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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13: Section X Communication Links and Sites of Interaction

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c13

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English

Contents

Section X Communication Links and Sites of Interaction

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COMMUNICATIONS LINKS AND SITES OF INTERACTIONS

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Before the Common Era (BCE)

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It is generally accepted that there were three main routes of contact between India and China during the centuries Before the Common Era. These were the overland route through the Western Region, the southern maritime route and the Yunnan-Burma route. It is now believed that the Yunnan-Burma route and the southern sea route were the earliest channels of communication between India and China.

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The Yunnan-Burma (Dian-Mian) Route: During the 1950s and 1960s, Chinese archaeologists carried out several rounds of excavation at Shizhai mountain, Jinning, in Yunnan Province. Among several ancient tombs dating back to the Warring States Period (5^th century-3^rd century BCE), they discovered large quantities of sea shells or cowries. This was the contemporary currency used for trade between Yunnan (Dian guo) and India as well as other Southeast Asian countries. Scholars agree that as late as the end of the 4^th century BCE, a route linking the southwest of China with India had already been opened up. During the 1980s, the archaeological excavations at the Sanxing mounds at Guanghan in Sichuan Province proved to be even more astonishing. Most of the cowrie shells were products from the Bay of Bengal that were more than 3,400 years old. This illustrates the fact that during those times, direct and non-direct trade between India and Sichuan existed.

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According to written records as well, the Yunnan-Burma route was the earliest passageway between India and China. According to records preserved in the *Dawan Liezhuan* and the *Xinanyi Liezhuan* of the *Shiji* (the *Historical Record* of Sima Qian), during the first year of the reign period of the Han Emperor Wudi (140-135 BCE), an envoy named Zhang Qian was sent to the western regions under imperial orders and it was only after 13 years that he returned to his country. It was in Bactriana (an area in present-day Afghanistan bordering Iran) that he spotted pieces of cloth and bamboo cane, all of which were products of Sichuan in China. The local people told him that these were products that had been brought there from India. During those times, there were merchants from Sichuan who came to India via Yunnan to sell their commodities. Zhang Qian knew that this Yunnan-Burma passageway was far shorter than the route through the western regions. Therefore, on returning to his country, Zhang Qian reported this to the Han emperor Wudi (140-87 BCE). Moreover, he proposed to send people to explore this particular route, as this would facilitate contact with India, and through India it would be possible to establish contact with Bactriana. Consequently, Han Wudi sent Wang Ranyü, Lü Yueren and others to explore the passageway to the southwest of China. However, the entire group of 40 people who were dispatched, found their way blocked near Kunming and hence could not make their way to India. From this it can be surmised that even before Zhang Qian had explored the route through the western regions, the Yunnan-Burma route was already in existence. Trade had already started long before, following the Sichuan–Yunnan–Burma–India route. Although, Han Wudi did not succeed in exploring this route, it is clear that it was in use.

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The southern sea route: During the early 1980s, Chinese archaeologists discovered a piece of plain cotton cloth amid ancient coffins in the Wuyi mountain region of Fujian. Its warp reveals that it has had a history of over 3,000 years. During that time and even over 10 centuries later, China did not itself produce cotton or cotton cloth. The main region of cotton production was India. Therefore it is highly probable that this piece of cloth was brought in from India. If this deduction is correct, then it certainly must have been along the sea route that Indian cotton cloth travelled up to Fujian as early as the 10^th century BCE. The *Hanshu Dilizhi* describes a certain maritime route between Guangxi and Huangzhi guo (present-day Kanchipuram in southern India) and the time required to ply between the two. If there had not already been considerable maritime contacts between the two, there could certainly not have been such a precise, accurate description of a sea route and the time taken to travel along it. In addition, it says that “Huangzhi guo” had folk customs similar to Zhuya. It claimed that it was vast in territorial expanse, had a large population and had many “foreign spirits”. Zhuya is the present-day Hainan island of China. From this it can be inferred that around the 2ⁿᵈ century BCE, China and southern India were already in contact with each other through the sea route. Han dynasty emissaries went to Kanchipuram while envoys and merchants from Kanchipuram came to China. In those times, the Han envoys did not travel by their own ships but would have had to board foreign merchant ships. The journey was extremely perilous but at the same time could be very profitable as well. The journey to and fro required a minimum of two years.

