Cross- Cultural Exchanges on the Silk Road

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CHAPTER 9 Cross-Cultural Exchanges on the Silk Roads I n the year 139 B.C.E., the Chinese emperor Han Wudi sent and they provided him with a Xiongnu wife, with whom he had a son. When suspicions about him subsided, however, Zhang Qian escaped with his family and servant. He even had the presence of mind to keep with him the yak tail that Han Wudi had given him as a sign of his ambassadorial status. He fled to the west and traveled as far as Bactria, but he did not succeed in lining up allies against the Xiongnu. While returning to China, Zhang Qian again fell into Xiongnu hands but managed to escape after one year’s detention when the death of the Xiongnu leader led to a period of turmoil. In 126 B.C.E. Zhang Qian and his party returned to China and a warm welcome from Han Wudi. Although his diplomatic efforts did not succeed, Zhang Qian’s mission had far-reaching consequences. Apart from political LONG-DISTANCE TRADE AND THE SILK ROADS NETWORK Trade Networks of the Hellenistic Era The Silk Roads an envoy named Zhang Qian on a mission to lands west of China. The emperor’s purpose was to find allies who could help combat the nomadic Xiongnu, who menaced the northern and western borders of the Han empire. From captives he had learned that other nomadic peoples in far western lands bore grudges against the Xiongnu, and he reasoned that they might ally with Han forces to pressure their common enemy. The problem for Zhang Qian was that to communicate with potential allies against the Xiongnu, he had to pass directly through lands they controlled. Soon after Zhang Qian left Han territory, Xiongnu forces captured him. For ten years the Xiongnu held him in comfortable captivity: they allowed him to keep his personal servant, CULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL EXCHANGES ALONG THE SILK ROADS The Spread of Buddhism and Hinduism The Spread of Christianity The Spread of

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