The Silk Road in the Han and Tang Dynasties

There were two world-renowned accomplishments in the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization - the Great Wall that runs across the northern part of China for some 7,000 kilometres and the Silk Road spanning a greater part of the immense Eurasian continent.

Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty in 138 B.C. dispatched Zhang Qian as his envoy to the western neighbours. His mission was to form an alliance with the western state of Dayuezi to attack the Huns from both sides. Zhang Qian experienced all hardships, risked his life and eventually fulfilled this mission. He passed through the Hun's zone, crossed the Gobi Desert and the Congling Mountain, and visited the Western States of Dyuan, Kangji and Dayuezi. After thirteen years' tour in the Western Regions, he returned to Chang'an in 126 B.C. He opened up a road to the west that was the world-famous Silk Road. Its opening was an event of historic importance, comparable to the discovery of the New Continent. His pioneering spirit inspired people of later generations to defend and develop the China-West communications along the Silk Road.

In 119B.C. after the triumph of war against the Huns, Zhang Qian was again sent to the west on a new mission to build friendly relations with countries in the Western Regions. The Silk Road starts at Chang'an and its principal route runs through Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang, with secondary routes running through Qinghai and Ningxia. It branches out and reaches Pakistan and a number of Central Asian countries through passes in Xinjiang. This long expedition was acclaimed by historians as an unprecedented feat which opened traffic between Chang'an of China and Rome for the first time in history. This Silk Road wound thousands of miles long. In order to protect the smooth communication along the road, Chinese government of the Han and succeeding dynasties made great efforts in both administrative and military respects.

During the eastern Han Dynasty, when the capital moved to Luoyang, Chang'an was renamed Jinzhao prefecture, yet remained a major trade centre of the Silk Road. During the Wei, Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when China was subjected to continual internal wars and split asunder, communications and trade kept going on along the silk Road. During the Later Qin Dynasty, Master Faxian, a distinguished Chinese Buddhist, set out from Chang'an in 399 and took the Silk Road to Buddhist countries in the subcontinent, while Kumarajiva, a well-known Buddhist master of the Indian nationality, came to Chang'an in 401 and introduced the translation of Buddhist sutras at the Caotang Temple southwest of the city.

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