Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s2.t4.4

v1.c5.s2.t4.4

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!”