Zhang Qian's Discovery of Early Silk Road (Virtual Tour) - Han Xiongnu War 5

This is a virtual tour of Zhang Qian's discovery of the early silk road. In this episode, we are going to relive his journey around Central Asia using present day images of the location and archeological objects.
Visit Cy's channel for more videos on the ancient World:
/ historywithcy
🕒[TIMESTAMP]🕒
0:00 Introduction
1:13 Political Situation
3:19 Zhang Qian Departs
4:04 Gobi Desert
5:22 The Xiongnu
8:48 Zhang Qian Continues His Journey
9:20 Reaching DaYuan (Fergana)
11:01 Yuezhi and Their Migration
13:05 Accounts of Kangju (Sogdiana)
13:41 Accounts of Wusun
15:03 Accounts of DaYuan (Fergana)
16:22 Accounts of DaXia (Bactria)
17:38 Cy: Accounts of ShenDu (Sindh)
18:41 Cy: Accounts of Anxi (Parthia)
19:14 Cy: Accounts of Tiaozi (Mesopotamia)
19:52 Cy: Accounts of YanCai
21:01 Zhang Qian’s Return
22:00 Aftermath
🎶MUSIC by Epidemic Sound:
www.epidemicsound.com
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📚SOURCES:
Sima Qian (司馬遷), Shiji (史記)
Sima Qian (司馬遷) Translated by Burton Watson, Records of the Grand Historian.
Hyun Jin Kim, 2017, The political organization of steppe empires and their contribution to Eurasian inter-connectivity.
Hyun Jin Kim, 2015, The Huns.
Kradin Nikolai, 2008, Structure of Power in Nomadic Empires of Inner Asia: Anthropological
Approach.
Friedrich Hird, 1917, The Story of Chang K'ién, China's Pioneer in Western Asia
Craig Benjamin, 2003, The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia
Edwin Yamauchi, 2003, Foes from the Northern Frontier.
Hung, Hing Ming, 2020, The Magnificent Emperor Wu: China’s Han Dynasty
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#History #Documentary #Asia

[@rayray6490]

Oops he almost forgot something important...his staff!!! *Xiongnu wife raging in the background*

[@DungeonerHarold]

Yeah, that was pretty hilarious 🤣

[@thewanderingrey8830]

Don't worry - when Zhang Qian finally escaped back to China at the very end of his journey he brought his Xiongnu wife with him.

[@fmtoussant]

Was the wife Xiongnu? Drawn like a Han lady.

[@saretgnasoh7351]

@@fmtoussant if you really watch, you won't ask this silly question

[@justinswag168]

Sigma male grindset

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Hope you guys liked this kind of virtual tour video. It was a lot of work to research all the location and their modern day equivalent. But I really enjoyed it and I'm quite proud of the. end result. Here is a list of timestamps for those of you watching on mobile. 🕒[TIMESTAMP]🕒 0:00 Introduction 1:13 Political Situation 3:19 Zhang Qian Departs 4:04 Gobi Desert 5:22 The Xiongnu 8:48 Zhang Qian Continues His Journey 9:20 Reaching DaYuan (Fergana) 11:01 Yuezhi and Their Migration 13:05 Accounts of Kangju (Sogdiana) 13:41 Accounts of Wusun 15:03 Accounts of DaYuan (Fergana) 16:22 Accounts of DaXia (Bactria) 17:38 Cy: Accounts of ShenDu (Sindh) 18:41 Cy: Accounts of Anxi (Parthia) 19:14 Cy: Accounts of Tiaozi (Mesopotamia) 19:52 Cy: Accounts of YanCai 21:01 Zhang Qian’s Return 22:00 Aftermath ***BTW, quick correction. As Cy had pointed out to me, Shalmaneser III (the image used in **19:30** was not a Parthian king, he was an Assyrian king 9th century BCE. Apologies for the mistake***

[@mctielpresidente]

Absolutely loved this format. It's packed full of new info and the maps helped immensely.

