The Han dynasty sent Zhang Qian westward, helping open early Silk Road contacts with Central Asia. Emperor Wu dispatched Zhang on a mission in the late second century BCE to seek allies against the Xiongnu.
Zhang was captured and detained for years before escaping and continuing west. He reached regions including Dayuan, Bactria, and Kangju, gathering information about their peoples, political systems, horses, and trade goods.
Although he did not create a single organized road, his reports encouraged Han expansion into the Hexi Corridor and increased diplomatic and commercial contact with Central Asia. These developments helped establish the eastern foundations of the overland routes later called the Silk Road.
The Han dynasty ruled China from 206 BCE to 220 CE, with a short interruption by the Xin dynasty. The Tang dynasty also supported major Silk Road trade centuries later, but it was not the dynasty responsible for Zhang Qian’s famous mission.