Zhang Qian’s connection to the western regions and the immortal seeking motive of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

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Zhang Qian’s access to the western regions is a milestone in the history of communication between China and the West. The Taishi public “chiseled the air” to show Zhang Qian’s pioneering work. Since then, “the northwest country began to open up in the Han Dynasty”. There is no doubt that Hanwu’s management of the western regions has the political purpose of “covering a wide range of miles, valuing nine translations, achieving special customs, and spreading virtue all over the world”, as well as the military intention of “cutting off the right arm of the Huns and isolating the southern Qiang and Yueshi”. These motives of connecting the western regions have become the conclusion of historians, but this does not exclude the possibility of other opportunities. Because human behavior motivation itself is complex, some clear, some hidden. However, the motives of emperors become more and more complicated because they can rise to the will of the state at any time and are reflected in the national strategy, and their selfish desires have to be decorated with high sounding. However, through the analysis of historical materials, we can still infer such potential motives. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had not only political and military considerations, but also his selfish desire to seek immortality.

First of all, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was born in an environment where the belief in immortals pervaded the government and the public, which was the social basis of his lifelong passion for immortality. The immortal talked about Qi Yan, “since (QI) Wei, (QI) Xuan and Yan Zhao make people sea, ask Penglai, abbot and Yingzhou.” Since then, the theory of immortals has changed a little during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the colors of the other world have gradually changed into the eternal life expectation of the present world. After the first emperor of Qin became emperor, he “sent thousands of boys and girls to Xushi, and the sea of people sought immortals”, forming a lively scene of “people of Yan and Qi released hoe Lei, and argued about immortals and alchemists, so people in Xianyang were interested in thousands”. After the publicity of Qi Wei, Qi Xuan, Yan Zhao, Qinshihuang and other kings and the advocacy of the Oriental Qi Yan immortal family, the immortal theory spread. “Since the time of Qi Wei and Xuan, the disciples of Zou Zi have discussed the fate of five virtues all the time,… Zou Yan showed himself to the princes with Yin and Yang as the main movement, while the Fangshi on the sea of Yan Qi said that his skills could not be passed, but the disciples of strange circuitous flattery and promiscuity have flourished since then, and countless.” The attraction of the belief in immortals can make people “work hard… Abandon their parents, donate their bones and flesh, cut off grain, and discard poetry and books”, which shows its great impact on the society in the early Han Dynasty. Huang Lao’s thought, which prevailed in the early Han Dynasty, is also inextricably related to the theory of immortals, “Huang Lao originated in Qi, and the theory of immortals is related to Huang Lao Tong”. During the period of emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, the study of Huang Lao seemed to have become a compulsory course for royal children. “Empress Dowager Dou spoke well of Huang Di and Lao Tzu, and the emperor and crown prince Zhu Dou had to read Huang Di and Lao Tzu and respect their skills.” At this time, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty was in his adolescence.

Secondly, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty acted utilitarianism and thought close to Qi learning. The foundation of Qi learning is Zou Yanzhi’s learning, “the learning of Yan covers the words of Yin Yang and five elements, and the scholars of Qi mostly inherit their Xu Yu.” In the world of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the five classics were commended, the four barbarians were bustled outside, and the laws were changed inside, which intensively displayed the character of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty of “internal desire and external benevolence and righteousness”. Based on this character, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has always been very interested in auspicious omens, talismans, divination, and witchcraft, which are recorded in the book of emperor Xiao Wu, the book of Fengchan, and the biography of turtle strategy. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has always lacked a philosophical attitude towards life and death, and was eager for the motivation of longevity to accompany him all his life. For this reason, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once publicized sacrifice. According to the records of suburban sacrifice in the book of Han, the number and scale of sacrifice of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty are far more than that of any other generation of Emperor Han. Shaoweng, Luan Da, gongsunqing and other alchemists have used similar means to get the favor of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Gu Yong described in “Jiancheng emperor Weixing” that “Hanxing, xinyuanping, Qi Shaoweng, gongsunqing, Luan Da, etc. all use immortals, Huangye, sacrificial shrines, ghosts and things, and a sea of people to seek immortals to collect medicine and fortune, and reward thousands of gold. Da you is respected and prosperous, to his wife and princess, and the title is heavy, shaking the sea. At the time of Yuan Ding and Yuan Feng. Between Yan and Qi, Fang Shichen holds his eyes and wrists, saying that there are tens of thousands of immortals who sacrifice to blessing.”

