1
卷六十一張騫李廣利傳第三十一
Volume 61: Biography 31—Zhang Qian and Li Guangli.
2
張騫，漢中人也，建元中為郎。 時，匈奴降者言匈奴破月氏王，以其頭為飲器，月氏遁而怨匈奴，無與共擊之。 漢方欲事滅胡，聞此言，欲通使，道必更匈奴中，乃募能使者。 騫以郎應募，使月氏，與堂邑氏奴甘父俱出隴西。 徑匈奴，匈奴得之，傳詣單于。 單于曰：「月氏在吾北，漢何以得往使？ 吾欲使越，漢肯聽我乎？」 留騫十餘歲，予妻，有子，然騫持漢節不失。
Zhang Qian came from Hanzhong and held a courtier's post in the Jianyuan years. Defectors from the Xiongnu reported that the nomads had crushed the Yuezhi king and turned his skull into a cup; the Yuezhi had withdrawn in bitterness, with no ally willing to help them strike back. The court was bent on breaking the northern tribes; on hearing this, it wanted to open contact with the Yuezhi, yet any road there ran through Xiongnu territory, so it called for a man willing to make the journey. Zhang Qian, a courtier, volunteered for the mission to the Yuezhi and set out from Longxi with his guide Ganfu, a Tangyi household slave. They cut across Xiongnu lands, were taken prisoner, and were escorted to the chanyu. The chanyu asked, "The Yuezhi lie north of me—how does Han imagine it can send envoys past us? If I wanted an embassy to cross Han territory into Yue, would your court allow it?" Qian was held over ten years, given a wife and a child, but he never let go of his Han staff of office.
3
居匈奴西，騫因與其屬亡鄉月氏，西走數十日，至大宛。 大宛聞漢之饒財，欲通不得，見騫，喜，問欲何之。 騫曰：「為漢使月氏而為匈奴所閉道，今亡，唯王使人道送我。 誠得至，反漢，漢之賂遺王財物不可勝言。」 大宛以為然，遣騫，為發道譯，抵康居。 康居傳致大月氏。 大月氏王已為胡所殺，立其夫人為王。 既臣大夏而君之，地肥饒，少寇，志安樂。 又自以遠遠漢，殊無報胡之心。 騫從月氏至大夏，竟不能得月氏要領。
Stationed west of the nomads, he slipped away with his party toward the Yuezhi; after many days' march westward they reached Dayuan. Dayuan had long heard of Han's wealth and wanted trade but could not reach it; delighted to see Qian, the king asked his destination. Zhang Qian said, "Han sent me to the Yuezhi; the Xiongnu cut the route. I have escaped—only ask that you provide guides to see me through." If I reach them and return, the gifts Han will send your majesty will be beyond reckoning." The king agreed, furnished interpreters and an escort, and sent him on to Kangju. From Kangju he was relayed onward to the Greater Yuezhi. The Yuezhi king had fallen to the nomads; his queen now ruled in his place. They had subdued Daxia and held its rich soil with little raiding; they were settled and had no wish for war. They also reckoned themselves impossibly distant from Han and felt no urge to avenge themselves on the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian went on with them into Daxia but never secured a firm commitment from the Yuezhi.
4
留歲餘，還，並南山，欲從羌中歸，復為匈奴所得。 留歲餘，單于死，國內亂，騫與胡妻及堂邑父俱亡歸漢。 拜騫太中大夫，堂邑父為奉使君。
After more than a year he turned homeward along the southern ranges, hoping to slip through Qiang country, only to be seized again by the Xiongnu. Another year passed; the chanyu died and the realm fell into strife, and Zhang Qian fled to Han with his Xiongnu wife and Ganfu. The emperor appointed Zhang Qian grand counsellor of the palace and ennobled Ganfu as Lord Fengshi for his part in the embassy.
5
騫為人強力，寬大信人，蠻夷愛之。 堂邑父胡人，善射，窮急射禽獸給食。 初，騫行時百餘人，去十三歲，唯二人得還。
Zhang Qian was resolute, generous, and trustworthy; frontier peoples warmed to him. Ganfu, a northerner, was a fine bowman who, when supplies ran out, brought down game to keep them fed. He had left with more than a hundred men; thirteen years later only two came back.
6
騫身所至者，大宛、大月氏、大夏、康居，而傳聞其旁大國五六，具為天子言其地形所有，語皆在《西域傳》。
In person he had reached Dayuan, the Greater Yuezhi, Daxia, and Kangju, and by report knew five or six other great kingdoms nearby; he laid all of this—lands and resources—before the emperor, as recorded in the Western Regions treatise.
