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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5: Section II Commercial Interactions Between India & China

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5

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English

Contents

Section II Commercial Interactions Between India & China

Overview

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Dunhuang mural paintings (picture of the travelling merchants), preserved in cave number 296 in the Dunhuang Mogao caves in Gansu Province, China

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The history of commercial exchanges between India and China is very long. More than 3,000 years ago, a large number of seashells from the coast of the Bay of Bengal was unearthed in Sichuan and Yunnan. These seashells were ancient currencies, indicating that there had been trade contacts between Sichuan, Yunnan and countries such as India and Burma (Myanmar) at that time. India was the origin of Asiatic cotton, with a long history of producing cotton textiles. A piece of cotton cloth from more than 3,000 years ago was unearthed in Fujian, China, which is the earliest evidence of cotton cloth ever discovered in here. Since there was no cotton in China at that time, it is considered by many scholars that this piece of cotton cloth probably came from India.

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During 4^th century BCE, there were records about silk (kauseya) and Chinese silk in sheaves (cinapañña) in the *Arthashastra*, the ancient Indian work written by Kautilya. Silk was also mentioned in other ancient works such as the two great Indian epics, the *Ramayana* and the *Mahabharata*. This indicates that Chinese silk had been introduced to India before the Common Era.

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According to the great Chinese work of history, the *Shiji*, in the *Biography of Dayuan*, cloth and bamboo cane produced in Sichuan had been seen in Bactria during Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions. This indicated that Sichuan products had long been introduced into India via Yunnan and then further transported to Bactria. People already knew at that time that Sichuan merchants smuggled goods from Yunnan to northeast India.

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It is recorded in the Chinese work, *Han Shu*, in the *Record on Geography*, that there had already been sea trade between southern India and China in the 2^nd century BCE. The main goods from India at that time included "bright pearls, jewels (glass), rare stones and exotic things," and the goods from China were mainly gold and "za zeng" (all kinds of silk fabrics). Ancient coins of the Han Dynasty also have been unearthed in southern India, which prove the existence of trade at that time. In the section on the *Biography of the Western Regions* in the *Han Shu* are recorded the products and ancient coins in some parts of India at that time, such as Kashmir. It says, "The ground is flat, and the climate is mild, there is alfalfa, weeds and odd trees". "They plant grain and all kinds of fruit such as grapes." Also, "the residents there are very skillful, they carve on various materials, build palaces, weave wool fabrics, embroider cloth and prepare various dishes. There are gold, silver, copper and tin vessels. Bazaars are situated along the roads. The currencies are gold and silver, with an image of a horse in front and a human face on the back. They have fengniu (zebu), buffalo, elephants, dogs, macacas, kongjue (peafowl), pearl, coral, amber and gems." Among these, many were already exported to China before the Common Era.

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Tang dynasty women embroidering

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In short, during the 2^nd and 1^st century BCE, many goods were introduced into China from India, mainly directly as trade and also to a lesser extent as "tribute". In fact, the so-called “tribute” was also a kind of trade practice which has been called “tribute trade”. Under this system, merchants from countries surrounding China presented themselves as envoys and gave gifts to the Chinese emperors, and in turn the Chinese emperors granted rewards to them. This satisfied the desire for prestige on the part of the emperors, while at the same time it allowed the merchants to be received with great courtesy and to realise much profit.

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Necklace of precious gems in the Harappan culture

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1ˢᵗ-6ᵗʰ century CE

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The Chinese work *Hou Han Shu* (History of the Later Han Dynasty), in the *Biography of the Western Regions*, recorded the products of India, including elephants, rhinoceros, the hawksbill sea turtle, gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, etc. It also mentioned percale, woollens, spice, jaggery (unrefined w), pepper, ginger, black salt, etc. This indicates that all these Indian products had been familiar to China during the 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ century CE. Because China at that time lacked the technology to produce glass, Indian glass was even more famous in China, and there are mysterious references to “the treasury mirror of Shendu (ancient India)” in Chinese historical records.

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During this period, trade in silk between India and China continued. During 80-89 CE, a Greek who resided in Egypt had recorded that Chinese silk and silk products were sold to the West via Bactria after reaching there from India. This is similar to the narrative about the Former Han Dynasty when it was revealed that cloth from Shu (Sichuan) and Qiong bamboo cane were transported to Bactria via India, via the Yunnan-Burma route. Although India in this case was just a point en route for trade with regions further west, silk and silk fabrics were also consumed in India. In sections 11 and 168 of the Indian work *Manu Smrti*, it was said that whoever stole silk would be punished with no food and only milk for three days.

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Meanwhile, according to the *Hou Han Shu*, in the section on the *Biography of Ban Chao*, it is said that in the 9ᵗʰ year of Jianchu (84 CE), Ban Chao (32-102 CE) dispatched envoys to “present many delicate silk fabrics to the king of Yuezhi.” At that time the Yuezhi people had already established the Kushan Empire, ruling the northwestern region of India. Due to Ban Chao’s efforts, the so-called Silk Road was kept open in this period, allowing Chinese silk to be successfully transported to the northwestern region of India via the route through the Western Regions.

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During the 4ᵗʰ and 5ᵗʰ century CE, there were both government envoys and merchants plying this route, the Yunnan-Burma overland route and the South China Sea route. Among the large number of Indian monks in China, some came together with the trade caravans via the Western Regions route, while others came in merchant ships by sea. For example, Faxian, who travelled by the overland Western Regions route when he went to India, took the sea route on-board a merchant ship when he came back.