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The Burma -Yunnan Baoshan Kiosk/ Water Village

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**The route through the Western Regions:** When Zhang Qian received orders from the Han emperor Wudi to travel to the western regions, his mission was to persuade the Dayuezhi (Tokharians) to join hands with the Han dynasty and mount a joint attack on the Xiongnu tribes that were in conflict with the Han. Exploration of a new route, which would open up the way to the western regions, was only a by-product of Zhang Qian’s diplomatic mission. In fact, even before Zhang Qian’s mission, the Han had opened up the route to the western regions but had faced obstruction from the Xiongnu. Hence, controlling the strategically important western regions was a major goal of Emperor Wudi and his successors. This was the origin of what we know of today as the “Silk Road”. During the Han period, the western route was divided into two: the northern route and the southern route. Going west from Dunhuang, out of Yumenguan (Jade Gate) and Yangguan, one would reach Shanshan. The route from Shanshan along the northern rim of the Tarim Basin, passing Yanqi and Guici (Kucha) and crossing the Congling mountains, was the northern route. The other route followed the southern rim of the Tarim Basin. Passing Yutian and Shache before crossing the Congling mountains, this was the southern route. In order to open up the route to the west, the Han dispatched a number of diplomatic envoys. It is recorded in the *Shiji Dawan Liezhuan* that during Zhang Qian’s second visit to the western regions, a deputy envoy was sent to India. Within a single year in the Han period, there were five to 10 envoys sent to the west, among whom some were sent to India. This points to the fact that during those times the passage to the west was quite unhindered.

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1ˢᵗ–6ᵗʰ century CE

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During the 1ˢᵗ century CE, the Yunnan-Burma route was still very important in communication between India and China. The *Weilüe Xirong zhuan* says the following: “The Panyue kingdom has a certain king named Hanyue. It is several thousand *li* to the southeast of India (Tianzhu)… these people are small in stature and are of similar height as the Chinese. Merchants of the kingdom of Shu have similarly arrived here.” The location of Panyue, which is given as “several thousand *li* southeast of Tianzhu”, points to a region southeast of the Guishuang (Kuşāna) empire. This corresponds to an area in the present-day state of Assam in India and Bangladesh.

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Chinese records of the 3ʳᵈ and the 5ᵗʰ century CE refer to this southern route which appears to have been a regular route used by traders and other people. It was a relatively easy and short route, and was overall safer than the route through the western regions and the maritime route.

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During the 1ˢᵗ century CE, the cultural contacts between India and China along the southern sea route continued uninterrupted. The *Hou Hanshu, Xiyuzhuan* records that during the reign of Hedi (89-105 CE), several envoys were sent to offer tribute from “Tianzhu guo” (India). This was disrupted later when revolts broke out in the western regions. It says: “Arriving in the second and fourth years of the Yanxi reign period of Huandi (Emperor Huan), they would frequently come from the borders outside of the region of Rinan (the present-day coastal region of Vietnam) and offer their tribute.”

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Compared to the route through the western regions, which was often obstructed and hence quite dangerous for merchants, the maritime route was relatively open and safe. Even when the western route was open, the cost involved in transporting commodities along it was comparatively high. The maritime route was, therefore, more convenient for exchanges between India and China. Among other things, it led to the development of naval technology. This route remained open uninterruptedly between the 3ʳᵈ and 5ᵗʰ centuries CE and was used frequently by merchants. Monks and traders from India would board merchant vessels bound for China and disembark at Guangzhou.

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*Oil Painting, a panorama of the Guangzhou Port (Around 1845)*

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The ancient ruins of Xinjiang Kuche Qiuci

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**The route through the western region:** During the 1ˢᵗ century CE, the Han dynasty general Ban Chao (32-102 CE) controlled the Western Regions and played an active role in maintaining the communication lines through the western route. During this period, the Chinese peoples' understanding of India progressed further than what it had been in the centuries before the Common Era. Mutual contacts also developed and flourished. The *Hou Hanshu*, *Xiyuzhuan* while talking about the kingdom of Tianzhu (India), not only referred to the folk customs, local products, Buddhism and historical changes, but in addition described its geographical position as well as its relations with China. While describing the Dayuezhi, the abovementioned source also referred to the establishment of the Guishuang (Kusana) empire as well as its distance from Luoyang. The Yuezhi people made a large contribution towards the development of cultural exchanges between China and the West as well as between India and China. For instance, the eastward transmission of Roman culture from Greece and the dissemination of Buddhism into the heartland of China succeeded to a very large degree due to the role played by the Yuezhi people.