7
騫曰：「臣在大夏時，見邛竹杖、蜀布，問：『安得此？』 大夏國人曰：『吾賈人往市之身毒國。 身毒國在大夏東南可數千里。 其俗土著，與大夏同，而卑濕暑熱。 其民乘象以戰。 其國臨大水焉。』 以騫度之，大夏去漢萬二千里，居西南。 今身毒又居大夏東南數千里，有蜀物，此其去蜀不遠矣。 今使大夏，從羌中，險，羌人惡之； 少北，則為匈奴所得； 從蜀，宜徑，又無寇。」 天子既聞大宛及大夏、安息之屬皆大國，多奇物，土著，頗與中國同俗，而兵弱，貴漢財物； 其北則大月氏、康居之屬，兵強，可以賂遺設利朝也。 誠得而以義屬之，則廣地萬里，重九譯，致殊俗，威德遍於四海。 天子欣欣以騫言為然。 乃令因蜀犍為發間使，四道並出：出駹，出莋，出徙、邛，出僰，皆各行一二千里。 其北方閉氐、莋，南方閉巂、昆明。 昆明之屬無君長，善寇盜，輒殺略漢使，終莫得通。 然聞其西可千餘里，有乘象國，名滇越，而蜀賈間出物者或至焉，於是漢以求大復道始通滇國。 初，漢欲通西南夷，費多，罷之。 及騫言可以通大夏，及復事西南夷。
Zhang Qian said, "In Daxia I saw bamboo canes from Qiong and cloth from Shu and asked how such things had got there." They answered, 'Our traders brought them back from Shendu (India).' Shendu lies some thousands of li southeast of Daxia. The people are settled like those of Daxia, but the land is low, humid, and sweltering. They fight from the backs of elephants. Their country fronts on a great river.'" By Zhang Qian's estimate Daxia stood twelve thousand li from the capital, to the southwest. Shendu lies thousands of li beyond Daxia to the southeast yet already has Shu goods—so it cannot be far from Shu itself. The route to Daxia through Qiang territory is dangerous, and the Qiang resent intruders; veer slightly north and the Xiongnu take you; from Shu the way should be straighter and free of marauders." The emperor had learned that Dayuan, Daxia, Parthia, and their neighbors were large, settled kingdoms rich in curiosities, with customs not unlike China's, weak armies, and a hunger for Han wealth; north of them lay the Greater Yuezhi and Kangju—hard fighters who might nonetheless be courted with bribes and profit. If they could be bound in good faith to the throne, Han might stretch ten thousand li, speak through chains of interpreters to distant peoples, and spread its majesty to the ends of the earth. The emperor was delighted and accepted Zhang Qian's counsel. He ordered secret missions from Shu and Jianwei along four routes—through Mang, Zuo, Xi and Qiong, and Bo—each probing one or two thousand li. The Di and Zuo blocked the northern parties; the Xi and Kunming barred the southern ones. The Kunming peoples had no chiefs, lived by raiding, killed and plundered Han envoys, and no road was ever opened through them. Word had it that a thousand li west lay an elephant-riding realm called Dianyue, where Shu merchants sometimes appeared; in pursuit of a road to Daxia, Han thus opened relations with Dian for the first time. Earlier attempts to reach the southwestern tribes had been dropped as too costly. Zhang Qian's report that Daxia could be reached from the southwest revived the whole frontier policy.
8
騫以校尉從大將軍擊匈奴，知水草處，軍得以不乏，乃封騫為博望侯。 是歲，元朔六年也。 後二年，騫為衛尉，與李廣俱出右北平擊匈奴。 匈奴圍李將軍，軍失亡多，而騫後期當斬，贖為庶人。 是歲，驃騎將軍破匈奴西邊，殺數萬人，至祁連山。 其秋，渾邪王率眾降漢，而金城、河西並南山至鹽澤，空無匈奴。 匈奴時有候者到，而希矣。 後二年，漢擊走單于於幕北。
As a colonel under the grand general he guided the army to water and pasture so the troops did not want; for this he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Bowang. This was the sixth year of Yuanshuo (123 BCE). Two years later, as commandant of the guards, he joined Li Guang in a sortie from Youbeiping against the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu encircled Li Guang's command with heavy losses; Zhang Qian arrived late, faced capital sentence, ransomed his rank away, and was reduced to commoner status. That same year the flying-charge general shattered the western Xiongnu, killing tens of thousands and pushing to the Qilian range. That autumn Hunye king came over with his people, and from Jincheng and the Hexi corridor south to the salt lakes the steppe lay empty of nomads. Occasional Xiongnu scouts still appeared, but they were few. Two years later Han drove the chanyu beyond the northern desert.