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In the *Song Shu* section on the *Biography of the Barbarians*, it was recorded that in the 5ᵗʰ year of the Liu Song Dynasty (428 CE), envoys from south India came to China and submitted their credentials, bearing “delicate treasures like diamond rings and Mollet gold rings, and one red cockatoo and one white cockatoo.” This indicates that south Indians were familiar with China and that the practice of “tribute trade” continued. Information about China was transmitted back to India through these merchants.

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Trade and presentation of tribute to the emperor

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The section on the *Biography of the Western Regions* in the *Wei Shu* mentions that India produced “mani beads (cintamani) and coral”, and that some places “produce gold, white sandalwood, jaggery and grapes.” “Tribute” from Indian envoys included horses, black camels, gold, silver, etc., and silk fabrics were the main exports from China. The reference to envoys Dong Wan and Gao Ming going to the Western Regions bearing silk in the Taiyan period (435-440 CE), in *juan* 102 of the *Wei Shu*, indicated that silk was an important part of the gifts sent by Chinese emperors.

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In the section on “Tribes” in the *Liang Shu*, more products from India were listed, such as mink, rose beads, gold thread fabrics, golden felt, superior fur clothing, curcuma aromatica, etc. It was also recorded that “the rose bead is like mica in shape and violet gold in colour with a brilliant light; it is as thin as a cicada's wings, and like left over yarn when stacked." "The curcuma aromatica is peculiar to Kawmira (Kashmir), with a splendid yellow colour, just like the lotus." The curcuma aromatica here is the snow lotus (*saussurea involucrata*). At the beginning of the Tianjian period of the Liang Dynasty (502 or 503 CE), the Gupta king in India dispatched envoys to China, bearing among other things, "glass, spittoons, spices, cotton, and so on."

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6^th ~mid 10^th century CE

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Although the Sui Dynasty of China (581~618) did not last long, there are nevertheless records of diplomatic and commercial exchanges during that period. "Every year in the first month of the lunar calendar, envoys from many countries would come to pay their respects", and "many surrounding tribes would come and present their local products". According to the *Sui Shu*, in the *Section on the Western Regions*, Emperor Yang (reigning from 605-618) dispatched Wei Jie and Du Xingman to serve as envoys to the countries in the Western Regions. They went to Kawmira and brought back cups made of agate, which was a rare precious stone at that time.

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In the Tang period, Indian states dispatched envoys and presented local products on many occasions. For example, in 619, the ruler of Kashmir dispatched envoys who presented many gifts including golden locks, crystal cups and jujube-like glass. In June 637, they again dispatched envoys bearing Buddhist relics (*sarira*) and superior quality horses. In the 16^th year of Zhenguan, they recorded as having "presented a special kind of mouse with a sharp mouth and red tail, which could eat snakes. If someone was bitten by a snake, the mouse would smell and urinate on the sore, and the sore would immediately heal." This was a reference to a mongoose, Nàkula in Sanskrit, commonly known as Naula). In the same year, Oddiyana (Swat Valley in Pakistan today) dispatched envoys to present camphor. Around the 20^th year of Zhenguan, Harsha Sīlāditya, king of Magadha, presented fire pearl, tulips and banyan plants. *Juan* 100 in the *Tang Huiyao* recorded all kinds of plants introduced from places in India, such as banyan, tulip, heliotrope, sow thistle and Hu celery. There were also records of gifts including all kinds of drugs, carrots and fine horses.

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After middle of the 8^th century CE, there were fewer references in historical records about Indian envoys coming to China to pay "tribute", but this does not mean that Indian products did not reach China after that. In fact, sea trade in Tang Dynasty had already advanced considerably, and the products imported from India were much more than "tribute". Foreign trade bureaus had been set up at large ports along the coast in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, which were in charge of the maritime trade. At that time, Indian merchant ships were coming to China with large amounts of "treasure". The *Tōdaiwajō tōseiden* by Yuan Kai recorded that in Guangzhou, "there were numerous ships on the river from Brahmana, Persia and Kunlun carrying mountains of spice and treasures." Even after the mid-Tang period, the foreign trade bureaus at the ports along the coast continued to function and trade to China from India also continued. According to Chinese sources, products were exported to China from India even in the late Tang period, and rhinoceros was one of them. Belts decorated with rhinoceros horn were particularly appreciated in China. Products exported to India from China were mainly silk products. According to *Juan* 198 of the *Jiu Tang Shu*, in the 11^th year of Zhenguan (637), when the ruler of Kashmir presented a famous horse, "Emperor Taizong praised its sincerity and rewarded it with coloured silk." During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (713-741), Indian envoys were "rewarded" with brocade or rough silk, usually 500 bolts on each occasion.

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*Black Rhinoceros*

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In the Tang period, monks also took silk with them during their journeys to the west, which is another way that Chinese silk was introduced into India. For example, in the *Biography of San Zang of Da Ci'en Temple*, it is mentioned that Xuanzang used to give brocade to the temples in India. The *Da Tang Xi Yu Qiu Fa Gao Seng Zhuan* (Biography of Eminent Monks Who Sought Dharma in the West in the Great Tang) also has references to Chinese monks taking silk to India.

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Mid 10^th ~mid 14^th century CE

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During this period, trade between the coastal regions of east and south China and the coastal regions of India expanded greatly with many merchant ships plying to and fro. Among the many foreign merchants gathered at that time in the large Chinese ports like Guangzhou and Quanzhou, there were many Indian merchants. Many Chinese merchants also sailed to India in this period, particularly to South India, although it appears that they were mostly sojourners who moved back and forth from their bases in Southeast Asia rather than settlers. These features point to the convenience of sea transportation and to the advanced nature of trade between India and China at this time.