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty longed for longevity, and his desire for immortals even affected many major political events at that time. One is Fengchan. Mr. Qian Mu said, “Emperor Wu’s greatest motivation for Zen is actually derived from Xin Yu’s theory of alchemists and immortals.” The second is the establishment of the year. The year number was founded in “Huolin”, “the first year of Yuanshou (122 BC), winter October, xingyong, the five categories of the temple. Huo Bai Lin, wrote the song of Bai Lin.” Later, this year was designated as the first year of “Yuanshou”, which was pushed backward, and the past 18 years were divided into three equal parts, named “Jianyuan”, “Yuanguang” and “Yuanshuo” respectively. In the seventh year after “Huolin”, another big tripod was dug in fenyin, so it was changed to “Yuan tripod”. The Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty regarded the Lin and Ding as the patronage of immortals, so he made changes to the yuan. The third is to change zhengshuo, easy to wear color. In the early Han Dynasty, the Zhuan Xiang calendar of the Qin Dynasty has been used. In the seventh year of Yuanfeng (104 BC), gongsunqing, Hu Sui, Sima Qian and others wrote a letter to change zhengshuo. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty admired the rumor that “the Yellow Emperor united and did not die”, and changed the Yuan Dynasty to “Taichu”, taking Jianyin month as the first year of the year and wearing yellow clothes. The Taichu calendar came into being. As Lu simian said, “Emperor Wu worshiped Confucianism at the beginning of his accession to the throne, and the closure of Mount Tai was 30 years later. It was not known from the Confucian words that it was changed to zhengshuo, and the change of color was followed. Emperor Wu was confused by the words of Fang Shi, and he also wanted to seal Mount Tai in order to survive. In the end of Emperor Wu’s life, the cost of Fang Shi was ten times that of Qinshihuang.” Behind these major political events are hidden the motives of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to seek immortality, and the possibility of communicating with the western regions cannot be ruled out.