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The western route served as one of the most important channels of political contact between the various kingdoms of ancient India and China. It also served as a crucial route for trade and the transmission of scientific technology. Thirdly, the spiritual and cultural intercourse between India and China was also heavily dependent on this particular channel of communication. Most Indian monks travelling to China and Chinese monks proceeding to India used this route. However, a major problem with this route was that it was liable to disruption due to political turbulence, although between the 4ᵗʰ and 5ᵗʰ century CE, it remained relatively unobstructed.

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6ᵗʰ-10ᵗʰ century CE

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The Tang dynasty established a powerful state in China, which extended its control over the western regions and ensured the safety of the routes to the west. People from the western regions would often come to China for trade and commerce. Many of them settled down there and even served at the imperial court as officials. The Tang sent numerous envoys to the western regions. In addition, owing to the flourishing relations based on Buddhism, exchanges between Tang China and "the five Indias" (*wu yindu*) increased steadily.

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When Xuanzang travelled to India in search of scriptures, he also took the western route as did several other monks during the Tang period. Monks from the West who came to China to transmit the teachings of the *dharma* also travelled via this route. The Tang emissary, Wang Xuance, used this route as well as the "Turpan route".

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Another overland route for which there is evidence in this period is the Yunnan-Tibet route to India. In the 8ᵗʰ century, there was a close relationship between the powerful Tubo empire in Tibet and Yunnan. One route from Yunnan to Tibet passed through Upper Burma and reached Zayu in Tibet. The other route, which proceeded directly from Yunnan into Tibet, is better known as the old Tea Horse route (*chama gudao* in Chinese). Tea is known to have been consumed in Tibet from about the 8ᵗʰ century CE. Most of the tea transported from Yunnan along this route was for consumption in Tibet itself but some portion of it also made its way to India and Nepal. This was one of the main routes of contact between northeastern India and Yunnan in this period.

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According to the *Xin Tangshu* (new Tang history), the maritime route between India and China during those times started out from Guangzhou (Canton). The port of Guangzhou in the later Tang period had already emerged as a large international port with great importance for India-China cultural contacts. From Guangzhou, the maritime route passed through the coastal regions of the island of Hainan and Vietnam, then crossed the Straits of Malacca and passed through regions like Sumendala (Sumatra) before arriving at Sri Lanka. From Sri Lanka, the route proceeded northward to the southeastern coast of India. Another route moved northwards touching various points on the western coast of India before entering the Persian Gulf and reaching present-day Iran and the Arabian peninsula. From the Arabian peninsula, the route then connected various countries located on the eastern coast of the African continent. This was one of the most convenient maritime routes, with which the Indians, the Chinese and the Arabs were most familiar.

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10ᵗʰ-13ᵗʰ century CE

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During this period, overland communications between India and China continued. A passage from the *Songshi Tianzhu zhuan* noted that in 965 CE, the monk Daoyuan of Cangzhou returned from the west, crossing numerous mountains and rivers on the way. Similarly, the monk Xingqin and 157 people went to the western region in search of Buddhist scriptures. They are recorded as having “crossed the prefectures of Gan, Sha, Yi, Su and so on (in present-day Gansu Province), the kingdoms of Yanqi, Guici (Kucha), Yutian (Khotan), Geluo (in present-day Xinjiang Province), and through countries like Bulusha and Jiashimiluo (Kashmir)”. Indian monks also travelled to China using this route.

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However, the main feature of this period was the rapid expansion of maritime communications between China and the coastal regions of India. The Song dynasty, facing pressures from the Mongol others such as the Khitan, the Tangut and the Ruzhen (Jurchen) to the north, actively encouraged maritime commerce in order to generate more revenues. They lifted many restrictions on Chinese merchants sailing overseas. They also established and enforced new customs regulations and facilitated overseas commerce in various ways. The result was a huge increase in the revenues obtained by the Song dynasty from overseas trade, amounting to as much as 20,00,000 strings of cash in the 12^th century CE.

