraction, which we can now all go to see.
         There are so many points of interest in the Summer Palace which I am not as familiar with as other locations. I will go more in depth after we have been there. Two places I found rather interesting are the Farming and Weaving Scenic Area and Suzhou Street. The Farming and Weaving Area was designed like an authentic peasant farm, so that the emperor and his court could see a simulation of what life was like outside of the palace. Suzhou Street simulated a busy shopping center outside of the palace walls. Here the emperor and his family could pretend to do business with the common folk. Of course, all the farmers and shop keepers were all really servants in disguise. These two locations were both destroyed at the end of the Second Opium War, but Suzhou Street was rebuilt by Cixi, and the Farming and Weaving Scenic Area was renovated in modern times.
          This scene reminds me of the famous Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Mansion. In the first third of the book, an area is designed to be a visitation home for a member of the family who has become an imperial concubine. There is one area of the house which is a simulation of a peasant farm, which they name "Sweet Rice Village." They even say they are going to put ducks, chickens, and geese in the garden to make it more authentic and increase the natural feeling.
              I have been told that this palace is most famous for it's man made body of water, Kunming Lake along with Longevity Hill, which was made with the land displaced from the construction of the lake. Most of the grand buildings and scenery are in this area. I am expecting to see and hear a lot about the Empress Dowager Cixi's life there as well as about the famous Qing emperor Qianlong. You can look forward to my pictures and further explanation possibly next month.

            I think I'll leave it here for now. Look forward to learning more after I get back from my trip. In my next post I think I will be talking about the very first location I will be visiting on my trip, the Terracotta Army. 

张骞 Zhang Qian, 汉武帝 Emperor Wu of Han, and 甘肃省博物馆 The Gansu Provincial Museum

      In my personal historical research, I have come across a wonderful video series on the history of an amazing place called "The Hexi Corridor". It is located in Gansu province in the western part of China, also often referred to in history as "the western region." It was named Hexi Corridor, because it is a rather narrow pass through a chain of mountains resembling a giant hallway. Since I began to watch this series, I have become enchanted by the rich history and beautiful landscapes of the Hexi Corridor. After sharing my experience with my friend one day, she suggested that we should plan a trip to see all of the things I have learned about. Therefore, I am planning not only a trip, but a historical travel guide on all of the things included in this video series, and maybe more! I am very excited to share my knowledge of Chinese history along with what I have learned from my research on this wonderful place. 

       The Hexi Corridor contains many different climates, including deserts, plains, and mountains. The scenery is extraordinarily beautiful, so it is always a popular tourist spot. When summer vacation begins, my wechat moments are filled with photos of people traveling north to take in the sights, eat some wonderful barbecue, and maybe even ride a camel. In the first post of this series of blogs, I'd like to focus on two major historical figures who had a huge impact on the Hexi Corridor, Zhang Qian (张骞）and Emperor Wu of Han (汉武帝), as well as where we can travel to learn more about them, The Gansu Provincial Museum. 

       Emperor Wu of Han took the title of "son of heaven" as a teenager, but he seemed to be quite a responsible leader from the beginning. From the beginning of the Han Dynasty up until the time of his reign, China was plagued by a terrifying group of barbarians called the Xiongnu, also sometimes referred to as the Huns (though it is not normally considered historically proven that the Xiongnu and the Huns were one and the same), also the bad guys in one of my absolute favorite Disney movies, Mulan. At an early age, Emperor Wu was already thinking of some way to get rid of this group and acquire the territory for China. Though I mostly want to talk about the territory expansions, there are several other aspects of Emperor Wu's reign that make him renown as one of the greatest emperors of all the dynastic period. 

         When Emperor Wu learned that the Xiongnu people had recently been fighting with and dominated a kingdom called Yuezhi (月氏), he prepared to seize this moment to get rid of the Xiongnu menace, giving the Yuezhi people revenge. He decided to send Zhang Qian as an envoy to Yuezhi to plan a joint attack from two sides. Zhang Qian is also a very important figure in the history of the Silk Road, and he can be recognized by the bamboo staff (竹节) with red silk tassels that he holds in his hand.When he first set out, he was 27 years old, and he would continue to help the empire for the rest of his life. 

painting of Zhang Qian from the Mogao cave murals

          Zhang Qian set out on his adventure to Yuezhi, but on the way he was captured by the Xiongnu people. Their leader was furious that the Chinese had tried to sneak past him to see his enemies, and Zhang Qian thought he would surely die at the hands of these people, but he didn't. He was kept as a prisoner, and even given a wife. His time in Xiongnu proved very useful. He came to know of all the strengths and weaknesses of the people, and they came to like and trust him. They thought he would assimilate and join their side, but he was secretly planning to escape. After staying with the Xiongnu for ten years, he finally did escape, but he didn't run back to the capital to see the emperor. He was prepared to complete his mission no matter how long it took, so he continued on to see the Yuezhi people in what my sources have said is modern day Uzbekistan.