9
天子數問騫大夏之屬。 騫既失侯，因曰：「臣居匈奴中，聞烏孫王號昆莫。 昆莫父難兜靡本與大月氏俱在祁連、敦煌間，小國也。 大月氏攻殺難兜靡，奪其地，人民亡走匈奴。 子昆莫新生，傅父布就翕侯抱亡置草中，為求食，還，見狼乳之，又烏銜肉翔其旁，以為神，遂持歸匈奴，單于愛養之。 及壯，以其父民眾與昆莫，使將兵，數有功。 時，月氏已為匈奴所破，西擊塞王。 塞王南走遠徙，月氏居其地。 昆莫既健，自請單于報父怨，遂西攻破大月氏。 大月氏復西走，徒大夏地。 昆莫略其眾，因留居，兵稍強，會單于死，不肯復朝事匈奴。 匈奴遣兵擊之，不勝，益以為神而遠之。 今單于新困於漢，而昆莫地空。 蠻夷戀故地，又貪漢物，誠以此時厚賂烏孫，招以東居故地，漢遣公主為夫人，結昆弟，其勢宜聽，則是斷匈奴右臂也。 既連烏孫，自其西大夏之屬皆可招來而為外臣。」 天子以為然，拜騫為中郎將，將三百人，馬各二匹，牛、羊以萬數，繼金幣帛直數千巨萬，多持節副使，道可便遣之旁國。 騫既至烏孫，致賜諭指，未能得其決。 語在《西域傳》。 騫即分遣副使使大宛、康居、月氏、大夏。 烏孫發道譯送騫，與烏孫使數十人，馬數十匹。 報謝，因令窺漢，知其廣大。
The emperor often pressed Zhang Qian for news of Daxia and the western states. Stripped of his fief, Zhang Qian said, "Among the Xiongnu I heard that the Wusun ruler bears the title Kunmo." Kunmo's father Nandoumi had ruled a small people between the Qilian range and Dunhuang alongside the Greater Yuezhi. The Greater Yuezhi slew Nandoumi, seized his territory, and his followers fled to the Xiongnu. The infant Kunmo was carried off by his nurse-father Bu-jiu the Xihou, hidden in the grass while food was sought; returning, the man found a wolf nursing the child and crows dropping meat nearby. Convinced the boy was spirit-touched, he brought him to the chanyu, who reared him with favor. When the boy came of age, the chanyu restored his father's tribesmen to him, gave him a command, and he won repeated distinction. By then the Xiongnu had shattered the Yuezhi, who marched west against the Sai king. The Sai king withdrew far to the south, and the Yuezhi took his ground. Once Kunmo grew strong he begged leave to avenge his father; marching west, he crushed the Greater Yuezhi. The Yuezhi fled farther west and settled on Daxia's soil. Kunmo absorbed their warriors, stayed put, and grew in strength; when the chanyu died he refused ever again to acknowledge Xiongnu overlordship. Xiongnu attacks failed; they came to regard him as uncanny and gave him a wide berth. The chanyu is newly worsted by Han, and Kunmo's old pasture lands lie open. Frontier peoples cling to ancestral ground yet hunger for Han goods; rich gifts now could draw the Wusun back east to their old pastures, a Han princess sealing a brotherly pact—they would surely listen, and you would sever the Xiongnu's right arm. Once Wusun is bound to us, Daxia and the states beyond can be summoned as outer vassals." The emperor agreed, named Zhang Qian general of the household with three hundred followers, two mounts each, vast herds of stock, and treasure worth tens of millions in cash and silk, with many credentialled deputies who could be sent on to neighboring courts as the route allowed. Zhang Qian reached Wusun with gifts and the emperor's message but could not secure a firm answer. The details are given in the Western Regions treatise. He at once sent deputies on to Dayuan, Kangju, the Yuezhi, and Daxia. The Wusun furnished guides to escort him home with dozens of their envoys and mounts. They came to offer thanks, and the court had them tour the realm until they understood how vast Han was.
10
騫還，拜為大行。 歲餘，騫卒。 後歲餘，其所遣副使通大夏之屬者皆頗與其人俱來，於是西北國始通於漢矣。 然騫鑿空，諸後使往者皆稱博望侯，以為質於外國，外國由是信之。 其後，烏孫竟與漢結婚。
On his return Zhang Qian was appointed grand coachman. A little over a year later he died. Within another year the deputies he had sent toward Daxia began returning with foreign retinues, and the northwestern kingdoms were at last in steady contact with Han. Zhang Qian had opened the blank on the map; later envoys all called themselves the Marquis of Bowang to win trust abroad, and the western courts believed them for it. In time the Wusun did take a Han princess in marriage.
