Zhang Qian's Mission to the Western Regions

Emperor Wu of Han wanted to ally with the Yuezhi to attack the Xiongnu from both sides. Zhang Qian, a court gentleman, was given the mission and led an embassy out of Chang'an toward the unknown lands of the west. Captured by the Xiongnu almost as soon as he crossed the frontier, he was held in the northern desert for more than ten years, yet neither threats nor temptations could shake his resolve. He bided his time, waiting for a chance to escape, then crossed the Gobi's shifting sands, traversed the Congling Mountains, and traveled from one kingdom of the Western Regions to another. Along the way he endured thirst, bitter cold, warfare, and suspicion, and saw with his own eyes lands and states utterly unlike those of the Central Plains. Though he failed to fulfill his mission of allying with the Yuezhi, he brought back invaluable accounts of the Western Regions' mountains, rivers, and products. When he returned to Chang'an, the route through those distant lands had been carved open by this Han envoy bearing his staff, planting the first spark that would one day ignite the Silk Road.