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A scene from street number 13 in Guangzhou during the Qing dynasty

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Chinese records such as the *Song Shi* (History of the Song dynasty) recorded the kinds of products brought over from India. In the 8th year of Dazhong Xiangfu, the Chola ruler “despatched special 52 envoys to present local products, an item of pearl-embroidered clothing and a hat, 21,100 taels of pearls, 60 pieces of ivory and 60 *jin* of frankincense.” Envoys Srisamanta and some others “also dedicated 6600 taels of pearl and 3300 taels of spice.” In the 10th year of Xijing (1077), the Cholas again dispatched 27 envoys with gifts of pearls, glass dishes, rhinoceros horn, frankincense, rose water, asafoetida, borax, clove, etc.

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Works like the *Zhufan zhi* of Zhao Rushi, then a Superintendant of Maritime Customs at the Chinese port of Quanzhou, recorded in detail the products of India. Products from Numburi (on the Malabar coast) included pearls, cloths in all colours, cat’s eye, black indigo, Flame of the Forest plants, coconut, sappan wood, etc. Products from the Chola kingdom included pearls, ivory, coral, glass, areca-nut, coloured silk cloth, silk cotton cloth, and so on. Other things mentioned are goats, cattle, pheasants, parrots, coconut, jackfruit, white jasmine, hibiscus, corn poppy, lotus and water plantain. This information would have been useful to Chinese merchants seeking to develop trade with these regions of India.

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Wang Dayuan was another person from the period of the Yuan dynasty, which followed the Song dynasty, who recorded the products to be found in India. In addition to this, Wang Dayuan paid much attention to the economy and trade, and he wrote descriptions of agriculture, harvest, markets, revenues and currencies of the places mentioned. In his work, *Daoyi zhilüe* (A brief account of the island peoples), which was based on his travels, he listed the products of Bengal. He wrote that it was rich in jute cloth, byssus cloth, tula-cotton, and peacock feathers. He noted that among the items traded with China were “south and north silk”, “five-coloured raw silk”, cloves, amomum kravanh, bluish white vases and white tassels. His work too would have been an important source of trade information for Chinese merchants and the government.

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The Italian Marco Polo, who served as an official under the Yuan Dynasty, noted the presence of Indian merchants at the port of Fuzhou. He wrote that “many merchant ships arrive at this port. Indian merchants bring all kinds of pearls and jewels here and sell them and make huge profits. This river (Minjiang River) is not far from Zaytun (Quanzhou), and the water flows into the sea. The ships from India row up the river to Quanzhou city.” His reference to the huge quantities of pepper, sandalwood and medicinal materials to be found in Quanzhou was probably an indication of the extent of trade with India, since India was very likely the source of much of these products. About the region of Malabar, Marco Polo said it produced pepper, ginger, cinnamon and cotton cloth, and that “ships from the southern provinces (of China) carry copper for balance. They also carry gold brocade, silk, gauze, bullion and many medicinal materials that Malabar doesn’t have to exchange with the goods in this place.”

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Silk and silk fabrics formed the main exports from China. According to *juan* 489 in the *Song Shu*, Chinese emperors would generously reward the envoys who came to pay tribute from all parts of India with silk. Indian monks who came bearing Buddhist scriptures and Buddha statues, would be rewarded with “purple cassocks and bunches of silks”. Of the Chinese silk that was transported to India, only some part was bought locally, while the rest was transshipped to other countries. For example, in *juan* 2 of the Song period work *Ling Wai Dai Da* (Lands beyond the passes) by Zhou Qufei, merchants from China, after arriving at Kollam (Quilon) on the Malabar coast, would then go on to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea area in smaller boats. There are many references to Chinese silk being shipped to India in Yuan dynasty records as well.

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Porcelain was another important commodity in the foreign trade of China in this period. Although historical sources do not record much about the export of Chinese porcelain to India during and before the Tang Dynasty, nevertheless archaeological excavations have yielded some quantities of porcelain or porcelain chips of the late Tang Dynasty (9ᵗʰ to early 10ᵗʰ century CE) in India and Pakistan. Literary sources for this are available from the Song period. *Juan* 489 of the *Song Shi* mentions that in 1077, 27 Chola envoys were rewarded with porcelain vessels among other things. The *Zhufan zhi* also mentions Chinese traders carrying porcelain with them to southern India. In the record of goods traded between India and China in Wang Dayuan’s *Daoyi zhilüe*, various kinds of porcelain are mentioned, including “bluish white porcelain”, “thick bowls” and “bluish white vases”. In his description of Quanzhou port, Marco Polo mentions seeing a large amount of porcelain waiting to be transported overseas. He mentioned that “such porcelain is sold to India and other places, even Maghrib of my country. This is the best in all kinds of porcelain.”

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Fragments of Celadon or Chinese porcelain discovered from under the water in the South China Sea in China

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Porcelain and porcelain sherds have been discovered in South Asia. For example, a batch of Chinese pottery from the Song and Yuan periods has been found by the Archaeological Authority of Pakistan since 1958 at Banbhore, 64 km south of Karachi. Earlier excavations conducted in 1854 at Brahminabad about 80 kmeters northeast of Hyderabad in Sindh Province yielded a large amount of ceramic chips which are now housed in the British Museum. These date from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the end of Song Dynasty. Investigations conducted by Aurel Stein in the Makran Area along the coast of Balochistan also yielded a bluish white porcelain from around the 10th century CE. Celadon from the Longquan kilns of the Song Dynasty and ceramic white ware from Fujian and Guangdong as well as dark brown glazed pottery relics from South of China were unearthed in Chandravalli, a Neolithic site in what is now south central Karnataka. Along with them, coins of the Northern Song in the Shenzong Period (1068-1085) were unearthed as well, which indicated that those porcelain arrived in the period 1078-1085 or later. French excavations at Arikamedu near Pondicherry on the southeast coast of India and other excavations have also led to the discovery of Chinese porcelain sherds. These have been found together with coins of the Northern Song period and copper coins of the Chola Dynasty from the 11ᵗʰ to 12ᵗʰ century CE. All this shows that Chinese porcelain was being shipped to different parts of India continuously during several hundred years from the 9ᵗʰ to 13ᵗʰ century CE.