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Another factor that enabled the development of maritime communications in this period was advances in Chinese shipbuilding and navigational techniques, particularly from the 12^th century CE. These permitted Chinese merchants for the first time to take to the ocean in their own ships and to play a major role in the carrying trade between China and South Asia and areas further west. Marco Polo, in the late 13^th century CE, described the Chinese oceangoing ships in detail, noting that they were capable of carrying loads of nearly 1,900 ton.

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The encouragement given to maritime commerce by the Chinese authorities in this period enabled the expansion and strengthening of Chinese trading networks to Southeast and South Asia. Although there is not much evidence of settled Chinese trading communities in Indian ports as was the case in some Southeast Asian ports, Chinese merchants were nevertheless regular visitors to coastal Indian towns both on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts. They often spent considerable time in these ports to unload and ship goods further west, repair their ships and wait out the monsoon season. Under the rule of the Chola kings, there were regular ties between Chinese ports such as Quanzhou and Guangzhou and Indian ports such as Nagapattinam. Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan recorded seeing a pagoda at Nagapattinam built by Chinese traders in Chinese style. The inscription on it read: “Construction completed in the eighth lunar month of the year of Xianchun (1267)”.

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In this period, Indian traders too flocked to Chinese ports such as Quanzhou. Zhao Rushi, who was Superintendent of Maritime Customs at the port in the early 13^th century CE, testifies to this in his well-known work *Zhufan zhi* (Description of foreign peoples). The remains of a Shiva temple in Quanzhou, which was probably built in the late 13^th century CE by resident Tamil traders, also bears testimony to the size and presence of a trading community from India in China in this period. Zhao Rushi’s work contains fairly detailed descriptions of various kingdoms particularly in the coastal regions of India. Since he himself never travelled overseas, he probably gathered his information from Indian traders who were at Quanzhou while he was posted there. The same was true of the account penned by the late 12^th century CE Chinese work, the *Lingwai daida* of Zhou Qufei which also contains descriptions of Indian states such as Gulin (present-day Kollam in Kerala). Apart from merchants, Buddhist monks also seem to have used the maritime route to come to China. The *Zhufan zhi* records that “during the time of Yongxi, there was a monk Luohuna who arrived along the maritime route; it was said that he was from India. Foreign merchants vied to present him with gold, silk and jewels as alms, (but) the monk did not accept it.”

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Late 13^th to mid-15^th century CE

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This period corresponds to the (Mongol) Yuan dynasty and the early Ming dynasty in China. To some extent, the passage from China to India through Central Asia, especially via Turfan, was facilitated by the establishment of Mongol rule over China, even though warfare among the different branches of the Mongol power did create some obstructions. In this period, contacts between India and China through Tibet were significant. The Yuan rulers were believers in Lama (Tibetan) Buddhism. Moreover, during this period, the relations between Tibet, India and Nepal were close. Tibetan lamas regularly went to northern India to study Buddhism while there were also several Indian monks who went to Tibet to propagate the Tantric form of Buddhism. We also hear of Indian and Nepali people at the royal court of Yuan dynasty serving in some official capacity. In the Ming period as well, overland contacts based on Buddhism and trade continued. Chinese sources tell us of an Indian monk Jusheng Jixiang who arrived at the sacred site of Wutai shan in China via the western region, having crossed the Turfan region (in present-day Xinjiang province) in the 2ⁿᵈ year of Hongwu (1369). There is also the instance of another such monk Shijia Yeshi, who arrived in China in the 12ᵗʰ year of Yongle reign period (1414). He too later he settled in Wutai shan.

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*Additional School Notes*

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*Cover of 'Fanzhi School Annotations'*

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During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Yunnan also was incorporated into the Chinese empire. There were Indian monks who arrived in China via the Yunnan-Burma route. The Indian monk Zhikong (Dhyanabhadra) came to Yunnan from India around the year 1295 and then from there travelled further north into China. There is a reason to believe that this route was used regularly, although the textual and archaeological evidence for this is sparse.

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Because civil strife with the Chagadayid Mongols in Central Asia blocked the Yuan emperor Kublai Khan's ambitions in that direction, he was keen to keep the maritime route to Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Persian Gulf region open. This explains the very pro-active policy followed by the Yuan rulers in maritime Asia which served as the foundation for the much better known Ming era naval expeditions led by Zheng He.