11
初，天子發書《易》，曰「神馬當從西北來」。 得烏孫馬好，名曰：「天馬」。 及得宛汗血馬，益壯，更名烏孫馬曰「西極馬」，宛馬曰「天馬」云。 而漢始築令居以西，初置酒泉郡，以通西北國。 因《益》發使抵安息、奄蔡、□、條支、身毒國。 而天子好宛馬，使者相望於道，一輩大者數百，少者百餘人，所繼操，大放博望侯時。 其後益習而衰少焉。 漢率一歲中使者多者十餘，少者五六輩，遠者八九歲，近者數歲而反。
The emperor had once consulted the Changes and read the omen: "A spirit horse will come from the northwest." The fine Wusun mounts were dubbed "heavenly horses." When the blood-sweating Ferghana horses arrived—still hardier—the Wusun stock was renamed "horses of the western pole" and the Ferghana animals alone kept the title "heavenly horses." Han began building the wall west of Lingju and founded Jiuquan commandery to hold the road open to the northwest. Taking their cue from the Changes, the court sent missions to Parthia, Yancai, a kingdom the manuscript leaves blank, Characene on the Persian Gulf, and Shendu (India). The emperor's passion for Ferghana horses filled the highways with embassies—some missions ran to hundreds of men, none to fewer than a hundred—with baggage trains dwarfing Zhang Qian's first expedition. Later, as the routes grew familiar, the traffic thinned. In a typical year Han sent ten or more missions, or as few as five or six; the long journeys took eight or nine years, shorter ones several years, before men returned.
12
是時，漢既滅越，蜀所通西南夷皆震，請吏。 置牂柯、越巂、益州、沈黎、文山郡，欲地接以前通大夏。 乃遣使歲十餘輩，出此初郡，皆復閉昆明，為所殺，奪幣物。 於是漢發兵擊昆明，斬首數萬。 後復遣使，竟不得通。 語在《西南夷傳》。
Han had just crushed Nanyue; the southwestern tribes reached from Shu were awed and begged to be placed under Han magistrates. The court set up Zangke, Yuexi, Yizhou, Shenli, and Wenshan commanderies, pushing frontiers forward to link with the road toward Daxia. Year after year a dozen or more missions left these new commands, only to be stopped by the Kunming peoples, who killed the envoys and seized their goods. Han then sent an army against Kunming and claimed tens of thousands of heads. Further embassies still failed to open the road. The story is told in the Southwestern Yi treatise.
13
自騫開外國道以尊貴，其吏士爭上書言外國奇怪利害，求使。 天子為其絕遠，非人所樂，聽其言，予節，募吏民無問所從來，為具備人眾遣之，以廣其道。 來還不能無侵盜幣物，及使失指，天子為其習之，輒復按致重罪，以激怒令贖，復求使。 使端無窮，而輕犯法。 其吏卒亦輒復盛推外國所有，言大者予節，言小者為副，故妄言無行之徒皆爭相效。 其使皆私縣官繼物，欲賤市以私其利。 外國亦厭漢使人人有言輕重，度漢兵遠，不能至，而禁其食物，以苦漢使。 漢使乏絕，責怨，至相攻擊。 樓蘭、姑師小國，當空道，攻劫漢使王恢等尤甚。 而匈奴奇兵又時時遮擊之。 使者爭言外國利害，皆有城邑，兵弱易擊。 於是天子遣從票侯破奴將屬國騎及郡兵數萬以擊胡，胡皆去。 明年，擊破姑師，虜樓蘭王。 酒泉列亭障至玉門矣。
After Zhang Qian's opening of the western routes brought him rank and favor, officials and troops vied to memorialize about exotic lands, gains, and risks—all begging for an embassy. The emperor knew the journey was grim and uninviting, yet he heard them out, issued staffs of office, and recruited clerks and commoners of any origin, fitting out full parties to widen the traffic in every direction. Returning missions could not help embezzling part of the imperial gifts, or bungling their instructions; the emperor, used to the pattern, would indict them on grave charges, let them buy their way out, and watch them volunteer for another posting. Excuses for new embassies multiplied, and men flouted the statutes with little fear. Subordinates too puffed up the riches of the west: the grander the tale, the likelier the staff of office; smaller boasts won deputy posts—so liars and riffraff rushed to copy one another. Envoys skimmed the imperial gifts they escorted, planning to buy cheap on the side and pocket the difference. Western courts tired of Han's endless envoys, judged the armies too distant to help, and starved the missions to break them. Stranded missions turned on one another, blaming and even fighting among themselves. The petty kingdoms of Loulan and Jushi straddled the caravan road and preyed worst of all on missions such as Wang Hui's. Xiongnu raiding parties joined in, picking off stragglers at will. Returning envoys competed to insist that every western state had cities, feeble armies, and was ripe for the taking. The emperor sent Marquis Congpiao Punu at the head of tens of thousands of allied horsemen and local levies; the nomads melted away. The following year Jushi was crushed and the king of Loulan taken prisoner. Signal towers and walls now ran from Jiuquan clear to the Jade Gate.
