it, the Yuezhi had“decided to enjoy this life of peace. Moreover, since they
considered themselves too far away from China, they no longer wanted to
revenge themselves on the Xiongnu.”For a year Zhang Qian waited unsuc-
cessfully for the Yuezhi to change their mind before beginning his return
trip home. Since he had previously experienced so much trouble coming
across the northern route, he returned by the south through the Kunlun
Mountains. Nevertheless, he was captured, enslaved, and escaped again, this
time after only a year. Thirteen years after he set out, Zhang Qian, his wife,
and Ganfu straggled back into China.
The emperor was most pleased. Zhang Qian was rewarded, promoted, and sent
back on two subsequent missions, the more important of which in 115BCE
was to the Wusun in the Ili Valley, who some modern scholars surmise to be
Herodotus’Issedones. Wudi hoped to replace the Yuezhi with the Wusun as
allies, so Zhang Qian was provided with gold, silk, and other valuables that,
according to Sima Qian, were“worth millions,”and was accompanied by a large
number of deputy envoys that were to be sent on to neighboring states. The gifts
were really exchange items for which the Chinese expected to receive adequate
compensation. Zhang Qian had no trouble reaching the Wusun, but he
found them no more anxious to be drawn into a war with the Xiongnu than
had the Yuezhi. However, he was givenfine horses to take back as a present.
About a year after his return, his deputy envoys began arriving, sometimes
accompanied by embassies from the various places they had visited.
From the accounts of Zhang Qian and his deputy envoys, the emperor learned
much about the products and economies of the countries to the west. Other
missions were sent with additional gifts, and new gifts arrived:“The Son of Heaven
heard that [places] such as Ferghana as well as Bactria and Persia were all large
states with many rare goods; that the people were attached to the land [i.e., they
were not nomads]; and that their way of life was rather similar to that of China;
however, their forces were weak, and they prized Han wealth and goods.”Beyond
such lands were even more exotic placeslike Shengdu, Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia),
and Lijian (the Roman Empire). Most of these places were already using Chinese
products in varying amounts, particularly silk, and even trading it among
themselves.
Han Wudi was not a man of moderation, and soon missions were being
dispatched en masse. Unfortunately, the economies of the various peoples
now being visited by Chinese envoys were not prepared to absorb theflood
of Chinese goods that quickly inundated them, nor were China’s new part-
ners prepared to meet demands for the specific items the Chinese wanted.
Eventually the peoples of Central Asia would come to realize the tremendous
potential their position gave them as middlemen in passing Chinese products
to the west and south. But for the moment, they were saturated. The
emperor would have to learn the limits of royal gift exchange.
Of all the products of Central Asia, Wudi desired horses the most. The
horses the Chinese usually obtained from the nomads on their northern
The last link 131