Before emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the places for seeking immortality mostly occurred on the sea, aiming at the fairy mountain in the East China Sea, which was the case with Qi Jun, Yan Zhu and Qin Wang. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty extended the field of seeking immortality to the famous mountains and rivers inland, and the footprints of sacrifice “are all over the five mountains and four blasphemies.” However, “the gods and men in the temple of Fang Shi and the sea of people seeking Penglai have never been successful. While those waiting for the gods of Gongsun Qing are still solved by the inclusion of adults, which is not effective. The son of heaven is increasingly tired of the strange and circuitous words of Fang Shi, but he is still restrained, hoping to meet its truth.” It becomes more and more urgent to find new ways to seek immortality and expand new fields of seeking immortality, and the belief in Kunlun mountain can just provide a new attempt. During the Warring States period, the belief in Kunlun Mountain had been blended with the belief in Xianshan mountain in the East China Sea. According to the textual research of Wen Yiduo and Gu Jiegang, the Kunlun immortal belief is even earlier than the Qiyan immortal belief in the East China Sea. The immortals on Kunlun Mountain, such as the Yellow Emperor, the queen mother of the west, Yu, Yi and Dijiang, can live long, “because they eat jade cream, drink in collusion, rinse Zhengyang, and contain morning dew”. However, the Han people knew little about the details of the Western Kunlun Mountains. “Chuang Tzu ยท heaven and earth chapter” has sporadic records of “the Yellow Emperor traveled to the north of Chishui and climbed the hills of Kunlun”; Jia Yi also mentioned in his “new book, political repair” that Emperor Yao was involved in quicksand and met the West Queen Mother through Kunlun mountain to the west of Congling; There are also some descriptions of Kunlun Mountains in Xishan Sutra, haineixi Sutra and dahuangxi Sutra in Shanhai Sutra, but they only stop there. Zhang Qian’s access to the western regions brought new hope to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Before the western regions were connected, Han people’s understanding of it was limited to sporadic records in books such as the book of mountains and seas, the book of Yu Benji, and the book of changes. The countries of the western regions are of great strategic significance to the fight against the Xiongnu, “the Han side wants to destroy Hu,… Because it wants to pass the mission”, the main purpose of Zhang Qian’s trip is to persuade the big moon family to contain the Xiongnu, which is no doubt, but in addition, does he also shoulder other ideas of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty? In terms of time, Zhang Qian’s first envoy was in the second year of Jianyuan (139 BC), when Han and Xiongnu were still in the period of peace and marriage, and Emperor Wu of Han was not yet in power. In the second year of Yuanguang (132 BC), after the siege of Ma Yi, the war between Han and Hungary began. Zhang Qian’s first mission did not complete the mission of jointly attacking the Xiongnu with Da Yueshi, but his report on his Westward Journey aroused great interest of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Zhang Qian described the location, size, strength, and customs of Dawan, Kangju, Dayue, Daxia, and the indirectly known countries such as Wusun, Yancai, Sabbath, Tiaozhi, and Shendu. It is worth noting that Zhang Qian’s introduction to foreign bodies in different places and foreign Anecdotes: “Dawan… Is good at horses, horses sweat blood, and its congenital horses.” “Elder Sabbath said that there were weak water and West Queen Mother in this branch, but there was no such thing.” The description of “the river flows into China with many jade stones” is consistent with the description of “the river flows into the sea with nine folds, and if it flows continuously, Kunlun will lose”. These contents have nothing to do with the main purpose of Zhang Qian’s mission. I don’t know whether it was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who gave his orders before leaving or Zhang Qian’s bent to his liking. Zhang Qian’s report made “the son of heaven happy” and immediately ordered Zhang Qian to find a way to connect the summer from the southwest. Daxia was not the main destination of this trip. Moreover, the Southwest Barbarians operated for a period at the end of the Jianyuan Dynasty, and then terminated because of difficulties and huge expenses. “At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, if you want to connect with the Southwest Barbarians, it costs too much, and the road is impassable, so stop it. And Zhang Qian said that you can connect with the great Xia, which is to restore the Southwest Barbarians.” At this time, in the north, the war between Han and Xiongnu was the most tense time, and the countries in the western regions did not have the will to unite Han and resist Xiongnu, so it can be seen that there should be another reason for the attraction of the Xia countries to Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. The desire of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to seek immortality cannot be ruled out behind the “vast territory, heavy nine translations, special customs, and prestige all over the world”. Zhang Qian’s second trip to the western regions was completely unnecessary from a military point of view. The most critical battle against the Xiongnu – the battle of defeating Youxian king in the fifth year of Yuanshuo (124 BC), recovering Hexi in the second year of Yuanshou (121 BC), and Mobei in the fourth year of Yuanshou (119 BC) has ended. “The post Xiongnu is far away, and there is no royal court in southern Mu”. The threat of the Xiongnu to the Han Dynasty has been basically eliminated. At this time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was still obsessed with the great Xia. Tao, who “asked Qian about the great Xia” and ordered Zhang Qian to go on mission again, obviously for another purpose. “The Han Dynasty made the source of the river poor. The source of the river was lonely. Its mountains were full of jade. It was collected. The emperor wrote ancient books. The famous river came out of the mountains and the sun and Kunlun clouds.” And the purpose of reconciling the western countries is probably to explore the way to Kunlun mountain. In the hearts of Han people, Kunlun Mountain is a fairy’s den juxtaposed with the fairy mountain in the East China Sea. “The gate of heaven is in the northwest. People who rise to heaven should go up from Kunlun.” Although this is the record of the later Han Dynasty, the former Han Dynasty also firmly believed in this point in concept. “Huainanzi” once described Kunlun Mountain as the center of the universe: “the pole of the center, from Kunlun east to two Hengshan Mountains, the path of the sun and the moon, and the rise of Jianghan.” The path of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty to visit Kunlun Mountain is to prepare for the possible quest for immortality. This is probably the personal interest of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in connecting the western regions.

In view of the precedent of the Yellow Emperor riding the dragon to heaven, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also showed great enthusiasm for “Tianma”. “Emperor Wu is a good immortal. He often rode a horse for a few days and should take it to Kunlun.” Zhang Qian’s introduction to Dawan’s “heavenly horse” has been unforgettable to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. “The emperor of the Han Dynasty issued a book” Yi “, saying: ‘god horse should come from the northwest.'” in order to get the “heavenly horse”, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty “increased the number of envoys to arrive at the rest, Li Xuan, Tiaozhi, and Xiangdu country.” “The son of heaven is like a horse, and the messenger looks at each other.” When he heard that “Wan had a good horse in the second division city, and he would not hide with the Han envoy”, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty “was willing to hear of it, so that the warrior chariot order and others held thousands of gold and golden horses to invite Wan king to have a good horse in the second division city.” After being rejected, in the first year of the Taichu period (104 BC), “worship Li Guangli as the general of the second division, send 6000 cavalry to the country, and tens of thousands of evil young people in the prefecture and country. In the past, they attacked Wan. They expected to take good horses in the second division city, so they were called ‘general of the second division’.” This was also the most distant war launched by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Li Guangli’s initial defeat was just in time for Zhao Bonu’s defeat to the Huns in Zhuo field. The ministers proposed to strike Wan army and concentrate on Hu. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty prepared to continue to increase troops for another expedition on the grounds that “the great Xia belongs to the light Han Dynasty, and Wan ShanMa will never come” and “laughing for foreign countries”. This excuse is obviously far fetched. Isn’t it true that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not afraid of “laughing for foreign countries” in his early years’ peace policy? I’m afraid “Wan ShanMa will never come” is what Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty really cares about. After years of wars between Han and Hungary in Yuanshuo and Yuanshou, the National Treasury has been exhausted. This time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even used prisoners to attack Wan. In this expeditionary force composed of overwhelming power, there are two special officers worthy of attention, “those who study horses are the captains of the school, and they choose their good horses.”. Can it be said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had no consideration of seeking immortality in connecting the western regions? At the beginning, when Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty got Wusun horse, he named it “Tianma”. In the fourth year of the Taichu period (101 BC), after breaking the Khan blood horse in Wande, it was renamed Wusun horse as “Xiji” and Dawan horse as “Tianma”, and “wrote the song of Xiji Tianma” to show good luck. In this year, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was 56 years old. Since then, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty’s interest in immortals has not weakened, but also sanxingdonghai and Sanfeng Mount Tai.

