張騫 Zhang Qian. The Secret Envoy of Han Emperor Wu in Search of the Arsi (Yuezhi) and the Fall of the Græco-Bactrian Kingdom. (Annotated Compilation of Eastern and Western Sources)

The Chinese sources, however, are unequivocal about this year. Various texts in the
Shiji unmistakably state that Zhang Qian — the first Chinese envoy who traveled so far
west — was sent out in a secret mission by Emperor Wu, and eventually returned to
the Chinese capital Chang ’an 長 安 in the spring of 126 BCE.
It is narrated in the Shiji that this mission lasted 13 years. And Zhang Qian spent:
— “more than 10 years” 十 餘 歲 in captivity with the Xiongnu;
— “more than 1 year” 留 歲 餘 with the Ruzhi (Yuezhi) 月 氏 in Daxia (i.e. in the eastern
half of Bactria);
— “more than 1 year” 歲 餘 a second time as captive of the Xiongnu.
To this we have to add short periods of time for four journeys:
— starting from Longxi 隴 西 , the border town, until being arrested by the Xiongnu;
— escaping from the Xiongnu (near Shule, i.e. Kashgar) until reaching the 月 氏 ;
— returning from Daxia until being arrested by the Xiongnu again;
— escaping from the ordos of the Xiongnu chanyu 單 于 until reaching Chang‘an.
All four journeys together must have lasted less than 1 year. Of the first we can surmise
that it lasted only days or weeks. The second one across the Pamirs and Sogdiana may
have lasted some 3–4 months. The third one
is not so easy to estimate, but cannot have
been shorter than 3 months. The fourth should have been a matter of weeks as the distance
was short and Zhang Qian this time escaped in the company of Yudan 於 單 , the
deposed Xiongnu crown prince, and the two men were able to help each other effectively:
Yudan in the Xiongnu Empire and Zhang Qian in Han China.
With this information, it is clear that the historic mission started in the spring
of 139 BCE — and not in 138, as even some Chinese and Japanese scholars believed
or still believe. It is clear, therefore, that our Chinese Ulysses arrived at the ordos or
court of the 月 氏 in the company of just his Xiongnu servant Gan Fu 甘 父 “after more
than 10 years” as a captive of the Xiongnu and some three to four months traveling, i.e.
in the summer of 129 — and not 128 as most modern texts erroneously tell us. This
is a particularly important correction.
Zhang Qian left Daxia in the fall of 128 and spent all of 127 with the Xiongnu again,
and then escaped a second time in late winter or early spring of 126 BCE.
In exile, the Xiongnu crown prince Yudan was made a “marquis” by Han Emperor
Wu on May 2, 126 BCE, but soon afterwards he died.
The third year ›yuan–shuo‹, fourth
month, (day) ›bingzi‹, was (the start
of) the first year of Yudan as marquis.
In the fifth month he died.
Shiji 20. 1031
元 朔 三 年 四 月 丙 子 侯 于 單 元
年
五 月 卒
It is surely of particular importance to know the exact time of arrival of Zhang Qian
at his destination — the court of the Ruzhi (Yuezhi) 月 氏 , whom he found newly established
on the north bank of the Oxus River, the modern Amu Darya.
As for the Ruzhi 月 氏 , a short remark on their name is due here. The reading
“Ruzhi” for Chinese 月 氏 , which I give in this article, is rather new and still widely unknown
in the West. But as early as 1991: 92, the authoritative “Lexicon to the Shiji,” or
Shiji Cidian 史 記 辭 典 , decreed:
月 氏 , pronounced Ròuzhð —【 月 氏 (ròu zhð 肉 支 )】...
n for this is that 月 氏 is in fact an ancient 肉 氏 , to be read accordingly.
The reaso
The magnificent catalogue to the exposition Ursprünge der Seidenstrasse (“The Origins
of the Silk Road”), which I saw here in Berlin in December 2007 and which is
based on originally Chinese texts, states on page 286:
... die Yuezhi (nach anderer Lesart: Rouzhi) ...
— 2 —