[@china-ustechnologicalparit3000]

Cool.​

[@vladimirpia148]

This stuff is absolutely priceless I was always puzzled about this regions history, love your videos Bro✊

[@stella1444]

I loved the format. The images are beautiful, and they're in a corner of the world that isn't talked about much.

[@darjeeling1066]

Really liked it. Learned a lot and had my memory refreshed on some reading I had done a couple years ago. Thanks.

[@robsimer9296]

It is difficult finding good documentary about ancient China. Looking forward to learning much from you. Thank you.

[@silverchairsg]

It's really cool to see the worlds of ancient China and the ancient classical world (as defined by the limits of the Hellenistic World and Alexander's conquests + ancient Rome) collide. All my readings in the classical world end at Bactria, and it's surreal to see the geographic and historical connections to ancient China.

[@Haijwsyz51846]

Really like this format a lot. I like that you give the present day city or county name when talking about a place in ancient times. It gives the relevance. Your information is probably the most accurate. Keep up the good work!

[@spalenzagabriel]

The Staff is a character on its own. Great content, bro. Stay cool.

[@shishkabobby]

I loved this intro to the early silk road. There must be many different stories along such a long path, so it is always good to find these stories tied back to source materials.

[@yeongtan4356]

Best things I have come across,the new format really for my attention and I watched it over and over so that I don’t miss the detail.Thanks Be Cool My Bros

[@BritskNguyen]

1:44 Anybody wondering why Han Wudi only has four fingers? We need an episode to talk about this.

[@Rinpower]

I am hooked by the plot development, personalities and visual work :)) coming from Russia it seems I havent known a thing about ancient chinese history, thanks to you I am now commited to fixing that !!

[@BloodnSteel]

Awesome video here, really educational and a pretty effective summary on just about every topic you cover. Good move calling in Cy too, as it both shored up the topic with someone else well versed in the wider topics, and fleshed out the tour in general. I personally love this sort of interconnected History, as its not nearly talked about enough, with even Historians themselves tending to treat each Faction as if they were in isolated bubbles, which is weird. But anyway, great art, maps and illustrations too. Keep up the great work!

[@um-vl6on]

How did the Han communicate with the Ferganan? I imagine it's must be difficult to ask them about the Yuetzi. Since all nomadic people look alike.

[@moosegoose1282]

its impressive he did all that with a language barrier..

[@logmduke]

Really entertaining, one of the best animated histories available, informative and funny. The wife @ 8:49 really made me chuckle. Keep it up, I hope this channel continues to grow.

[@gingermintrose]

CY, I. love your videos. Thank goodness, I found your channel.

[@foondavid]

Awesome story telling. Tks

[@anasevi9456]

love it, great video and loved seeing Cy join you!

[@brianstoner5424]

Love this channel

[@sierraseb3311]

Love the Virtual Tour format

[@cobaltsteele]

This was fantastic, really enjoyable

[@barakdan1858]

Really liked all the scenery you showed, it added a lot I think

[@anitapollard1627]

Liked this format alot!! And all your formats 😁 keep up the great work!!

[@miketacos9034]

Amazing detail!

[@matthewtang8930]

This channel certainly deserves more subscribers & views tbh

[@RickyB349]

Awesome history... Just excellent history telling

[@agnesshaniaw8367]

thankyou so much for this! you made it very easy and fun to understand >

[@sbtechdif]

Brilliant!!

[@cassandre9921]

Thank you very much for all this informations !!! The voice is perfect, you're talking slow enough to let me (a french person) understand the story

[@Kariakas]

Very interesting and well done.

[@tommy-er6hh]

nice job, good video. Kudos!

[@the11382]

There is also another Chinese explorer who almost went to Rome, but was stopped/misled by the Persians. Edit: Gan Ying, sent in 97 BC by the Han dynasty. The Emperor at the time was Domitian, but quickly assassinated and replaced by Nerva(also assassinated), then Trajan.

