Zhangqian Legend
01 · Historical Records
In Chenggu the remains connected with the Zhang Qian legend include Bowang village, Zhang Qian's birthplace, Zhang Qian's tomb, the Han stone tiger and the ancient Hu city. It originates in the great feat of Zhang Qian in the Western Han in opening up the Western Regions and cutting through the first overland route from ancient China to the West, the Silk Road. The North-Western Associated University carried out an archaeological excavation of Zhang Qian's tomb in 1938, which gradually enlivened the activities of transmitting the Zhang Qian stories.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chenggu lies in southern Shaanxi and is the birthplace and burial place of Zhang Qian, the famous Western Han statesman, explorer and pioneer of the Silk Road. The Zhang Qian legend shows Zhang Qian's far-sighted strategic vision, his indomitable will in cutting through ten thousand li, and his noble integrity in keeping his credentials unviolated, remaining unswervingly true to his resolve and honouring his word. The written records in the Records of the Grand Historian: “Biographies of Dayuan”, the Book of Han: “Biography of Zhang Qian”, the Records of Broad Knowledge and the Seasonal Records of Jing-Chu are the source of the legend and constitute its basic threads. The legend is a series strung together from one small chapter-story after another with a legendary, even mythical, colour; each story can stand alone or correspond with the others, with a clear theme and vivid detail. Transmitted orally for a thousand years and repeatedly worked over and gradually perfected, it has the character of breadth, popular character and collectivity. The Zhang Qian legend has a history of more than 2,100 years to the present. The oral telling of the Zhang descendants and common folk, the explanations of guides, the telling activities of intangible cultural heritage in the schools, and such activities as the Hanzhong quzi opera performances, the Qingming sacrificial ceremony on the theme of Zhang Qian's tomb and the Zhang Qian culture seminars have continually advanced the transmission and dissemination of this item. The legend is also an excellent textbook for historical and traditional education and patriotic education.
Zhang Qian Cuts Through the Western Regions
The story of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions and his cutting through the Silk Road.
Mythical Stories of Zhang Qian
The Zhang Qian story chapters with a legendary, even mythical, colour.
Stories of the Eastward Spread of Species
Stories telling of Western Regions species brought into the Central Plains through Zhang Qian.
The Qingming Sacrificial Ceremony at Zhang Qian's Tomb and Hanzhong Quzi Opera
Transmission and dissemination activities such as the Qingming sacrificial ceremony at Zhang Qian's tomb and Hanzhong quzi opera performances.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Zhang Qian legend is a form of folk literature gradually formed by the people of successive ages continually working over and interpreting Zhang Qian's feat of cutting through the Western Regions; it is relatively widely distributed in our country, with Chenggu county of Hanzhong city, Shaanxi, as its centre and main area of circulation, extending to Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang along the Silk Road and to the regions along the maritime Silk Road. Fifty-seven related stories have been collected so far, divided mainly into the stories of Zhang Qian cutting through the Western Regions, mythical stories and stories of the eastward spread of species.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Zhang Qian legend has been transmitted in an orderly way in Chenggu county, with the Zhang descendants of Bowang village as its main transmitting group. At present the Zhang Qian legend circulates in oral form, supplemented by written, pictorial and media forms of dissemination. The Zhang Qian legend is a living example of Sino-foreign cultural exchange and also provides folk corroborating materials for the study of Zhang Qian, with important historical value. Men of letters have taken it as a mother text for re-creation, giving it important literary value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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