Gan Ying’s mission to Da Qin (Rome)
In 97 Ban Chao sent his officer Gan Ying to find Da Qin, the Roman Empire. Gan Ying crossed Parthia and reached the sea at its western edge, probably the head of the Persian Gulf, but local sailors warned him that the voyage could take two years, and he turned back, having travelled farther west than any Chinese envoy before him.
- Date
- 97year known
- Place
- Kucha (Qiuci)today: Kuqa, Xinjiang, China · Central and Northern Asia
- Route
- Kucha (Qiuci) → Kashgar (Shule) → Merv (Mulu, “Little Anxi”) → Hecatompylos (Hedu?) → Ecbatana (Aman?) → Ctesiphon (Sibin?) → Characene (Tiaozhi?) at the head of the Persian Gulf
- Participants
- Gan Ying, Ban Chao, Han dynasty, Parthian Empire
- Threads
- The Steppe and Central Asia (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Gan Ying’s embassy; Da Qin; Tiaozhi; Посольство Гань Ина; Дацинь; Тяочжи
The Book of the Later Han says that Gan Ying reached Tiaozhi on the shore of a great sea at the western edge of Anxi (Parthia). Tiaozhi is most often identified with Characene at the head of the Persian Gulf, although the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean have also been suggested. The sailors of the Parthian frontier told him that with favourable winds the crossing took three months, but with contrary winds it could take two years, so travellers took provisions for three years; hearing this, he gave up. The chronicle adds that the Parthians wished to keep the trade in Chinese silks in their own hands and therefore blocked direct contact between Rome and China.
Although Gan Ying never reached Rome, his report gave the Han court its first detailed picture of the lands of the west: Parthia and its cities, and Da Qin with its stone-walled towns, postal relays and precious goods, whose rulers, he was told, were chosen for their worth. The route shown is reconstructed from the description of Parthia in the Book of the Later Han; the identifications of several place names are debated — Sibin, for instance, is taken either for Ctesiphon or for Susiana.
Connections
Related events
- Ban Chao’s campaigns in the Tarim Basin73–102 · Central and Northern AsiaGan Ying was sent by Ban Chao, Protector General of the Western Regions
- Envoys from Da Qin (Rome) at the Han court166 · East AsiaGan Ying had tried to reach Da Qin overland in 97; in 166 visitors from Da Qin came to China by sea
Same participants
- Nero crowns Tiridates I in Rome66 · Western and Central Europevia Parthian Empire
- Ban Chao repels a Kushan army90 · Central and Northern Asiavia Ban Chao
- Cai Lun presents papermaking to the Han court105 · East Asiavia Han dynasty
- Trajan’s Parthian campaign114–117 · Middle East and Egyptvia Parthian Empire
Same place
- The Han abandon the Western Regions29 July 107 · Central and Northern Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Eastern Europe
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Balkans and Anatolia
- Plutarch’s Parallel Livesc. 96 – c. 120
Middle East and Egypt
- Hero of Alexandria’s aeolipilebetween 50 and 100
South Asia
- Gautamiputra Satakarni defeats Nahapanabetween 71 and 130
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100
East Asia
- The Book of Han is writtenc. 54 – 111
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Founding of Funan: Kaundinya and Queen Liuyebetween 1 and 100
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Gan Ying
- Wikipedia (English): Sino-Roman relations
- Wikipedia (Russian): Гань Ин
- Leslie D. D., Gardiner K. H. J. The Roman Empire in Chinese Sources. — Rome: Bardi, 1996.
- Hill J. E. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. — Charleston: BookSurge, 2009.