All About History - Issue 111, 2021_

Meet ten men and women who journeyed along the

Silk Road in the name of diplomacy, trade and travel

FAMOUS TRAVELLERS

Hall of Fame

Marco Polo, the most famous European to travel along the Silk Road,

embarked on an expedition to Central Asia with his father and uncle in

1271. They were appointed as emissaries to Kublai Khan’s court, where Polo
      served as a messenger for the Mongol ruler on diplomatic missions throughout
      China and Southeast Asia. Polo spent more than two decades travelling the
      Silk Road before returning to Venice in 1294. Captured during Venice’s war
      with Genoa, Polo dictated his travel stories to another captive, Rustichello
      of Pisa. The result was Polo’s famous account The Travels of Marco Polo.

Marco Polo

Venetian, c.1254 – 1324

XUANZANG CHINESE, 602-

Many Buddhist monks travelled the Silk Road

on pilgrimages. Xuanzang, a Tang Dynasty

monk, set out to collect Buddhist scriptures

for China. He travelled through Central Asia

on his way to India, collecting many Buddhist

texts, statues and relics. After a 16-year

journey, he  returned to China and translated

the Sanskrit manuscripts that he had gathered.

Xuanzang also wrote The Great Tang

Records on the Western

Regions, an account

of his journey

that  provides

insight into

life along

the  Silk

Road.

BAN CHAO

CHINESE, 32 CE – 102 CE

Ban Chao was a military general

during the Eastern Han Dynasty

and one of the most renowned

diplomats in Chinese history. He

reopened the Silk Road to the

West and extended it to Europe for

the first time in 73 CE, allowing

trade with the Roman Empire to

begin. Ban Chao spent more than

three decades living in the West,

during which time he established

diplomatic relations with a number

of countries along the famous

trade routes.

Wang Zhaojun

Chinese , c.50 BCE – c.15 BCE

Wang Zhaojun is a popular legendary figure

from the Han Dynasty who is regarded as one of

the ‘Four Beauties’ of ancient China. In 33 BCE,

Huhanye, the Khan of Mongolia’s Xiongnu tribe,

approached Emperor Yuan to make peace. He

wanted to cement their new alliance by marrying

a  Han woman, and so Yuan chose Wang Zhaojun

to  be Huhanye’s bride. She famously travelled along

the Silk Road to begin her new life as the Queen

of the Xiongnu, becoming the symbol of the peace

between the Han and Xiongnu. The story of her

journey is still told today.

The other

three women

of the famous

‘Four Beauties’ were

Xi Shi, Diaochan,

and Yang Guifei

Kublai Khan

gave Polo a ‘paiza,’

a golden tablet of

authority, which allowed

him to travel safely

through the Mongol

Empire

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