[@angeloschibetta9873]

This was cool! Do more please

[@winchesterlyon]

I think I've heard this story before, but it was a little different. In the story I heard, he was accused of something and escaped. He disappeared for 13 years and returned with detailed maps that would become the routes for the Silk Road. I prefer this story, though, since it is more complete compared to the version from the other source.

[@jakobkrogsrud2121]

This so good production!! How not million view!!

[@426mak]

Thanks for the video. Hope you are well again.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Thanks 426mak. Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better, and this week's video is a massive one that's why I missed last week.

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@@CoolHistoryBros pls do on the nanman people

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@@CoolHistoryBros also Indian influence of china

[@JonasUllenius]

Interesting nice to get some history from the parts around where he did go.

[@DawahDigital]

Loved it! I would really like to see the true history of the first and most ancient wall that was built of the Great Wall of China ❤️

[@evapaparisteidou9040]

I very much enjoyed it!!! Thanks a ton! Could you add English subtitles, please? Not for me but for other people who can’t understand oral English???

[@imnothere6906]

Zhang Qian, the only diplomat who has more experience in sheep herding (beside Su Wu)

[@user-fl7by8in5o]

👍 good video

[@ReviveHF]

Graeco Buddhism and Greek philosophy also flourished during Han Wu Di's reign, but once they spread to China, they will be influenced by Chinese Folk Religion, Taosim, Legalism and Confucianism, the result is the birth of Sinicised Buddhism（漢傳佛教）which is still practiced today.

[@bradypus55]

See now i want to see how to travel to these places but if we weren't in covid season >:( And I am kinda glad that the guide survived the whole ordeal and got rewarded. He was actually the real MVP in the whole story.

[@OriginalLeons]

I like your videos

[@mariomachadovieirabisneto4612]

Hey, your channel is amazing. Congratulations, really. Keep up the great job and I'm sure you'll get bigger numbers eventually. There aren't many options for good historical videos on Eastern and Southeastern Asia. I got here through your guest appearance in Cy's, those cameos might be the right strategy to boost your numbers. One thing, though. I've picked up a very low volume not so high pitched ringing sound at different points of your videos. I don't really know what those noises are, but they break a bit of the concentration and flow of the videos, and, more crucially, are very irritating (especially for people who mostly just listen to the videos or listen to them before sleeping). The only possibility I imagine is if you're using that 'alarm' to easily edit/sync your voice recordings, I'd suggest you wait them finish first before recording the voice, or use a simple hand clap, but I don't really know what that's about.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Thanks Mario.The ringing sound might me the sound effect I used for the extending line for the routes. I guess I can use a little less sfx in the future.

[@pelewads]

I like it.

[@Ahmad-nf9ez]

Wow I didn't know Sindh was pronounced "Shendu" in Chinese haha that's cool. My mother is from sindh.

[@chiangchengkooi9791]

Ancient Chinese do not speak Mandarin. China got a few other language beside Mandarin but use the same writing system. Among these language the Min language use in Southern China is said to be one of the oldest. Lot of ancient place and name if read in Min Chinese may sound like how the native call the place. Example, the name Shakyamuni Buddha, in Mandarin is Sijiamoni Fo in, Min is Sekkiamoni Hud.

[@_Wai_Wai_]

@@chiangchengkooi9791 Min is the language group that includes Fujianese?

[@isidore551]