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Wang Dayuan’s *Daoyi zhilüe*, written in the early 14ᵗʰ century ᴄᴇ as well as the writings of Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta, all testify to the flourishing state of commerce between Yuan China and the Coromandel and Malabar coasts of India. Marco Polo observed that Indian traders would bring precious stones and gems in large quantities for sale in the Chinese port of Fuzhou. He also noted how ships from India would sail directly up the Minjiang (river) to the port of Quanzhou. He commented that for every shipload of pepper shipped west from India, a hundred times that quantity would be offloaded in Quanzhou. With the fall of the Chola power by this time, the most important trading ports in India at this time as far as the trade with China went, were Kozhikode (Calicut) and Kollam (Quilon) on the southwestern coast.

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A new feature in this period was the importance of the maritime route not only for commercial but also for political and diplomatic contacts between India and China. A majority of the 14 diplomatic missions despatched by the Yuan court to India visited the southern coastal ports. The Yuan envoy Yang Tianbi sailed to India four times between 1280 and 1283. His visits were followed by missions sent to China by the rulers of Kollam and Malabar. Apparently, there was a close connection between diplomacy and trade and between the envoys and merchants on both sides. Altogether, it can be said that in the Yuan period, active official sponsorship of commerce and an assertive foreign policy combined to expand the scope of interactions between coastal India and China.

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This policy of active engagement with the maritime states to the south of China and further west on the Indian subcontinent continued after the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown and the Ming Dynasty was founded in 1368 under the first two rulers, the Hongwu emperor and the Yongle emperor. It culminated in the spectacular voyages sponsored by the Yongle emperor and led by the admiral Zheng He between 1405 and 1433. Chinese accounts state that each expedition consisted of 200 two 300 ships, with the large “treasure ships” capable of carrying 500 men each. While there has been much scholarly debate on what the motives behind despatching such huge expeditions were, there can be no doubt about the impact their arrival would have had on the ports at which they called. Zheng He’s voyages followed the routes already established by merchant networks and diplomatic ventures in the Song and Yuan periods. These voyages touched down at several points on the Indian coast. In fact, the terminus of the first two of the voyages was Kozhikode which had by this time superseded Kollam as the pre-eminent port of the Malabar coast. By the later part of the Zheng He expeditions, however, Kochi had emerged as a rival to Kozhikode on the Malabar coast. There

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Zheng He's Voyages

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Zheng He's Voyages

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are indications that relations between the Chinese empire and Kozhikode began to decline after 1416.

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Apart from Zheng He, the Ming emperor also despatched the envoy Hou Xian on missions to India. In 1415, Hou Xian embarked on a voyage to Bengal by sea and went on a similar expedition to Bengal again in 1420. This reflects the growing importance of Bengal as a point of contact between India and China during this period. The work, *Daoyi zhilüe*, by Wang Dayuan in an earlier period indicates that Bengal had already become an important port of call for Chinese traders by the late 13^th century CE. Bengal was important to China not only as a trading destination in itself but also as a gateway to the Delhi Sultanate and northern India more generally. Bengal, on its part, sent, at least, eight missions to the Chinese empire.

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Thus overall, the period from the late 13^th to mid-15^th century CE saw very active engagement between India and China, particularly by sea. This was the period when there was a direct Chinese presence, commercial as well as naval and political, in many coastal regions of India and in adjacent areas. Exchange of envoys and of goods reached unprecedented levels, to a great extent due to the initiative and encouragement of the Chinese state. However, from the middle of the 15^th century CE, following the death of the Yongle emperor, this policy of the Chinese state was reversed for reasons which are still debated.

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16^th - 20^th century CE

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Interaction between India and China continued in the following centuries but the forms and sites and routes of this interaction changed in various ways. For instance, for the next three centuries, while direct bilateral trade between the two sides may have diminished, Indian and Chinese goods continued to be exchanged, forming a part of larger regional and global trading networks. Intermediate ports like Malacca in Southeast Asia and intermediate players like the monopoly European trading companies, played a bigger role in the exchange of goods between India and China. The role of Buddhism in India-China exchanges disappeared almost completely.

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One of the traditional routes and forms of communication that continued well into the 20^th century with very little change in this period was the old trans-Karakoram trade between Punjab and the Ladakh region of India on the one hand and southern Xinjiang on the other. Although the difficulties of this route, which involved crossing extremely high mountain passes, limited the volume of this trade, it nevertheless persisted and played an important role in the local economies on both sides. However, in the first half of the 20^th century, various factors like the competition from mass-produced goods from Russia,

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[Figure: *A picture of the book - 'Dao Yi Zhilu' (Qing Dynasty Copy Edition)*]

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changes in the geopolitical situation in this region and civil strife in Xinjiang led to the weakening and eventual disappearance of this ancient trade.

