摘要
To eliminate the long-term threat to the northern and northwestern territories imposed by Huns in 138 B.C.,Liu Che,the Emperor of the Han Dynasty,sent Zhang Qian to go to Xiyu(the wild-west region)and tried to ally with Great Yüeh-chin,Huns’sworn enemy,so as to attack Huns from both east and west sides.As long as 13 years of his reign,Zhang Qian was captured and detained by the Huns twice,but he escaped successfully each time.He reached the regions known today as Uzbekistan,Kazakhstan and north of Afghanistan and some other places with thousands of miles journey.In 126 B.C.,Zhang Qian came back to Chang-An,the capital of the Han Dynasty.Unfortunately,only one person Tang Yifu out of over 100 members in the diplomatic team survived and returned with him.Of course,the diplomatic mission of allying Great Yüeh-chin was not fulfilled.However,Zhang Qian’s expedition to the West Regions was still of great importance.It is based on his geographic,cultural and social knowledge about the West Region that the continuous military actions initiated by the Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty succeeded finally.What’s more,Zhang Qian’s Expedition to the West Regions accelerated the cultural and economic exchanges between the East and the West,which influenced the development process of world history of civilization directly and continually(Fan,1964:86-89).Today,there is no immediate military threat to China’s northwest and north,while it is convenient for China to connect quickly with other countries and regions by the development of transport and communication technologies.Particularly,the acceleration of the globalization and innovation of the internet technology has even linked the most remote areas of China with the world.However,the geo-political factors in the hinterlands of the Eurasian continent still significantly exert impact on China’s security and development.Therefore,it is very necessary for China to make another and even more significant and extensive“Expedition to the West Regions”-to strategically approach the Greater Middle East through the hinterland.
