- Ban Chao
Ban Chao (Chinese: 班超;
Wade-Giles : Pan Ch'ao, 32-102 CE), born inXianyang ,Shaanxi , was a Chinese general and cavalry commander in charge of the administration of the "Western Regions " (Central Asia ) during theEastern Han dynasty. He repelled theXiongnu and secured Chinese control on theTarim Basin region, and led a military expedition to the heart ofCentral Asia . He fought for 31 years.Control of the Tarim Basin
Ban Chao, like his predecessors
Huo Qubing andWei Qing from the earlier-half of theHan Dynasty before him, is said to have been extremely effective at expelling theXiongnu from theTarim Basin , and at bringing the various people of the Western Regions under Chinese rule during the time of the Han Mingdi Emperor (57-75). This helped secure and flourish the trade routes we have come to know nowadays as theSilk Road . He was generally outnumbered, but skillfully played on their divisions. The kingdoms ofLoulan ,Khotan andKashgar came under Chinese rule.Ban Chao was recalled to
Luoyang , but then sent again to the Western Region area four years later, during the reign of the new emperor Han Zhangdi. He obtained the military help of theKushan Empire in 84 in repelling theSogdians who were trying to support the rebellion of the king of Kashgar, and the next year in his attack onTurpan , in the eastern Tarim Basin. Ban Chao ultimately brought the whole of the Tarim Basin under Chinese control.In recognition for their support to the Chinese, the Kushans (named
Yuezhi in Chinese sources) requested, but were denied, a Han princess, even after they had sent presents to the Chinese court. In retaliation, they marched on Ban Chao in 90 with a force of 70,000, but, exhausted by the expedition, were finally defeated by the smaller Chinese force. The Yuezhi retreated and paid tribute to the Chinese Empire from then on, until they managed to set their own king inKashgar in 116.Expedition to the doorstep of Europe
Ban Chao became Protector General (都護; "
Duhu ") in 91, and was based atKucha . In 97,Ban Chao crossed theTian Shan and Pamir mountains with an army of 70,000 men comprised entirely oflight cavalry andmounted infantry in a campaign against theXiongnu /Huns , who were harassing the trade routes now known as theSilk Road . The Han general made an alliance with the Parthian king Pacorus II and established his base on shores of theCaspian Sea and atAntiochia Margiana (Merv ), the eastern outpost of theParthian Kingdom . From here he reportedly sent an envoy namedGan Ying toDaqin (Rome ). Gan Ying left the first recorded Chinese account of Europe, although he actually only reached theBlack Sea , after being convinced to turn back by Parthian traders who had no interest in promoting direct Han and Roman contacts.The Han Chinese army's forts established under the alliance with the
Parthia ns was a distance of only a few days march to the Parthian capital ofCtesiphon , itself only about 32 miles from present-day Baghdad, and the Han forces held the region for several years. In 116, the Roman EmperorTrajan advanced into Parthia to Ctesiphon and came within one day's march of the Chinese border garrisons, but direct contacts apparently never took place. However, J. Innes Miller speculates that Trajan's Parthian campaigns "should be interpreted to some extent in the light" of these Chinese actions. [J. Innes Miller, "The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), p. 236.] Some time after this, the first of severalRoman embassies to China is recorded in Chinese sources, coming from the sea route in 166, and a second one in 284.Ban Chao was created the Marquess of Dingyuan (定遠侯, i.e., "the Marquess who stabilized faraway places") for his services to the Empire and returned to the capital
Luoyang at the age of 70 years old, and before long died there in 102. Following his death, the power of the Xiongnu in the Western Territories increased again, and subsequent Chinese emperors were never to reach so far to the west.According to a Chinese saying Ban Chao was one of the most prominent actors in the expansion of China to the west, on a level with
Zhang Qian : :"In the time of the Western Han there was Zhang Qian,":"In the Eastern Han there was Ban Chao."A family of historians
Ban Chao also belonged to a family of historians. His father was
Ban Biao (3-54 CE) who started the "History of the Western Han Dynasty" ("Hanshu"; "TheBook of Han ") in 36, which was completed by his sonBan Gu (32-92) and his daughter (Ban Chao's brother and sister)Ban Zhao . Ban Chao was probably the key source for the cultural and socio-economic data on the Western Regions contained in the "Hanshu".Ban Chao's son
Ban Yong (班勇 Bān Yŏng) participated in military campaigns with his father and continued to have a central military role in the Tarim Basin into the 120s.Ban Chao's family:
*
Ban Biao (班彪; 3-54; father)
**Ban Gu (班固; 32-92; first son)
** Ban Chao (班超; 32-102; second son)
**Ban Zhao (班昭; 35-100; daughter)Famous Quotes
* "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?" (不入虎穴,焉得虎子)
* "Clear water can not harbor big fish, clean politics (or strict enforcement of regulations) can not foster harmony among the general public" (水清無大魚,察政不得下和)Ban Chao in idioms
: "See"
four-character idiom :* "Throw away your writing brush and join the military!" (投筆從戎) based on his words "A brave man has no other plan but to follow Fu and Zhang Qian's footsteps and do something and become somebody in a foreign land. How can I waste my life on writing? (大丈夫無他志略,猶當效傅介子、張騫立功異域,以取封侯,安能久事筆硯間乎?) in "Hou Hanshu".
* "Clear water harbors no fish." (水清無魚)Ban Chao of today
"Pan Chao" (1108) is a
frigate built inTaiwan based on the Oliver Hazard Perry class-design. It is currently in service for theRepublic of China Navy .ee also
*
Battle of Yiwulu
*Guo Xun
*Zhang Qian References
* "The Tarim Mummies", J.P. Mallory and Vitor H. Mair, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-05101-1
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