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!