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A shipwreck from the Song dynasty in China, preserved in the Quanzhou Overseas Museum in China on the history of communications

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Sugar and steel were also among the items exported from China to India in this period. In modern Hindi, Bengali and Nepali, white sugar is called *cini*, which means “Chinese”. Wang Dayuan wrote in the Yuan period that among the goods traded between Chinese merchants and southern Indians were “white sugar” and “sugar icing”. The word “cinaja” in Sanskrit, meaning “steel”, also carries the literal meaning of “made in China”. Although ancient India produced and exported steel, in certain periods Chinese steel was also imported into India. Ibn Muhdhih, an Arab geographer in the 9ᵗʰ-10ᵗʰ century CE, once saw an observatory in Kashmir which had been made of Chinese steel. This indicates that Chinese steel was being imported into India even earlier. Wang Dayuan wrote that Chinese merchant ships in his time often carried “ironware”, “bar iron”, “steel cooking vessels”, “needles”, etc., as trading goods.

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Mid 14ᵗʰ-mid 17ᵗʰ century CE

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In the early Ming period, envoys came from different parts of India bearing gifts that indicate the range of products that could have been traded as commodities between India and China. These gifts included certain herbal remedies for detoxification, giraffes, superior quality horses, gold, silver, glass implements, rhinoceros horn, peacocks, parrots, cambric, tula-cotton, icing sugar, frankincense, rosin, herbs, hemp vine, cutch, lac, vine rattan, ebony, sappan wood, pepper, the plant ardisia maculosa Mez, byssus thread, pepper, gems, coral, gardenia, sandalwood, tin, etc.

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Chinaware/porcelain from Longquan in China, preserved in the Indian Museum

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Apart from these references to the gifts borne by envoys from India, Chinese works from this period, including the *Ying Ya Sheng Lan*, *Xing Cha Sheng Lan* and *Records of Western Countries*, give detailed descriptions of the products of India.

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During this period, the main products exported to India from China were silk fabrics, porcelain and tea. In the early Ming period, a part of the silk exported to Indian states from China formed part of "tribute trade", that is to say, the gifts given by Chinese emperors to the rulers of Indian countries. These usually included silk products, including luxurious silk fabrics, leno, woolen brocade, coloured silk and clothes, veils and canopies made of silk. From the middle of the 16th century CE, however, the Ming Dynasty implemented a ban on maritime trade or intercourse with foreign countries due to the invasion of Japanese pirates. Thereafter, the export of Chinese silk to India was mainly in the form of private trade.

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The major trading companies of western powers such as those of Portugal, Holland and Britain gradually penetrated the intra-Asian trade and also came to control the silk trade between India and China. Western merchants regarded India as an intermediate station, through which they transported large amounts of raw silk from China to Europe for sale there. For example, the quantity of raw silk transported by Portuguese colonists from Macao to Goa was more than 3,000 piculs each year during 1580 to 1590, and was up to 6000 piculs in 1636.

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Although a large amount of raw silk was transported to India during this period, it was mainly for re-export to Europe, and local sales in India were quite limited. Moreover, according to records in the *Ying Ya Sheng Lan* and other Ming era works, Indian countries were already able to manufacture silk, and it was no longer rare for people there to use silk products.

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The same was true for Chinese c. In the late Ming period, the Dutch East India Company established bases for trade with China in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and used to purchase large amount of Chinese porcelain at very low prices which they would transport to the southeast coast of India, and then ship to Europe. Large amounts of Chinese porcelain have been found in different places in India, not just in the coastal regions but also in the interior, like in Assam in Northeast India. It is apparent that it had become a fashion among the rulers, courtiers and high officials of various Indian states to collect Chinese porcelain at that time.

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The history of tea exports to India from China is not very long, with the custom of tea drinking in India only going back to the era of the Mongol conquests in Asia. The Indian word for tea, "Chai", is very similar to that in Mongolian, Turki, Persian, Portuguese, Greek and Russian. Early Ming records, such as the works of Ma Huan, Fei Xin and Gong Zhen who had travelled to the west together with Zheng He, do not contain any references to Indians drinking tea, while on the contrary, there were records of other beverages consumed by Indians such as cow milk, rose water, mulse and all kinds of wine. They observed the food habits of Indians very carefully, and it is unlikely that they would not have noticed the custom of tea drinking among Indians if there was any. In fact, Ma Huan's *Ying Ya Sheng Lan* said categorically that "no tea was sold on the market", while the work *Records of Western Countries* also said that there was no tea drinking custom in India. It is likely that tea drinking was picked up in India only under the influence of the large amounts of tea shipped through India to the West by the British and Dutch East India Companies.

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Metal goods were also among the goods traded between India and China in this period. According to Wang Dayuan's *Daoyi zhilüe*, in the 13th century CE, goods carried by Chinese merchants to India often included "ironware", "bar iron", "iron ding" and "needles". In the early Ming period, besides iron and steel, other metals and metal ware were transported to India. Gold, alluvial gold, Yunnan leaf gold, silver, pure silver, copper cash, copper ding, copper wire, lead, tin and hydrargyrum were all mentioned as exports to India in Ming era works like *Xing Cha Sheng Lan*, *Ying Ya Sheng Lan* and *Records of Western Countries*. Due to the advances in Chinese maritime commerce from the Song period, Chinese copper cash had even become a form of currency in some coastal regions of India.

