大宛列傳

Knowledge of Dayuan (Ferghana) begins with Zhang Qian. Zhang Qian was a man of Hanzhong. During the Jianyuan era he served as a Gentleman. At that time, the emperor questioned Xiongnu defectors, who all said that the Xiongnu had destroyed the Yuezhi king and made a drinking vessel from his skull. The Yuezhi had fled and constantly harbored a grudge against the Xiongnu, but had no ally with whom to strike back. The Han was at that time eager to destroy the Xiongnu. Hearing this, the court wished to open diplomatic contact. Since the route necessarily passed through Xiongnu territory, volunteers were recruited for the mission. Zhang Qian, then a Gentleman, volunteered. He was dispatched to the Yuezhi, departing from Longxi together with Ganfu, a Xiongnu slave of the Tangyi household. They passed through Xiongnu lands; the Xiongnu captured them and brought them before the Chanyu. The Chanyu detained Zhang Qian, saying: 'The Yuezhi are to my north. How can the Han send envoys there? If I wished to send envoys to Yue, would Han permit it?' He held Zhang Qian for over ten years, gave him a wife, and he had children. Yet Zhang Qian never let go of the Han envoy's tally.

The states Zhang Qian personally visited were Dayuan (Ferghana), the Greater Yuezhi, Daxia (Bactria), and Kangju (Sogdiana). He also gathered intelligence on five or six major states in the vicinity, all of which he reported to the Son of Heaven. He said: Dayuan lies southwest of the Xiongnu, due west of Han, approximately ten thousand li distant. Its people are sedentary, practice agriculture, and grow rice and wheat. They have grape wine. They possess many fine horses whose coats exude blood-like sweat — said to be descended from heavenly horses. They have walled cities and houses. The kingdom comprises over seventy dependent cities, large and small, with a population of several hundred thousand.

Parthia (Anxi) lies several thousand li west of the Greater Yuezhi. Its people are sedentary, practice agriculture, and grow rice and wheat, and make grape wine. Their cities are similar to those of Dayuan. The kingdom encompasses several hundred cities, large and small, covering a territory of several thousand li — it is the largest state in the region. It borders the Gui River and has markets. The people use carts and boats for trade, traveling to neighboring states sometimes thousands of li distant. They use silver for coinage, stamping the coins with the likeness of their king; when the king dies, they immediately recast the coins with the new king's face. They write on leather, in horizontal lines, for their records. To the west lies Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia); to the north are Yancai and Lijian.

Tiaozhi lies several thousand li west of Parthia, on the shores of the Western Sea. It is hot and humid. The people practice agriculture and grow rice. There is a large bird whose eggs are the size of urns. The population is very large. There are scattered local chiefs, but Parthia rules over them as a vassal territory. The people are skilled at conjuring tricks.

As Han envoys had traveled west in ever-greater numbers, the junior members of these delegations competed to present exaggerated intelligence to the emperor. They said: 'Dayuan possesses fine horses in the city of Ershi, but hides them and will not give them to Han envoys.' The emperor, already enamored of Dayuan horses, was delighted to hear this and dispatched the warrior Che Ling and others with a thousand catties of gold and a golden horse statue to request the fine horses from the King of Dayuan at Ershi. The people of Dayuan, being well supplied with Han goods, conferred among themselves: 'Han is far from us. Many missions have perished in the salt marshes. To the north lie Xiongnu raiders; to the south there is no water or pasture. There are long stretches with no settlements at all, and many die of starvation. Han missions of several hundred men arrive, and regularly more than half die of hunger. How could they send a large army? They can do nothing to us. Besides, the Ershi horses are the national treasure of Dayuan.' They refused to hand over the horses. The Han envoy was furious, made reckless threats, smashed the golden horse statue, and departed. The Dayuan nobles were outraged: 'The Han envoy has treated us with utter contempt!' They sent the envoy away and ordered the border town of Yucheng to intercept and kill the Han envoys and seize their goods.

The Grand Historian says: The Basic Annals of Yu state: 'The Yellow River flows from Kunlun. Kunlun is over 2,500 li high, a place where the sun and moon alternately hide to give forth their light. Atop it are the Sweet Spring and the Jade Pool.' Now, since Zhang Qian's mission to Bactria, we have traced the source of the Yellow River — but where is the Kunlun described in the Basic Annals? Therefore, for descriptions of the mountains and rivers of the Nine Provinces, the Documents comes closest to the truth. As for the strange creatures found in the Basic Annals of Yu and the Classic of Mountains and Seas, I dare not speak of them.