14
而大宛諸國發使隨漢使來，觀漢廣大，以大鳥卵及□眩人獻於漢，天子大悅。 而漢使窮河源，其山多玉石，採來，天子案古圖書，名河所出山曰崑崙雲。
Dayuan and its neighbors sent retinues back with Han missions to see the empire for themselves, bringing ostrich eggs and conjurers (one character missing in the manuscript); the emperor was delighted. Han scouts tracked the Yellow River to its source, where jade-strewn peaks yielded specimens for the throne; comparing old maps, the court declared those heights Kunlun.
15
是時，上方數巡狩海上，乃悉從外國客，大都多人則過之，散財帛賞賜，厚具饒給之，以覽視漢富厚焉。 大角氐，出奇戲諸怪物，多聚觀者，行賞賜，酒池肉林，令外國客遍觀名各倉庫府臧之積，欲以見漢廣大，傾駭之。 及加其眩者之工，而角氐奇戲歲增變，其益興，自此始。 而外國使更來更去。 大宛以西皆自恃遠，尚驕恣，未可詘以禮羈縻而使也。
The emperor was touring the coast; he brought foreign guests in his train, detouring through populous cities, showering them with silk and cash and lavish rations so they could see how rich Han was. He staged bullfights, exotic spectacles, and freak shows before crowds, heaped rewards on guests, spread the proverbial pools of wine and forests of meat, and marched them through every state granary and treasury—anything to stagger them with Han's scale. Conjurers grew more skilled, the arena shows multiplied and changed year by year, and the fashion for such display dates from this period. Foreign embassies began passing in and out in a steady stream. States west of Ferghana trusted their remoteness, stayed arrogant, and could not yet be managed with courtesy alone.
16
漢使往既多，其少從率進孰於天子，言大宛有善馬在貳師城，匿不肯示漢使。 天子既好宛馬，聞之甘心，使壯士車令等待千金及金馬以請宛王貳師城善馬。 宛國饒漢物，相與謀曰：「漢去我遠，而鹽水中數有敗，出其北有胡寇，出其南乏水草，又且往往而絕邑，乏食者多。 漢使數百人為輩來，常乏食，死者過半，是安能致大軍乎？ 且貳師馬，宛寶馬也。」 遂不肯予漢使。 漢使怒，妄言，椎金馬而去。 宛中貴人怒曰：「漢使至輕我！」 遣漢使去，令其東邊郁成王遮攻，殺漢使，取其財物。 天子大怒。 諸嘗使宛姚定漢等言：「宛兵弱，誠以漢兵不過三千人，強弩射之，即破宛矣。」 天子以嘗使浞野侯攻樓蘭，以七百騎先至，虜其王，以定漢等言為然，而欲侯寵姬李氏，乃以李廣利為將軍，伐宛。
So many missions had returned that junior attendants routinely briefed the throne: Ferghana kept its best bloodstock at Ershi and refused to show Han's envoys. The emperor, already horse-mad, sent Che Ling with a fortune in gold and a golden horse to buy the Ershi studs from the king of Ferghana. Ferghana was awash in Han luxuries. Its nobles reasoned: "The capital lies far beyond the salt desert, where caravans founder; north lie the nomads, south little water or grass, and long stretches without towns—most parties starve." Han missions arrive in hundreds, usually half dead of hunger—how could they field a real army? Besides, the Ershi horses are our kingdom's treasure." They refused the sale. The Han envoy lost his temper, hurled abuse, shattered the golden horse, and stalked off. Ferghana's grandees cried, "This envoy has insulted us beyond bearing!" They sent the party on its way, then had Yucheng king on the eastern march ambush it, kill the envoys, and seize the treasure. The emperor was furious. Veterans of Ferghana such as Yao Dinghan assured the court: "Their army is feeble—three thousand Han crossbowmen would shatter them." The emperor remembered how Zhuoye marquis had taken Loulan with seven hundred horsemen, believed the optimists, and wanting a fief for his favorite Lady Li's kin, named Li Guangli general and sent him against Ferghana.
17
孫猛
Sun Meng.
18
騫孫猛，字子游，有俊才，元帝時為光祿大夫，使匈奴，給事中，為石顯所譖。 自殺。
Zhang Qian's grandson Sun Meng, styled Ziyou, was a brilliant man who rose to grand counsellor under Emperor Yuan, served on the Xiongnu embassy staff, sat in the inner court, and fell to Shi Xian's slander. He took his own life.
