A Study of the History of the Relationship Between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions
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SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 173 October, 2006 A Study of the History of the Relationship Between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions by Taishan YU Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series edited by Victor H. Mair. The purpose of the series is to make available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including Romanized Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. 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Issues from no. 1 to no. 170, however, will continue to be sold as paper copies until our stock runs out, after which they too will be made available on the Web. _______________________________________________ A STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WESTERN AND EASTERN HAN, WEI, JIN, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DYNASTIES AND THE WESTERN REGIONS CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1 A New Theory about Zhang Qian’s Mission to the Western Regions 3 Chapter 2 A Brief Study of Gan Ying’s Mission to the Western Regions 18 Chapter 3 The Routes to the Western Regions and the Change in Them from 27 Han to Wei Chapter 4 On the Protector General of the Western Regions in Western and 43 Eastern Han Times Chapter 5 On the Wuji Colonel in Western and Eastern Han Times 83 Chapter 6 On Li Bo’s Documents 101 Chapter 7 On the Reign Titles of “Yuanhe” and “Jianping” as Seen in the 110 Unearthed Documents from Turfan Chapter 8 On Dong Wan and Gao Ming’s Mission to the Western Regions 119 Bibliography 157 TAISHAN YU A STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE WESTERN AND EASTERN HAN, WEI, JIN, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DYNASTIES AND THE WESTERN REGIONS INTRODUCTION This volume complements my A History of the Relationship between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties. That work, as its name implies, explains political affairs, economy and culture only as needed. I allowed the primary data to speak there, assisting with limited textual research and explanatory notes and striving for a coherent and comprehensive account. This volume offers more extensive textual researches and commentary. 1 Sino-Platonic Papers, 173 (October, 2006) 2 TAISHAN YU A STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE WESTERN AND EASTERN HAN, WEI, JIN, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN DYNASTIES AND THE WESTERN REGIONS Chapter 1 A NEW THEORY ABOUT ZHANG QIAN’S MISSION TO THE WESTERN REGIONS A The aim of Zhang Qian’s 張騫 first mission to the Western Regions was to form an alliance with the Yuezhi 月氏 to enable the Han 漢 to make a pincer attack on the Xiongnu 匈奴 from east and west. In the Shiji 史記, ch. 123 (Memoir on Dayuan 大 宛), the background of this mission is recorded: Zhang Qian 張騫 was a man of Hanzhong 漢中 [Prefecture]. During the Jianyuan 建元 reign-period [140-135 B.C.], he served as a courtier. At that time the Son of Heaven made inquiries concerning deserters from the Xiongnu 匈奴, and they all reported that the Xiongnu 匈奴 had defeated the king of the Yuezhi 月氏 and made a drinking vessel of his skull. The Yuezhi 月氏 had fled, but, while they were enraged with the Xiongnu 匈奴, there was no party with whom they could attack them jointly. As it happened, the Han 漢 wished to start operations to eliminate the Hu 胡; and, hearing of this report, wished to make contact [with the Yuezhi 月氏] by means of envoys. Their route would perforce have to pass through the Xiongnu 匈奴. A call was then made for persons able to undertake the mission. The Yuezhi 月氏 originally were a powerful nomadic tribe. The center of their dominion extended from the present Qilian 祁連 mountains in the east to the eastern end of the present Altai and Tian 天 mountains; they extended their influence to the Hetao 河套 (“Bend of the Yellow River”) area for a time. At the end of the third century B.C., the Xiongnu 匈奴 had risen in the Mongolian plateau, and checked the tendency of the Yuezhi 月氏 advance eastwards. About 177/176 B.C., the Xiongnu 匈奴 advanced westwards with a great force and drove the Yuezhi 月氏 out of their former lands; the greater part of the Yuezhi 月氏 moved westwards to the valleys of the Ili and Chu rivers, driving out the Sakās who lived there and settling. The group of Yuezhi 月氏 who moved westwards are called the “Da Yuezhi 大月氏” (the Great Yuezhi 月氏) by historians. [1] The reference “the Xiongnu 匈奴 had defeated the king of the Yuezhi 月 氏”, combined with the reference “the Xiongnu Chanyu 單于 Laoshang 老上 killed 3 Sino-Platonic Papers, 173 (October, 2006) the king of the Yuezhi 月氏, making his skull into a drinking vessel” in the same chapter, shows that the man who defeated the king of the Yuezhi 月氏 was the Chanyu 單于 Laoshang 老上 of the Xiongnu 匈奴 (174-161 B.C.). Thus the Da Yuezhi 大月氏 who had moved to the valleys of the Ili and Chu rivers suffered another severe blow from the Xiongnu 匈奴, when their king was killed. However, the blow from the Xiongnu 匈 奴 did not lead the Da Yuezhi 大月氏 to give up the valleys of the Ili and Chu rivers. The reference “the Yuezhi 月氏 had fled” just means “was defeated”. It is quite possible that the Da Yuezhi 大月氏 advanced eastwards on one occasion and drew back west again because they were defeated during the reign of the Chanyu 單于 Laoshang 老上 of the Xiongnu 匈奴. If the Yuezhi 月氏 had left the valleys of the Ili and Chu rivers during the reign period of the Chanyu 單于 Laoshang 老上, Zhang Qian’s 張騫 mission to them during the reign Jianyuan 建元 (140-135 B.C.) would have no meaning. In sum, the object of Zhang Qian’s first mission to the Western Regions was the Da Yuezhi 大月氏 who lived in the valleys of the Ili and Chu rivers. B In the Shiji 史記, ch. 123, it is also recorded that “In his capacity as a courtier, [Zhang] Qian [張]騫 answered the call and was sent to the Yuezhi 月氏. Setting out from Longxi 隴西 [Prefecture] in company with Ganfu 甘父, formerly a Hu 胡 slave of the Tangyi 堂邑 family, he took the short route through [the land of] the Xiongnu 匈 奴, who captured him and had him sent to the Chanyu 單于. The Chanyu 單于 said: ‘The Yuezhi 月氏 lie to the north of us; how may Han 漢 send its envoys there? If I wished to send envoys to Yue 越, would Han 漢 be willing to let me [do so]’? For over ten years he detained [Zhang] Qian [張]騫, giving him a wife by whom he had children. However, [Zhang] Qian [張]騫 [constantly] retained the Han 漢 emblems of authority, never losing them”. In my opinion, the Xiongnu 匈奴 not only controlled the large territories from the north of the Qilian 祁連 Mountains to the eastern end of the Tian 天 and Altai Mountains, but also controlled the southern foot of the Altai Mountains including the Dzungharian Basin and the oasean states in the Tarim Basin, which were originally probably subject to the Yuezhi 月氏, after they had driven the Yuezhi 月氏 out of the valleys of the Ili and Chu rivers.