Zhang Qian traveled as an envoy to the Western Regions, where he saw the famed blood-sweating horses in Ershi City, Dayuan. When he returned, he told Emperor Wu of Han, who was filled with longing and admiration. The emperor ordered an envoy to take a thousand jin of gold and a life-size golden horse he had commissioned to Dayuan, hoping to trade them for a blood-sweating horse. The King of Dayuan replied, “The heavenly horses of Ershi are national treasures of Dayuan. We cannot give one to the Han people.” The Han envoy, full of pride in representing the great Celestial Empire, flew into a rage. He behaved outrageously in the Dayuan court and smashed the golden horse. Offended by the envoy’s insolence, the King of Dayuan ordered his men to kill him and seized both the gold and the golden horse. Emperor Wu was furious, and so began a war over the blood-sweating horses.