Judging from the theoretical basis of connecting the western regions, hanwusuo was originally classics such as Shanhaijing and Yu Benji. At the end of the biographies of Da Wan, there is a passage that is quite interesting: “Taishi Gong said:” Yu Benji “says that ‘the river rises out of Kunlun. Kunlun is more than 2500 Li high, and the sun and the moon hide from each other as light. There are Liquan and yaochi on it.” now, after Zhang Qian made the great summer, he is poor in the source of the river, and he hates to see the so-called Kunlun in this Ji? Therefore, Jiuzhou mountains and rivers, Shangshu is close. To all the monsters in Yu Benji and Shanhaijing, I dare not say so. ” Sima Qian believed that Zhang Qian’s mission proved the falsehood of the book of mountains and seas and the book of Yu Benji, which is not reliable for people to judge and speculate about the western regions. But this just shows that the source of people’s impression of the western regions at that time is based on these two books. Another piece of material that can also reflect Han people’s understanding of the western regions is based on the book of mountains and seas. According to the book of the later Han Dynasty, biographies of the western regions: “ban Chao sent Gan Ying to the West Sea and returned. It was not seen in previous lives, and it is unknown in the book of mountains. Don’t be unprepared for its customs, and it is said to be precious and strange.” In the later Han Dynasty, the book of mountains and seas was used to refer to the experience of traveling westward, and there was no other reference in the former Han Dynasty. The book of mountains and seas was originally a witch book. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used this as a basis to connect the western regions. I’m afraid it was also the motivation of seeking immortality. Judging from the stories of legends and monsters such as the story of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty spread by future generations. There may be a relationship between Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the quest for immortality in Kunlun. The quest for immortality on the eastern sea and inland has never been settled, so Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty still did not relax his exploration of the west after Zhang Qian’s death. In order to protect the passage to the west, the Han Dynasty disposed of troops and garrisons in Luntai, Quli and other places to supply envoys. This increased a lot of financial burden for the Han Dynasty. And since the second year of the Tianhan Dynasty (99 years ago), the north and the Huns have been defeated repeatedly. The burden of the people was extremely heavy, and there were four civil commotions, which eventually led to the imperial edict of Luntai crime for four years (89 BC). Why did the western regions attract Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty so much? It made him out of order in the strategy of governing the country, which led to his repentance in his later years.

Under the autocratic form of “I am the country”, the private desires of the emperor easily affect the national political decision-making. The attempt to ascend to immortality was accompanied by the life of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. There are a lot of truthful records in the book of Emperor Wu Benji and the book of Fengchan, so that in many strategic events, the shadow of seeking immortality is often cast, and the opening of the western regions is also one of them. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once said, “haha! I’m as sincere as the Yellow Emperor, and I treat my wife like taking off my shoes.” From this point of view, it is not difficult to understand that after the successive defeats in the Northern War, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not make a strategic shift and continued to advance westward with the strength of the country. The attraction of the Yellow Emperor, the queen mother of the west, Kunlun Mountain, Tianma, etc. to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has nothing to do with the opening of the western region strategy. Although historians have a tradition of writing directly, it is also essential to taboo for respecting the elders. It is said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very dissatisfied with the “Benji” written by Taishi Gong for himself. In view of this, the direct evidence of connecting the western regions and seeking immortality is not contained in the history books.

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