Du Huan facts for kids
Du Huan (simplified Chinese: 杜环; traditional Chinese: 杜環; pinyin: Dù Huán; Wade–Giles: Tu Huan, fl. 751–762) was a Chinese travel writer born in Chang'an during the Tang Dynasty.
According to his writings, he was one of a few Chinese captured in the Battle of Talas in 751, along with artisans Fan Shu and Liu Ci and fabric weavers Le Wei and Lu Li. After a long journey through the Abbasid Caliphate (the 'Lands of the Tājīk', 大食), he returned by ship to Guangzhou in 762.
Following his return, he wrote his Jingxingji (lit. Records of Travels), a work which has been almost completely lost. A few extracts survived in Tongdian under volume 192 and 193, an encyclopedia compiled by his uncle, Du You (735–812). The original text was reconstructed by Chen Yunrong in 1911.
According to the historian Angela Schottenhammer, "Du Huan’s exceedingly positive description of the 'Lands of the Tājīk', coupled with the opportunities that he was granted during his travels, indicate that he was no traditional prisoner of war". Schottenhammer also points out that he is unlikely to have visited all the lands he included in his report, but that he provides a detailed description of life in Kufa, which was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate before the foundation of Baghdad. His report may have served as a guide for the embassy of Yang Liangyao in 785, who went in the opposite direction, i.e. from Guangzhou via sea to the west.
See also
- Sino-Arab relations