Transcription of the same Old Persian [script needed] (*Hinduka, “India”) (or its minor variants, such as 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hinduš)) as 天竺 (Tiānzhú). It is the oldest of the Chinese names for India, and occurs in Shiji in connection with the mission of Zhang Qian to Daxia. Using Middle Chinese reconstructions of the two characters in this word (ɕiɪn duok̚) gives the false impression that this is derived from the name of Sindhu (सिन्धु) - the name of the westernmost kingdom of India. Factors making this etymology unlikely include: Zhang Qian had no direct contact with India or with the Indians. He gathered the name from the people of Daxia which was a pure Iranian zone then under the occupation of Yuezhi; The choice of an alveolopalatal sibilant ɕ- for a clear dental sibilant s- in the original language; cf. known transcriptions of Sindhu: 新頭 新陶 辛頭 信度, all commencing with a dental sibilant; and The presence of a final -k in 身毒, as in 天竺. The ancient Chinese writers have long suggested that shēn in this word had a different pronunciation. Yuan Shigu in his commentary to the Hanshu says: 捐毒即身毒、天篤也，本皆一名，語有輕重耳。 Juandu (捐毒), Yuandu (身毒) and Tiandu (天篤) are originally the same name pronounced either lightly or with emphasis. The variant of Late Old Chinese that Zhang Qian had used showed the dialectal development of Old Chinese 身 *n̥in > *χin ~ hin, explaining the choice of 身 (shēn). This is perhaps comparable to the case of 天 in 天竺 (“India”), also a dialectal Old Chinese variant pronunciation. Modern dictionaries variably designate the proper pronunciation of this word in modern Beijing Mandarin as Juāndú, Yuándú, Yuāndú, but rarely Shēndú as would be pronounced by an unknowledgeable native.

[@ventsolaire]

It isn't. Cool History Bro has made a mistake. Chinese characters are used by many different languages. Each language has its own pronunciation. He is pronouncing those characters in modern Mandarin Chinese. In Republic of China's history books, there is a specific instruction that those characters shall be pronounced as Juandu. Personally, I think they should be pronounced Taiwanese way, because Taiwanese preserves more ancient Chinese pronunciation than Mandarin. If this the case, the pronunciation would be Sindok.

[@Haijwsyz51846]

@@isidore551 I think Tianzhu is modern day Iran, not India.

[@FightCommentary]

Central Asian Viper for the win!

[@nieqh]

Ouyang Feng's friend indeed

[@_Wai_Wai_]

Whoa! Jerry Liu is here!

[@jimbojangles9056]

The scythians were said to be of red hair possibly related to the crows

[@hrs.ai2018]

Central Asia is total another realm, interesting.

[@bratatee]

Great video! Really like it. Why don’t you make a video on the southwestern silk route? I have rarely heard of this route.

[@zhubajie6940]

Great video! How about something on the Tea Horse Road?

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Not a bad idea, I will look into it for possible future vid.

[@ryanwidjaja4252]

I really love your videos about Chinese history! I hope that you would later make a video about the Trung Sisters rebellion (when Vietnam managed to regain independence briefly) or the rise and fall of Wang Mang and the Xin Dynasty (and the Han restoration).

[@MarcosVinicius-hg4uz]

I like it

[@shagaigan326]

When he discovered the silk road, it was already built by the Xiongnu :D

[@Lancemoolied]

More please

[@RealmofGenghisKhan]

Thanks dude. All this time reading Chinese history, I had been pronouncing Yuezhi wrong

[@jiapengzhong2061]

He pronounces Yuezhi wrong, it’s supposed to be pronounced “Rouzhi”

[@TheAlmightyAss]

Do we know why the Han - and later - dynasty and the Roman empire never contacted each other, despite the Silk Road's existence? Did it just go through too many territories?

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Xiongnu😍

[@charly996]

Green eyes and red hair = Tocharian and / or Eastern relatives of those who became Celtic in the West? Wolf raised trope (+ bird) = Indo European mytheme (it’s not only Roman) or earlier one shared by Indo-European, Turkic and Mongolic peoples?

[@aceflashheart]

It's gotta be right. Similar to shared gods + myths of various IE cultures, just modfied.

[@rakyat47]

Saka goes to India and create Indo-Schytian Kingdom

[@hwasiaqhan8923]

Love Han dynasty

[@user-fl7by8in5o]

The silk road in the ocean could you do a video about that

[@seechunchong9876]

Nice video. I also read somewhere that before Alexander invaded Persia, it was already a great empire started/unified by Cyrus the Great. His son, Darius I expanded the Persian Empire both westwards and eastwards. He build roads/highways across the entire empire. Apparently, when he conquered some outlying Greeks area, he banished these Greeks to the far east, in Bactria. Hence, when Alexander defeated Darius II, the road to the far east already existed for him to go that way. And when he reached Bactria, he was surprised to find some Greek culture already there...Hence, the Persians, the Central Asians (Greeks too), and many others, played a big role, coming together to create the legendary Silk Road...Not sure if this make sense (or true) to you but you can check that out. Cheers.

