Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c4.s2.10

v1.c4.s2.10

The passage through which Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions was called the ‘Western Region Road’ that is the ‘Silk Road’. With this road being opened, an increasing number of envoys were sent from China to India. According to *Da Yuan Biographies* of *Shi Ji* when Zhang Qian was on his second trip to the Western Regions, he sent his deputy envoy to India. After Zhang Qian, in the 1ˢᵗ century BCE, China on an average sent seven or eight missions to the Western Regions every year, with each mission consisting of more than 100 persons and taking eight or nine years to accomplish a round trip. Frequent contacts enabled Chinese to have a better knowledge of India. In the section on “Biographies of Western Regions” in *Shi Ji*, the geographical setting, products, traditions etc., of some Indian places and their relationship with the Han Dynasty, etc., were recorded.