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Mid-17th century to 1949

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With the end of the age of the great ocean-going Chinese ships and Chinese merchants directly carrying their goods to Indian ports, the trade between India and China did not end but altered its form and orientation. This was the period of a flourishing junk trade between China and Southeast Asia. Indian and Chinese goods were often exchanged in Southeast Asian ports such as Malacca. However, there is evidence of the resumption of direct trade between Surat, the leading port at this time on the west coast of India, and China from the last quarter of the 17th century CE. Chinese porcelain, tea, Chinese gold, lacquer work, copper and vermilion were exported to India in return for silver, spices, sandalwood and other items. However, some of the merchandise imported by Surat merchants was re-exported to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea area. There is also some evidence that by the early 18th century, this trade with China had entered a period of stagnation.

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Transaction in tea in the 18th century between Chinese merchants and businessmen of the Dutch East India Company

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The store house for tea at Guangzhou during the Qing times in China

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The arrival of the European monopoly trading companies in the Asian waters was a new and significant feature of this period. Initially, these companies participated in the trade without altering its structure significantly. However, Dutch Batavia soon became an intermediate station in the trade between India and China. Western ships in the East Indies loaded up with spices and other goods which they carried to Guangzhou. From there, they carried porcelain and silk to Surat to exchange for cotton, sugar, gum and textiles, returning to Guangzhou with the monsoon winds. However, the rapid growth of the tea trade between China and Europe, and the establishment of the colonial power of the Western countries in India and other Asian countries, changed the nature of the trade between India and China substantially. From the last quarter of the 18th century CE, raw cotton from western India and opium from both Bengal and western India (Patna and Malwa opium) began to be exported to China in huge quantities to pay for the rapidly escalating import of tea into Britain from China. Whereas in 1765, the quantity of opium imported into China was less than 200 chests per year, and was mostly for medicinal use, by the turn of the 19th century, this figure had increased to 4,000 chests. In 1830-1834, it increased to 17,000 chests, and by the time of the outbreak of the First Opium War in 1839, it had reached a stupendous 40,000 chests per year. After the Second Opium War broke out in 1858, China was forced to sign a treaty with Britain legalising the import of opium. Opium imports from India continued to increase until 1884, when the quantity started to gradually decrease, because by this time China had also increased its cultivation of opium. On the eve of the First World War, the quantity of opium imported into China had decreased to below 4,000 chests.

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Raw cotton remained one of the mainstays of Indian exports to China in the 19th century. The region of Gujarat in western India produced a short staple cotton that was suited to the handloom weaving industry of China at that time. British traders, as well as Indian traders like Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, made considerable profits from the cotton trade, which also gave a boost to the shipbuilding industry in western India.

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*Trading in porcelain at Jingdezhen during the Qing times*

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In the second half of the 19ᵗʰ century, manufactured cotton yarn, the product of India’s earliest modern industry, the textile industry, started to become the main product exported to China by India. During 1872~1873, the total volume of export of Indian cotton yarn was 1.8 million pounds, of which 1.2 million pounds were exported to China. After that, the volume of exports of Indian cotton yarn increased year by year. While from 1874~1879, the average annual exports were about 9 million pounds, by 1894~1899, it was 180.9 million pounds. At first, Indian cotton yarn was mainly sold in Shantou and Guangzhou, and then it gradually extended to east China, central China, north China, northeast China and southwest China. It was not until 1914~1915 that the volume of export of Indian cotton yarn to China decreased to 134 million pounds due to its displacement by Japanese cotton yarn.

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In the trade between the two nations in the middle of 19ᵗʰ century, the volume of goods exported to India from China was much less than that of goods exported to China from India. China faced a huge trade deficit, which required silver to pay for the balance. The main goods of India were opium, cotton, wheat and jute, mainly exported to China; while the main goods of China were raw silk, porcelain, tea and medicinal materials, mainly exported to Britain, USA, France, Netherland and Spain. According to statistics, during the period 1834~1845, the annual average value of the goods imported from China by India was only 1/80ᵗʰ of the value of the goods exported from India to China. So, the net value of silver transported to India from China reached about 1.5~2.5 million pounds. The goods exported to India by China in this period included, besides raw silk, tea and porcelain, rock candy, white sugar, alum, silk and satin, camphor, paper, homespun, etc.

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From 1864 to 1891, the annual total volume of direct trade between India and China was 27.77 million *haikwan taels* on an average. This figure rose in the 20ᵗʰ century. In 1926, the total volume of trade between the two countries reached 95,113,114 *haikwan taels*, of which the total value of goods exported to China from India was 79,191,013 *haikwan taels*. During this period, products exported to China from India were mainly cotton, rice and cotton yarn. Besides these, China also used to import from India flour, sugar, coal, kerosene, cement, tea, jute and various kinds of cloth.

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During this period, products exported to India from China were mainly silk, tea and beans. Besides these, other exports to India included eggs, peanuts, cowhide, sesame, China wood oil, coal, cotton yarn, pig iron, etc. It is worth noting that while cotton yarn had earlier been exported from India to China, during this period China began to export cotton yarn to India. This was a reflection of the development of cotton yarn manufacture in China, particularly from the time of the First World War.

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1950~2000

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Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, in 1954 the governments of India and China signed the first trade agreement between the two countries. In this period, goods exported to India from China mainly included rice, broomcorn, beans, raw silk, machines, transformers, wool, caustic soda, paper, etc. Goods exported to China from India mainly included hemp articles, rice, beans, tobacco, chemicals, drugs, mica, electric fans, woolens and machines.

