Slipping into history: A Xuanquan wooden slip that records Princess Jieyou's journey home

One day in late autumn of 51 BC, Xuanquanzhi Relay Station received an unusual traveler: a white-haired Han Chinese woman, accompanied by a general, nobles, and several attendants from Wusun.

The elderly woman walked slowly, yet looked calm and composed. She was Princess Jieyou, who had married far away into the Western Regions 50 years before and had now been granted permission to return home.

This Han-Dynasty slip from Xuanquan has preserved a tangible historical trace of her journey home.