19
李廣利
Li Guangli.
20
李廣利，女弟李夫人有寵於上，產昌邑哀王。 太初元年，以廣利為貳師將軍，發屬國六千騎及郡國惡少年數萬人以往，期至貳師城取善馬，故號「貳師將軍」。 故浩侯王恢使道軍。 既西過鹽水，當道小國各堅城守，不肯給食，攻之不能下。 下者得食，不下者數日則去。 比至郁成，士財有數千，皆饑罷。 攻郁成城，郁成距之，所殺傷甚眾。 貳師將軍與左右計：「至郁成尚不能舉，況至其王都乎？」 引而還。 往來二歲，至敦煌，士不過什一二。 使使上書言：「道遠，多乏食，且士卒不患戰而患饑。 人少，不足以拔宛。 願且罷兵，益發而復往。」 天子聞之，大怒，使使遮玉門關，曰：「軍有敢入，斬之。」 貳師恐，因留屯敦煌。
Li Guangli's sister, the favored Lady Li, had borne Prince Ai of Changyi. In Taichu 1 (104 BCE) he was named Ershi general and given six thousand tribal horse and tens of thousands of adventurers from the commanderies—his brief was to seize the bloodstock at Ershi, whence the title "General of Ershi." The former Marquis of Hao, Wang Hui, served as route guide for the expedition. West of the salt desert every petty state barred its gates, refused provisions, and could not be stormed. Cities that yielded fed them; those that held out were abandoned after a few days. By Yucheng only a few thousand starving, spent men remained. They assaulted Yucheng; the garrison held, and Han losses were heavy. General Ershi told his officers, "If we cannot crack Yucheng, what hope have we of the capital?" He ordered a retreat. Two years out and back brought them to Dunhuang with barely one man in ten. He memorialized: "The march is long, rations fail, and the men dread hunger more than combat. We are too few to take Ferghana. Pray let us stand down, raise fresh troops, and try again." The emperor raged and posted guards at the Jade Gate: any soldier who crossed inward would die. Ershi dared not advance and camped at Dunhuang.
21
其夏，漢亡浞野之兵二萬餘於匈奴，公卿議者皆願罷宛軍，專力攻胡。 天子業出兵誅宛，宛小國而不能下，則大夏之屬漸輕漢，而宛善馬絕不來，烏孫、輪台易苦漢使，為外國笑。 乃案言伐宛尤不便者鄧光等。 赦囚徒扞寇盜，發惡少年及邊騎，歲余而出敦煌六萬人，負私從者不與。 牛十萬，馬三萬匹，驢、橐駝以萬數繼糧，兵弩甚設。 天下騷動，轉相奉伐宛，五十餘校尉。 宛城中無井，汲城外流水，於是遣水工徙其城下水空以穴其城。 益發戍甲卒十八萬酒泉、張掖北，置居延、休屠以衛酒泉。 而發天下七科適，及載□給貳師，轉車人徒相連屬至敦煌。 而拜習馬者二人為執驅馬校尉，備破宛擇取其善馬雲。
That summer Han lost twenty thousand men under Zhuoye marquis to the Xiongnu; ministers urged abandoning the Ferghana campaign to hit the nomads alone. The emperor had already committed the host: if Han could not crush so small a kingdom, Daxia and the rest would lose respect, Ferghana's horses would never flow east, Wusun and Luntai would bully every envoy, and the western courts would mock the empire. He had men such as Deng Guang arrested for arguing most loudly against the invasion. Convicts fit for frontier duty, street toughs, and border horse were mobilized; after a year of preparation sixty thousand men crossed from Dunhuang, private followers not counted. The train included a hundred thousand oxen, thirty thousand horses, and tens of thousands of donkeys and camels for grain, with crossbows and weapons in full supply. The realm seethed as relays of supply fed more than fifty colonels on the Ferghana expedition. Ferghana's capital had no wells and drew water from a stream outside; Han sent engineers to divert the flow underground and undermine the walls. Another hundred eighty thousand armored men were posted north of Jiuquan and Zhangye, with Juyan and Xiutu garrisons shielding Jiuquan. The seven classes liable for corvée were called up, convoys (one commodity name missing in the text) were loaded for Ershi, and wagon trains of laborers stretched all the way to Dunhuang. Two expert horsemen were named colonels of the led horse, ready to pick the best stock once Ferghana fell.
