Ep. 47 | Adventurer Zhang Qian

The China History Podcast
Written By Laszlo Montgomery

In this episode, we look at the life of one of the bravest and greatest adventurers of ancient times.  Zhang Qian was selected by the Han Dynasty Emperor Wu to make a political alliance with a distant central Asian people, the Yuezhi.

Zhang Qian’s thirteen-year journey to the west between 138 BC and 126 BC brought back massive amounts of intelligence and understanding about those distant lands beyond Han China’s frontiers.  This great adventurer and national hero of China paved the way for the explosion of two-way trade that followed in his footsteps and led to the development of the Silk Road.

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