War of the Heavenly Horses (104-101 BC): Han China vs Dayuan

The War of the Heavenly Horses was a conflict fought between 104 and 101 BC between Han China and Dayuan, a kingdom in the Ferghana Valley of Central Asia, in what is now Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Emperor Wu of Han sent the general Li Guangli on two long expeditions to seize Dayuan’s famous horses. The first failed disastrously; the second forced Dayuan to submit and spread Han prestige across the Tarim Basin.

Background: horses and the west

The Han dynasty’s wars against the Xiongnu nomads depended on cavalry, and China’s own horses were small compared with those of the steppe. Huge numbers had been lost in the campaigns of the 120s and 110s BC, above all at Mobei in 119 BC.

Knowledge of the lands to the west came from the envoy Zhang Qian, whose mission to the west in the 130s and 120s BC reached Dayuan. He reported that Dayuan had fine horses which “sweated blood” and were said to be descended from heavenly horses. Emperor Wu, who was deeply interested in omens and immortality, became determined to obtain them.

Han envoys travelled regularly to Dayuan along the newly opened routes through the Hexi Corridor. Dayuan was a settled state with walled cities, vineyards and lucerne (alfalfa) fields. Its capital is recorded as Ershi, where the best horses were kept, though some scholars distinguish Ershi from the royal seat at Guishan.

Causes of the war

Around 105–104 BC Emperor Wu sent an embassy with a thousand pieces of gold and a horse made of gold to buy the horses. The king of Dayuan, Wugua, and his council refused, judging that Han was too far away to punish them; the desert and the salt marshes on the route had killed many travellers.

The Han envoys reacted angrily, insulted the Dayuan court and smashed the golden horse. On their way home, Dayuan’s eastern town of Yucheng attacked and killed them and took their goods. Emperor Wu resolved on war.

The first expedition (104–102 BC)

In 104 BC the emperor appointed Li Guangli, brother of his favourite consort Lady Li, as “Ershi General”, named after the city he was to capture. He received about 6,000 cavalry and several tens of thousands of young men of bad reputation conscripted from the commanderies.

The march was a disaster. The small oasis states of the Tarim Basin shut their gates and refused food, so the army had to besiege them one by one. Many soldiers died of hunger and exhaustion. By the time Li Guangli reached Yucheng he had only a few thousand men left, and they were defeated.

He turned back and reached Dunhuang around 102 BC, after two years, with perhaps one or two in ten of his original force. The emperor was enraged and ordered that anyone who tried to enter the Jade Gate (Yumen) would be beheaded, so the survivors had to stay outside the frontier.

The second expedition (102–101 BC)

Many officials urged an end to the war, but Emperor Wu feared that defeat would make Han look weak to the western states and the Xiongnu. In 102 BC he sent Li Guangli out again with a much larger army. The Shiji records about 60,000 soldiers, not counting carriers, together with 100,000 cattle, more than 30,000 horses and large numbers of donkeys and camels. Two horse experts accompanied the army to select animals.

This time most oasis states supplied the army. One, Luntai, resisted and was destroyed. Li Guangli reached the Dayuan capital with about 30,000 men. Han engineers diverted the river that supplied the city with water, and after a siege of more than 40 days the army broke through the outer wall.

The nobles of Dayuan then killed King Wugua and offered terms: Han could choose horses if it lifted the siege. Li Guangli accepted. The army took several dozen of the finest horses and more than 3,000 others, and installed a noble named Meicai as king. Yucheng was also captured and its ruler killed.

Consequences

The army returned in 101 BC. The Shiji says only about 10,000 men and 1,000 horses came back through the Jade Gate, losses it blames partly on corrupt officers who mistreated the soldiers rather than on battle. Li Guangli was nonetheless made Marquis of Haixi.

The victory impressed the states of the Tarim Basin, many of which sent hostages and tribute. Han built way stations and farming garrisons along the route, preparing the later Protectorate of the Western Regions, established in 60 BC. Emperor Wu celebrated the horses in a hymn to the heavenly horse.

Li Guangli’s own end was unhappy. In 90 BC, after a defeat by the Xiongnu and political disaster at home, he surrendered to them and was killed in about 88 BC.

Timeline

• c. 105–104 BC: Dayuan refuses to sell horses; Han envoys are killed.
• 104 BC: Li Guangli leads the first expedition.
• c. 102 BC: The remnants of the first army return to Dunhuang.
• 102 BC: The second, much larger expedition sets out.
• 101 BC: Siege of the Dayuan capital; King Wugua is killed and horses are surrendered.
• 60 BC: Han establishes the Protectorate of the Western Regions.

Why it matters

The war showed the reach of Han power, which could project an army some 3,000 kilometres beyond its frontier. It strengthened Han influence over the Tarim Basin and the routes later called the Silk Road, and it fixed the “heavenly horse” as an enduring symbol in Chinese art and poetry.