       Zhang Qian saw many amazing sights during his time in Yuezhi, including a special kind of horse known as a Ferghana, or "blood sweating horse" (汗血宝马), which was a horse that was said by the Chinese to "sweat blood" due to parasites. He also saw that they were quite prosperous and happy where they were. Unfortunately, they told him that they were not interested in getting revenge on the Xiongnu people. In the end, Zhang Qian was not disappointed by this. He traveled to many different kingdoms and brought a vast wealth of knowledge back to Emperor Wu about the different lands that he had visited. The information he brought back were of great interest to Emperor Wu, especially because he had recently begun an offensive strategy against the Xiongnu people. 

       Though in the video series I mentioned above it says that Zhang Qian was sent to accompany military expeditions to Xiongnu and received from it one of the highest positions in the entire empire, this is in fact a bit of an oversimplification if not a twisting of words. Zhang Qian in fact had many losses in the military field, and was almost killed by Emperor Wu for this reason. It is true that at the end of his life he obtained this honorable rank, but it was for his extremely helpful diplomatic missions to harbor friendship between the Han empire and the surrounding territories, not for his military success.

          During his time in the western region, Zhang Qian noticed traders and products from India, he also noticed that the people prized goods from the great Han empire. If they could secure a safe route to Changan from the western region, this would bring wonderful opportunity to China. It can be said that the efforts of Zhang Qian were a huge step in the development of the Silk Road. 

           After watching the videos, I really fell in love with the story of Zhang Qian's journey to the Yuezhi people. It was so dramatic and exciting, and it would make an awesome movie or tv show. That's one of the reasons why I loved the series so much. The cinematic scenes were so good. Either that or I just really love history...probably that. Anyway, I have really just mentioned a tiny bit of the story of these two great figures. If you'd like to learn more, I would recommend reading "The Records of the Grand Historian," by Sima Qian. There's also a great podcast you can find on youtube that goes over many different aspects of Chinese history called "The China History Podcast." I will leave a link to the episode that tells the story of Zhang Qian at the end of this post.

The Gansu Provincial Museum 甘肃省博物馆

         The Gansu Provincial Museum is located in the city of Lanzhou (兰州) in Gansu province. If you would like to learn more about Zhang Qian, Emperor Wu of Han, or any other important figures in the history of the Silk Road, this is the place to go. Buddhism also played a big part in the history of the western region, so you can also see many great examples of Buddhist art and learn some important stories of the history of Buddhism in China. Along with all the history that you can learn, the Gansu Provincial Museum also has a natural history department. Along with all the beautiful jades and bronzes, you can also see many fossils and dinosaur bones. 

        The most famous among the pieces in this museum is the "Flying Horse of Gansu." It is a bronze statue of one of the "blood sweating horses"(Fergana) that Zhang Qian saw in the western region balancing one foot on the top of a swallow. This statue is so precious to the cultural history of China, that the government has forbidden anyone to take it out of the country for exhibition, so if you want to see it, you have to come here. If you just can't stop staring at this beautiful horse, you can buy a replica from the museum gift shop to commemorate your visit.

         Growing up, I always visited museums with my family when we went on vacation together. I have many fond memories, and I always want to go back to those places to share with my new family. When I go on my big trip through the Hexi Corridor, this will definitely be one of the stops I make. Not only can I see artifacts from all the historical events I've been learning about, but the museum is also aesthetically beautiful, so I'll be taking lots of pictures! I leave a link to the museum's English language website if you'd like to learn more. 

http://www.gansumuseum.com/vm_bwg_en1/index.aspx

Most of the information in this blog has come from the documentary series "The Hexi Corridor" as well as the China History Podcast. If you are interested in learning more about what I have posted, or if you're not, I recommend checking them out. The Hexi Corridor series is really great to watch if you're not afraid of reading subtitles, and I always listen to Laszlo Montgomery's podcasts while I am cooking on my days off. 

You've come to the end of my blog. This is the first time I've written something more professional like this. If you like it, have any constructive feedback, or have any questions, feel free to let me know. I am thinking about making a Chinese language version of this if I have time and if there is interest. With that I will finish here. Thanks for reading!