22
於是貳師後復行，兵多，所至小國莫不迎，出食給軍。 至輪台，輪台不下，攻數日，屠之。 自此而西，平行至宛城，兵到者三萬。 宛兵迎擊漢兵，漢兵射敗之，宛兵走入保其城。 貳師欲攻郁成城，恐留行而令宛益生詐，乃先至宛，決其水原，移之，則宛固已憂困。 圍其城，攻之四十餘日。 其外城壞，虜宛貴人勇將煎靡。 宛大恐，走入中城，相與謀曰：「漢所為攻宛，以王毋寡。」 宛貴人謀曰：「王毋寡匿善馬，殺漢使。 今殺王而出善馬，漢兵宜解； 即不，乃力戰而死，未晚也。」 宛貴人皆以為然，共殺王。 持其頭，遣人使貳師，約曰：「漢無攻我，我盡出善馬，恣所取，而給漢軍食。 即不聽我，我盡殺善馬，康居之救又且至。 至，我居內，康居居外，與漢軍戰。 孰計之，何從？」 是時，康居候視漢兵尚盛，不敢進。 貳師聞宛城中新得漢人知穿井，而其內食尚多。 計以為來誅首惡者毋寡，毋寡頭已至，如此不許，則堅守，而康居候漢兵罷來救宛，破漢軍必矣。 軍吏皆以為然，許宛之約。 宛乃出其馬，令漢自擇之，而多出食食漢軍。 漢軍取其善馬數十匹，中馬以下牝牡三千餘匹，而立宛貴人之故時遇漢善者名昧蔡為宛王，與盟而罷兵，終不得入中城，罷而引歸。
When Ershi marched again, his host was so large that every petty state along the way opened its granaries. At Luntai, which refused to yield, they stormed for days and put the town to the sword. West of that point they marched level ground to the Ferghana capital with thirty thousand effectives. Ferghana sortied; Han archery broke them, and they bolted behind the walls. Ershi thought of striking Yucheng first but feared delay would let Ferghana grow bolder; he drove straight to the capital, cut the aqueduct, and left the city parched and desperate. They invested the walls for more than forty days. The outer ring fell; Han took the noble general Jianmi prisoner. Panic sent them into the inner citadel, where nobles muttered, "Han is here for King Wugua." The grandees said, "Wugua hid the horses and murdered the envoys. Kill him, hand over the studs, and Han should lift the siege; if not, we fight to the death—there is still time." They agreed and slew the king together. They sent his head to Ershi with terms: "Spare us, we will parade every good horse for your choice and feed your army." Refuse, and we slaughter the bloodstock; Kangju's relief is already on the way." When they come, we hold the inner city while Kangju strikes from without." Weigh our choices—which way do you take?" Kangju scouts saw how strong Han still was and hung back. Ershi learned that Han prisoners inside were sinking wells and that the citadel still held ample grain. Han had marched to punish Wugua; with that head delivered, to refuse the offer meant a prolonged siege while Kangju waited for Han exhaustion—and Han would surely be broken. His officers agreed, and he accepted Ferghana's offer. Ferghana led out its horses for Han to pick and piled up rations for the army. Han took several dozen top mounts and more than three thousand lesser animals, enthroned the pro-Han noble Mocai, swore peace, and withdrew without ever entering the inner citadel.
23
初，貳師起孰煌西，為人多，道上國不能食，分為數軍，從南北道。 校尉王申生、故鴻臚壺充國等千餘人別至郁成，城守不肯給食。 申生去大軍二百里，負而輕之，攻郁成急。 郁成窺知申生軍少，晨用三千人攻殺申生等，數人脫亡，走貳師。 貳師令搜粟都尉上官桀往攻破郁成，郁成降。 其王亡走康居，桀追至康居。 康居聞漢已破宛，出郁成王與桀，桀令四騎士縛守詣大將軍。 四人相謂「郁成，漢所毒，今生將，卒失大事。」 欲殺，莫適先擊。 上□騎士趙弟拔劍擊斬郁成王。 桀等遂追及大將軍。
When Ershi first marched west from Dunhuang, his host was too large for the oases along the route to feed, so he split into several columns on northern and southern tracks. Colonel Wang Shensheng and the former grand herald Hu Chongguo led a thousand men to Yucheng, which barred its gates and refused provisions. Two hundred li from the main army, Shensheng grew reckless and pressed the assault on Yucheng. Yucheng saw how small his force was and at dawn sent three thousand men to wipe it out; only a handful escaped to Ershi. Ershi sent Search-Grain commandant Shangguan Jie, who stormed Yucheng into submission. Its king fled to Kangju, and Jie followed him there. Learning that Han had taken Ferghana, Kangju handed over the king of Yucheng; Jie assigned four horsemen to bind him and escort him to the grand general. The four muttered, "Yucheng is Han's bitter enemy; delivering him alive will ruin everything." They meant to kill him, yet none would strike the first blow. The cavalryman Zhao Di (one character missing before his title in the text) drew steel and cut down the king of Yucheng. Jie and his party then rejoined the grand general's column.