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*The export trade of tea leaf production and processing during the Qing times*

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After a disruption of the trade in the 1960s and early 1970s, trade between India and China began to revive in the 1980s. In 1977, direct trade was resumed; in 1984, the two countries signed an official trade agreement; in November 1985, the two countries signed a trade protocol; in 1988, there was established a minister-level economic, trade and scientific and technological cooperation group.

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In the 1980s, goods exported to India from China mainly included raw silk, silk products, edible vegetable oil, coal, mercury, antimony, petroleum, petrochemicals, drug, etc. At the same time the products exported to China from India included iron ore, chrome ore, manganese ore, steel products, tobacco, leather, power generating equipment, etc. In 1982, the value of trade between India and China stood at 145 million USD. From 1984 to 1990 it grew year by year on the whole. The volume of trade further increased in the 1990s. By the year 2000 it had reached a total of 2.91 billion USD.

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Since then, trade between India and China has grown at a phenomenal rate, and is the most dynamic element in the relationship at the present time. Currently, China is India’s largest trading partner. However, there is a distinct imbalance in the trade, with the balance of trade in China’s favour, and the figure is only a small proportion in the total volume of foreign trade of the two countries. Measures are being taken to try and diversify and strengthen the structure of the trading relationship between the two countries.

A. Products

Bodhi Tree

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The Bodhi Tree is a kind of arbor from the species *ficus microcarpa* of the Moraceae family of plants, and its scientific name is *Ficus religiosa*. The Sanskrit name of the bodhi tree is *pippala*, which is transliterated in Chinese as Biboluo (毕钵罗, 卑钵罗 and 庫钵罗). It is said that the Sakyamuni was enlightened on the Diamond Throne under a bodhi tree outside Gaya, Magadha (in present-day Bihar, India). The tree was called bodhi, and its free translations were ‘the tree of the Way’, ‘enlightenment tree’, ‘bodhimandala tree’, ‘thinking tree’, etc. ‘*Juan*’ 8 of the Chinese work *Traveling Notes on the Western Regions in the Great Tang Dynasty* recorded that the original bodhi tree had a yellowish white stem and green leaves, and that it did not wither away, but thrived both in winter and summer. When the Buddha lived, the tree was supposed to have been one hundred *chi*¹ in height, and its height was four or five *zhang* even after having been cut several times. Kings in later generations conducted Buddhist ceremonies around the Bodhi tree, and collected its leaves as auspicious relics, while many Chinese monks who visited India to seek Dharma, including the famous Xuanzang, visited the holy relic of the tree. Envoys from China in the reign of Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty displayed sacrificial offerings and "kasayas" (robes worn by monks) in the temple beside the tree. Tang envoys also erected a monument in the temple in the 5ᵗʰ Year of the Xian Qing reign (660 CE). *Juan* 18 in Book One of Duan Chengshi's *Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang* cites relevant passages from *Traveling Notes on the Western Regions in the Great Tang Dynasty*, as well as pointed out that there were two Sanskrit names of the bodhi tree, in which ‘阿湿曷吔娑力叉’ (*A shi he ta suo li cha*) was the transliteration of *Asvattha-vrksa* in Sanskrit.

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*Book made out of Bodhi leaves in Ming China*

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Since the bodhi tree was connected with the enlightenment of the Buddha, a part of this tree was transplanted in China. It is said that Tripitaka Zhi Yao came from India by sea in the first year of Tianjian of the Liang Dynasty, planted a bodhi tree in front of the altar of Guangxiao Temple, Guangzhou and predicted that later generations would have real Bodhisattvas (meaning Hui Neng, the sixth Patriarch of the Chan sect) to enlighten the people there. Thereafter, bodhi trees were planted in places such as Guangdong and Yunnan in China and elsewhere. Pi Rixiu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty wrote a *Poem on Tiantai Guoqing Temple in Qi and Liang Style*. In it, he wrote, “I walked 10 *li* on Guoqing Road of Songmen and fed monkeys on the platform beside the Bodhi tree. I wondered why it rained on such a sunny day, it turned out that the sea wind brought the waterfall.”

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Bodhi trees and their leaves from India were often offered as tribute or presents. *Juan* 54 in the *Book of the Liang Dynasty* recorded that the Panpan kingdom dispatched envoys to present true relics and painted pagodas of the Bodhi kingdom and offered bodhi leaves and the plant Lindera thunbergii Makino in August of the sixth year of the middle Datong (534 CE). The *Old Book of the Tang Dynasty juan* 198 recorded that King Silajita of Magadha sent envoys to offer fire balls, tulips and bodhi trees in the 15^th year of Zhenguan. According to the *General History of Chinese Buddhism*, monks of Kaibao Temple returned from India and offered Sanskrit sutras, a pagoda of Buddha’s relics, bodhi leaves and peacock tail brushes in March of the third year of Taipingxingguo (978) of the Northern Song Dynasty. Similarly, the *sramana* Guangyuan of Chengdu, on his return from the western paradise, went to the royal house of the prince of western India named Motunangbiao to offer as presents a seal of the Buddha’s head crown (skull bone relic), palm tree leaves and leaves of the Bodhi tree in December of the seventh year of Taipingxingguo (982 CE). Indian monks, including Niweini, came to China and offered to the court Buddha’s relics, Sanskrit sutras, bodhi leaves and bodhi prayer beads in the first year of Xianping in the Northern Song Dynasty (998 CE). The monk Mulasiji from Kashmir is also recorded as having offered Sanskrit sutras and bodhi leaves in March of the second year of Jingde (1005); while five years later, the Indian monk Juejie came to China and brought relics, palm-leaf scriptures, a genuine *bodhimanda* and bodhi leaves in the third year of Dazhongxiang. Huaiwen who had gone to the West three times, returned from the Indian kingdom of Magadha bringing fragments of the Buddha’s bone, *pattra*-leaf sutras, *pattra*, bodhi leaves, ashoka leaves, bodhi prayer beads and 19 texts based on the monument of the western paradise.

