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“Did Zhang Qian Open Up the Western Regions?”: A Comparison of the Narratives in the “Account of Dayuan” in the Shiji and the “Account of the Western Regions” in the Hanshu

  • Date: November 17th, Tuesday, 2026, 16:00 – 18:00
  • Location: Room 406, SNUAC (Bldg. 101)

Presenter: Byung-Joon Kim (Chair Professor, Department of History, College of Humanities, Seoul National University)

This lecture seeks to reexamine the conventional understanding that Zhang Qian “opened up the Western Regions” by comparing the narratives of the “Account of Dayuan” (Dayuan Liezhuan) in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) and the “Account of the Western Regions” (Xiyu Zhuan) in the Book of Han (Hanshu). By exploring differences in how these two historical texts portray Zhang Qian’s activities and the Western Regions, the lecture aims to deepen our understanding of how historical events are recorded and interpreted.