Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s1.46

v1.c5.s1.46

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.