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The bodhi tree had influence on ancient Chinese literature. In the *Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch*, Shen Xiu wrote a *gatha* in which he said, “The body is the wisdom tree. Your heart is a stand of a mirror bright. Frequently wipe it. Don't let it be dusty.” In turn, Hui Neng wrote the *gatha* saying, “There is no wisdom tree nor a stand of a mirror bright. Since all is void where can the dust alight?” They were the most famous *gathas* related to the Bodhi tree in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Thus, the Bodhi tree is important in the transfer of plants between China and India as well as an important article in Chinese and Indian Buddhism and diplomatic intercourse.

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(Chen Ming)

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[1 *chi* is approximately equal to one foot in length; 10 *chi* make up 1 *zhang*]

Sala Tree

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The sala tree (commonly known as sal) is a perennial evergreen arbor of the Dipterocarpaceae family. Its scientific name is *Shorea robusta*. Its original home is in the Indian and Malayan rainforests and it is one of the Buddhist holy trees. Sutras record that the Buddha Sakyamuni entered nirvana between the two sala trees beside the Ajitavatā River outside the capital of Kuśinagara (35 km east of present-day Gorakhpur. The work *Travelling Notes on the Western Regions in the Great Tang Dynasty* (juan 6) described the sala trees seen by Xuanzang there, “The trees were similar to the Quercus dentata but their bark was bluish white, and leaves were bright and smooth. The four trees were very high and the Buddha entered nirvana here.” ‘娑罗’ (Suoluo) was the transliteration of sala in Sanskrit. Juan 1 of Shen Qing’s *Record of North Mountain* in the Tang Dynasty explained that, “It is named sala in Sanskrit and it is called jiangu here and it doesn’t wither away in winter.” The explanation on "sala forest" in *juan* 23 of Hui Lin’s *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras* differed somewhat. “The sala tree is called gaoyuan here and it is higher than other trees in a forest. It was translated as 'jiangu' wrongly in the past because sala was similar to the pronunciation of Para. If it is called 'jiangu', the sound of the same has to made by turning the tongue. If it is called 'gaoyuan', it might be done by pronouncing it straight without any turning of the tongue.” 'Jiangu' corresponds to the Sanskrit 'sàra', whose pronunciation is similar to Sala.

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*Śāla grove after the rains*

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*Juan 54*, 'Record of Foreign Countries', in the *Book of the Liang Dynasty* recorded that the state of Funan sent envoys to offer auspicious Indian sandalwood images, sala leaves, fire balls, curcuma aromatica and storax in the 18^th year of the Tianjian period (519 CE). Duan Chengshi’s *Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang* recorded that Anxi monks from the Western Regions went to the court to offer sala leaves in the first year of the Tianbao period in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Wei wrote, “Offering Sala Leaves” for the Anxi provincial governor and praised the excellent characteristics of the tree, saying that, “It doesn’t shield common grasses and harbour evil birds.” As a Buddhist holy tree, sala trees were planted in many Chinese temples. The entry on Sala in Volume 961 of the *Taiping Imperial Encyclopaedia* quoted Sheng Hong’s *Records of Jinzhou* and recorded a miracle about how a sala tree was grown in a monk’s room of Xian’an Temple in Baling in the 1^st Year of Yongkang of the Jin Dynasty and was recognised by foreign monks later. Li Yong, the governor of Hai Zhou wrote the *Sala Tree Tablet* in the 11th year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (723 CE) in Huaiyin County, Chuzhou. There is also the *Tablet of the Sala Tree Song* in the ruins of Xiangshan Temple in Beijing’s Xiangshan Park which was made on imperial order in the 38th Year of Qianlong in the Qing period (1773). The poem, carved in four scripts - Manchu, Mongolian, Han Chinese and Tibetan - praised the Sala tree which had been planted there for 1,000 years. Ouyang Yongshu wrote his *Poem of the Sala Tree* which went as follows, “There are many rare trees in Yi and Luo. Sala trees were once famous, they are often seen in Buddhist temples and they grow best under the moon.” Therefore, the sala tree is not only an illustration of the transmission of plants between China and India but also played a role in the spread of Buddhist culture.

Asoka Tree

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Asoka is a kind of tree belonging to the Caesalpiniaceae family. Its scientific name is *Saraca Asoca*, originally grown in India, Indo-China and the southwestern region of China. It is one of the Buddhist holy trees. ‘无忧’ (*wu you*) is the name of the Asoka in Chinese and its transliteration is *a shu jia* written with different characters (‘阿输迦’, ‘阿输柯’, ‘阿叔迦’ , ‘阿菽迦’, etc). *Juan* 09 of Baochang’s work, the *Sanskrit-Chinese Lexicon*, says that A shu jia shu 阿菽迦树 (Asoka tree) must be pronounced as A shu jia 阿输迦, and must be translated as *wu you* 无忧 (meaning, one without sorrow). *Juan* 10 of the same work has Asoka 阿输迦 referred to as *wu you hua shu* 无忧华树 (Asoka flower tree). *Juan* 26 of Huilin’s *Sound and Meaning of All Sutras* refers to A shu jia shu 阿叔迦树 (Asoka tree) as *wu you shu*无忧树. *Juan* 03 in *Collection of Terms in Translation* has A shu jia阿输迦 pronounced as ‘A shu ke’ 阿输柯 (Asoka). *The Great Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom* also translates it as *wu you hua shu* 无忧华树.