[@Haijwsyz51846]

I think Alexander the great was much earlier than the Persian empire.

[@seechunchong9876]

@@Haijwsyz51846 Hi Jane, Cyrus the Great created the 1st Persian empire in 550 BC. His son Darius I expanded and built roads to the Far East subsequently. In 330BC Alexander beat Darius III to end that 1st Persian empire. So, that's 200 years before Alex ended it. You can also google or search KZbin for such history and that's the beauty of modern technology. Love it. Cheers

[@Haijwsyz51846]

@@seechunchong9876 no one back then built road to the far east. The silk road was a network of middle man. These were the Mongols passed it from one place to the next each time changing hands, eventually got to the Parthians and from there kept on passing on to Europe. The first Persian empire was limited in the middle East. Not everything on the internet is accurate or correct. There are people out there want to get credit for every great civilization.

[@ibukunpeter]

My favourite part on this show is when I hear (Until next time stay cool my brossss) At the end of the video.

[@Neversa]

Descendants of Wusun and Kangiu live now in form of Kazakh tribes of Senior Horde - Üisın and Qangly.

[@spacepope69]

I think you meant minus 26C, because 26c is about 80F which is very warm.

[@GilangRabbani]

Zhang Qian too made contact with the Indo-European oasis cities of the Tarim basin in the Western Region. Their cooperation with the Xiongnus hinder the Han empire attempt to reach the Ferghana valley and eventually led to their conquest.

[@namkaengpancharat9031]

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[@floridaman318]

2:25 wouldn't most of it been 'wasteland' though? Surely China was also much more populated. China has pretty much always been the most populated region.

[@crimsonfucker4167]

8:51 Staff over Ho's. Anyway, are the heavenly horses of Fergana the ancestors of famous steed Red Hare? I heard such claim being made. It would at least make Red Hare's legend as the number one horse seem even more legit from having ancestors that were awesome enough to cause a war being fought over them.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

The Han dynasty imported these Fergana horses enmasse after the war of the heavenly horses and also got 10 of the top performing steeds for breeding purpose. So it is not a surprise if the Red Hare (if it actually existed) descended from it. But by then, the Fergana horse breed would be relatively common, I would imagine.

[@drhamtology]

The horses that sweat blood may have had it bred into them; long distance horse riders were known to drink blood from their mount. That would be a convenient trait to keep the rider alive without harming the horse. I really like the footage, it helps to visualise easier. Curious to know what sort of interaction occurred between China and the Huns

[@Haijwsyz51846]

The Hun people are the same people with Xiongnu. Hun is the European word for Xiongnu, which is a Chinese word. They were the same people.

[@drhamtology]

@@Haijwsyz51846 some accounts of the Hun are so different, it makes me wonder if it just became a European term for everyone migrating away from the Han Chinese

[@Haijwsyz51846]

@@drhamtology as far as I know, in ancient times, only the Mongols were moving around all over east Asia, central Asia, middle East, and eastern Europe because they had good horse and they were good at riding the horse. At a time, the Mongols occupied about 1/3 of the land on earth. But it's possible that Europeans might consider everyone from Asia Hun because Mongols originated on the Eurasian steppes, a vast land.

[@2KSnSLifestyle]

Looks like the map numbers are incorrect as it showed 9 sq km for the Xiongnu Empire.

[@michaelsomething7674]

So what happened with to the wu sun trade negotistion?

[@CoolHistoryBros]

It was slow but eventually they succeeded to form an alliance through imperial marriage. Didn't last forever, but that's the nature of politics.

[@sumiencem8187]

This should be movie

[@Xanctus]

Xiongnu´s moving cities

[@dejavue3013]

❣️❣️❣️

[@sandvichbros1659]

Fun fact guys: Ferdinand von Richthofen is Manfred von Richthofen aka the Red Baron uncle.