24
初，貳師後行，天子使使告烏孫大發兵擊宛。 烏孫發二千騎往，持兩端，不肯前。 貳師將軍之東，諸所過小國聞宛破，皆使其子弟從入貢獻，見天子，因為質焉。 軍還，入玉門者萬餘人，馬千餘匹。 後行，非乏食，戰死不甚多，而將吏貪，不愛卒，侵牟之，以此物故者眾。 天子為萬里征伐，不錄其過，乃下詔曰：「匈奴為害久矣，今雖徙幕北，與旁國謀共要絕大月氏使，遮殺中郎將江、故雁門守攘。 危須以西及大宛皆合約殺期門車令、中郎將朝及身毒國使，隔東西道。 貳師將軍廣利征討厥罪，伐勝大宛。 賴天之靈，從溯河山，涉流沙，通西海，山雪不積，士大夫徑度，獲王首虜，珍怪之物畢陳於闕。 其封廣利為海西侯，食邑八千戶。」 又封斬郁成王者趙弟為新畤侯； 軍正趙始成功最多，為光祿大夫； 上官桀敢深入，為少府； 李哆有計謀，為上黨太守。 軍官吏為九卿者三人，諸侯相、郡守、二千石百餘人，千石以下千餘人。 奮行者官過其望，以適過行者皆黜其勞。 士卒賜直四萬錢。 伐宛再反，凡四歲而得罷焉。
During Ershi's second march the emperor sent word to Wusun to mobilize heavily against Ferghana. Wusun sent two thousand horse but sat on the fence and would not close with the enemy. On Ershi's return march every petty state along the road, hearing Ferghana had fallen, sent princes in his train to court with tribute and stayed as hostages. More than ten thousand men and a thousand horses crossed back through the Jade Gate. The second expedition did not starve and lost few in battle, yet greedy officers preyed on the ranks, and most deaths came from that abuse. For a march of ten thousand li the emperor overlooked their faults and proclaimed: "The Xiongnu have long plagued the border; though driven north of the desert, they still league with neighbors to ambush Greater Yuezhi embassies and have cut down Palace Gentleman Jiang and former Yanmen warden Rang." From Yanxu west to Ferghana they conspired to murder Expectant Gates Che Ling, Palace Gentleman Chao, and the Indian envoy, severing the road between east and west. General Ershi Li Guangli marched to punish those crimes and conquered Ferghana. By heaven's favor they traced rivers, crossed the Gobi, reached the western sea, marched snow-free heights, took enemy kings captive, and heaped rare tribute before the palace. Let Li Guangli be enfeoffed as Marquis of Haixi with eight thousand households. Zhao Di, who had executed the king of Yucheng, was also enfeoffed as Marquis of Xinzhai; Army Rectifier Zhao Shi, who had piled up the greatest merit, became grand counsellor of the palace; Shangguan Jie, commended for pressing deep into enemy country, was named privy treasurer; Li Duo, valued for his counsel, was appointed governor of Shangdang. Three officers rose to the nine senior ministries; more than a hundred became chancellors of nobles, commandery governors, or two-thousand-dan officials; over a thousand received ranks of a thousand dan or less. The eager were promoted beyond their dreams; those who had gone in disgrace saw their service struck from the rolls. Common soldiers each received a bounty equivalent to forty thousand cash. The two Ferghana expeditions ran four years in all before the armies could stand down.
25
後十一歲，征和三年，貳師復將七萬騎出五原，擊匈奴，度郅居水。 兵敗，降匈奴，為單于所殺。 語在《匈奴傳》。
Eleven years later, in Zhenghe 3 (90 BCE), Ershi took seventy thousand horse out of Wuyuan against the Xiongnu and crossed the Zhiju River. His army broke; he went over to the Xiongnu and the chanyu had him killed. The account is given in the Xiongnu treatise.
26
贊曰：「《禹本紀》言河出崑崙，崑崙高二千五百里餘，日月所相避隱為光明也。 自張騫使大夏之後，窮河原，惡睹所謂崑崙者乎？ 故言九州山川，《尚書》近之矣。 至《禹本紀》、《山經》所有，放哉！」
The summation reads: "The Basic Annals of Yu places the river's source on Kunlun, claiming that peak rises more than two thousand five hundred li, so high that sun and moon pass behind it to shine." After Zhang Qian's mission to Daxia traced the source, what was left of that so-called Kunlun? For the mountains and rivers of the nine provinces, the Classic of Documents comes far closer to the truth. As for the Basic Annals of Yu and the Classic of Mountains—sheer fancy!"