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The *Sutra on Cause and Effect* wrote that Queen Maya went to Lumbini Garden on February 8, saw an Asoka flower and raised her right hand to pick it but her baby (the prince Siddhartha, the future Gautama Buddha) was born from her right flank. Many sutras recorded that Queen Maya, the mother of the Buddha Sakyamuni, who had returned to her family to give birth according to the convention of the time, passed Lumbini Garden and gave birth to Prince Siddhartha under the Asoka tree. *Juan* 1 of the *Sutra on Causes and Effects of the Past and Present*, translated by the Indian Tripitaka Gunabhadra in the Song Dynasty, described the tree specifically,

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*An Aśoka tree pruned into the shape of an umbrella*

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“The Queen saw a huge tree named Asoka in the garden, its flowers were fragrant and fresh and its leaves were very luxuriant.” *Juan* 6 of the *Travelling Notes on the Western Regions in the Great Tang Dynasty* recorded that Xuanzang visited Lumbini and saw that the Asoka tree under which the Buddha was born had withered away. Because the Asoka tree was related to the birth of the Buddha, it became one of the Buddhist holy trees and all ancient Indian stone sculptures or frescoes describing the birth of the Buddha painted the image of the tree. The artistic way of depicting the Asoka tree was introduced to China from India. In the frescoes at Qizil and Dunhuang which depict the birth of the Buddha, the image of the tree appears in many places.

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Duan Chengshi’s *Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang* (*juan* 3) claimed that the “flowers of the Asoka bloom once women touch them.” Some species of the Asoka were planted in South China. Moving Indian Buddhist stories which feature the Asoka tree are popular in China.

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(*Chen Ming*)

Clover

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In the family Leguminosae, *muxu* (clover) is a general term for wild flowering annual and perennial herbs which belong to the genus, *Medicago*. Its Latin name is *Medicago sativa Linn*. It is also called ‘Musu’ (here ‘su’ represents different characters in Chinese), Guangfeng Grass, Huaifeng Grass and Lianzhi Grass. With its introduction from India and the Western Regions (present-day Xinjiang), clover was gradually developed into a common native product in China from an exotic plant.

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The word for clover (Muxu) in Chinese is actually a transliteration of a foreign word. In *Sino-Iranica*, B. Laufer adduced its origin as buksuk or buxsux in Persian, burchak in Turkic or buso in Jirachi (a Caspian dialect). However, it is not conclusive. In Chinese versions of Buddhist scriptures, various transliterations of it were listed, such as, Muxuxiang (fragrance of clover), also known as Saibeilixiang (*Murti Mandala and Incantation Sutra*), Muxuxiang, i.e. Saibilijia (Volume 7, *Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sutra* translated by Yijing), Sabilijia, also called Muxu in Persian (Volume 5, *Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra*) and (Sa)bilijia, Muxuxiang (*Most Secret, Well-Established Dhāraṇī of the Vast Gem-Encrusted Tower* translated by Bodhiruci). According to the collation of the Chinese version with the original *Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sutra*, Saibeilixiang, and Sabilijia were all transliterated from ‘Sprikka’. They were the same terms used in two sutras of the Tang Dynasty; according to Li Yan’s *Miscellaneous Names in Sanskrit*, ‘Muxu, is a transliteration of svista’ and the *Chinese-Sanskrit Buddhist Dictionary* also followed the same wording. In any case, *muxu* is no doubt a foreign word regardless of its various transliterations.

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Clover

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Clover has many varieties and the most famous one is Medicago sativa which was used to feed livestock. The Chinese work *Compendium of Materia Medica*, says, “The plant grows from its perennial root and can feed cattle and horses.” Clover originated from Persia and was introduced to India and various countries in the Western Regions. Kophen produced clover along with sandalwood trees, pagoda trees, Catalpa trees, bamboo and so forth. In Dayuan (present-day Ferghana in Central Asia), horses loved eating clover. It is said that the herb was introduced from the Western Regions after the famous envoy Zhang Qian went there during the Wudi Emperor’s reign in Han Dynasty. After that, clover gardens appeared in the capital of Chang’an. As recorded in Volume 1 of *Record of the Western Regions* in the *History of the Han Dynasty*, after Dayuan was conquered, the King of Dayuan offered their horses as tribute and the Han envoys brought back grape and clover seeds. The clover seeds later spread as horse feed from the Northwest to many other regions of China. In Tang poet Wang Wei’s poem, entitled *Seeing Lieutenant Liu Off to the Protectorate of the Pacified West*, it is mentioned, “Clover together with steeds were introduced into China; grapes were brought back by Han envoys.” Another Tang poet, Bao Fang, depicted the same scene in two lines in his *Random Thoughts*, “From time to time, the heavenly horses feed on alfalfa, ‘Hu ren’ (the non-Han people from the Western Regions) for years have offered their best grape wines!”

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Upon its introduction into central China, clover not only served as horse feed but was also used as a herb and food. Its medical functions were seen in Tao Hongjing’s *Alternative Records of Famous Physicians*. In the Tang work *Materia Medica for Dietotherapy*, it was written that clover can be mixed with sauce or used for cooking porridge or congee. It can “benefit the organs and help one keep fit. Also, it can clear away harmful heat (‘qi’) and free the small intestine to remove heat-toxin.” In Yuan Dynasty, it was widely planted to feed the huge number of horses needed by the regime’s military operations. Besides, the prescription to make clothes fragrant recorded in Sun Simiao’s work *Valuable Prescriptions for Emergency*, also used clover fragrance.

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