[@hyltoniali257]

YanCai奄蔡 isn't just a name of a location, but the name how the Chinese named the Alans who were defeated by the Huns

[@nicbahtin4774]

Lol at 9:05 you have the original yes honey meme

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

would Ferdinand von Richthofen be related to Manfred von Richthofen aka the Red Baron?

[@sandvichbros1659]

Funny you ask YES. He one of Manfred von Richthofen uncle.

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

I would have gone to the eastern Yuetzu

[@khaledalmutairi8073]

You can find a jerboa in Arabia some people still eats it cooking in on a very calm fire , don’t worry I didn’t try it and it was my cousin 😂❤️

[@x0lopossum]

11:43 An example of why random nomadic horseman migrate into and attack Europe and the Middle East.

[@user-cg2tw8pw7j]

Are there forests and rivers in the Middle East for horses to migrate to these places?

[@ReviveHF]

Then, the industrial revolution led to the the invention of maxim guns and highly accurate artillery which forces the Nomadic people from Eurasia and Tribal people from Africa to assimilated to the lifestyle of the settled civilisation faster than ever before.

[@weijiafang1298]

In China, there is a meme like "With the invention of maxim guns, the biggest stereotype of nomads quickly went from 'warriors' to 'exotic artists.'"

[@richardzhong6881]

Actually, Yuezhi should be pronounced as "Rouzhi" Meanwhile, the territory of Xiongnu should be defined differently cause they did not build a valid administration as Han did in its territory. They just grazing there. If the grass ran out they just move to another place.

[@trunghieupham7304]

Guess you forgot the "million" in "Xiongnu Empire: 9 million km2"...

[@hugolorente7705]

So its zhang quian plays skyrim basicly

[@burung81]

there is good documentary with English subtitle and nice music by Yanni. The title is 'Hexi corridor documentary' it is 10+ episode,very enjoyable..

[@inwiziblemann7942]

月氏（ròu zhī）

[@bosbanon3452]

The new route willl contribute to the new road near the Burmese road but it's failrd

[@DungeonerHarold]

Do we learn much about Zhang Qian's family? Did he have multiple kids that assimilated to Han?

[@chizhang4369]

I did some research, there honestly is not much to say. The only one that left a name on history book was a grandson of his, and nothing more, we got no idea how many kids he even have. I did find that he escaped back to home with his Xiongnu wife, a shame they didn’t even give us her damn name.

[@Haijwsyz51846]

His Xiongnu wife went to China with him. But she died a year after.

[@freelow3266]

AMU darya means that lake hahaha

[@buddhidev7877]

If I were Xiangnou, I would think Han is a threat.

[@vitorpereira9515]

Why your golden goose would be a threat? The han tribute was proof of the Xiongnu strenght. I say the xiongnu were the jerks of the relation.

[@wric01]

Xiongnu is the ancestor of the Mongolian horde. Not invincible when the han emperor exploited their weakness: weather means no grass for horse and low food in winter.

[@user-cg2tw8pw7j]

The Huns control very large parts

[@kritkanin]

Lol Greco-Bacterian

[@GMATveteran]

Must've been an awkward moment when he got caught the 2nd time and reunited with his wife... XD

[@falconid6675]

translet vietnam,begitu vietnam di translet ke indonesia terjemahannya kacau balau tidak bisa dipahami😑

[@MCorpReview]

Marrying stepmom is pretty 😍 crazy yo

[@johnyricco1220]

Sometimes the stepson later died and the woman would have to marry his son, or her first husband’s grandson.

[@jameszhou162]

Nah, that is always my favorite incest theme🤣

[@aceflashheart]

14:55 - Pretty strong evidence than the mongols/turks other horse-riding steppe nomads are the (partial) decedents of the Indo-European Yamnaya peoples.

[@opansofian]

The Origin It's not Chang'an But CHAN GAN = KHAN GAN