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Similarly, the old tea-horse trade route connecting Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Nepal and India continued to function well into the 20^th century CE. In fact, under the impact of World War II and the closure of China's access to other international routes because of the Japanese occupation along with the shifting of the headquarters of the Chinese Nationalist Government to western China, the old overland southwestern silk routes became of strategic importance. Until the Japanese occupied Burma (now Myanmar) in mid-1942, the route from Yunnan through Burma to India once again became very important for reaching much-needed supplies to China during wartime. Even after this route was closed, the old tea-horse road continued to be of importance in transporting civil supplies from Kalimpong in northeastern India through Tibet into southwestern China.

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Maritime communications between India and China underwent a major transformation with the rise of new port cities like Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai) under the British colonial power in India, and with the rapid expansion of the tea trade between China and the West, especially Britain. Initially, Indian textiles and spices, and later Indian raw cotton and opium were shipped to China to pay for the export of tea to the West. The establishment of Hong Kong as a British outpost off the China coast, the opening of numerous ports in China to foreign trade under the impact of the unequal treaties following the Opium Wars, the rise of Shanghai, the introduction of steamships, the telegraph and railways in the 19ᵗʰ century CE along with the growth of diaspora communities of Indians and Chinese in each other’s countries and in Southeast Asia, all affected the nature and forms of interaction between China and India.

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*Quanzhou Maritime Museum*

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Image of a book on Ibn Batuta

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In the middle of the 20ᵗʰ century, trade and communication between India and China were unfortunately disrupted for a while due to largely political reasons. However, in the last few decades, there has been a steady revival of ties. Boosted mainly by the galloping trade between the two countries, it is slowly extending to other fields of economic activity and to political, cultural, academic and other ties. These ties are not just bilateral but also form part of larger regional networks. Overall, communication between India and China is on a trajectory of upward growth.

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Zheng He's Nautical Charts, One page

Silk Road

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The Silk Road is an overland trade channel from ancient times leading from China to South Asia, West Asia, Europe and North Africa via Central Asia. Due to the fact that a large number of Chinese silk and silk fabrics were transported westward along this channel, it acquired the name "the Silk Road".

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The term “Silk Road” was first put forward by a German geographer, Ferdinand von Richthofen, in his book *China* published in 1877. It was called *Seidenstrassen* in German and originally referred to the route of the silk trade between China and Transoxiana and India, in the Western and Eastern Han dynasties. German historian Hermann extended the Silk Road to the western end of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. He settled the basic configuration of the Silk Road through further investigation into the literary records, in his book *The Ancient Silk Road between China and Syria* (Berlin, 1910). At the same time, at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, some foreign explorers discovered a large number of remains and relics of ancient China and the western regions related to trade and cultural exchanges in northwestern China. The history and archaeology of the Silk Road soon became an important topic of academic research among scholars around the world. Many scholarly works were written and theories formulated which broadened the scope of study of the Silk Road.

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**Rise and fall of the Silk Road:** Although the concept of the Silk Road was popularised very late, this trade channel had already existed for a long time. In the ancient world, China was the first country to produce silk based on planting mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The Archaeological materials found in recent years have confirmed that silk production had developed to a very high level in China during the period of the Shang Dynasty in the second millennium BCE. At that time, a small amount of Chinese silks was being transported to Central Asia and India via peoples inhabiting the region of today’s Northwest China.

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At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the Hexi Corridor was successively occupied by the Wushun, Yuezhi and Xiongnu peoples and the small oasis states in the western regions were also controlled by the Xiongnu. Therefore, communication was difficult between the Han empire and the western regions. In the second year of Jianyuan (139 BC), the Han Emperor Wu sent envoy Zhang Qian to Dayuezhi (now midwest Afghanistan) thereby facilitating passage along the Silk Road which was called “Zaokong” in Chinese. After the second year of Yuanguang (133 BC), Emperor Wu of sent his army to attack the Xiongnu repeatedly, thus consolidating the northwest frontier of the empire. He set up four prefectures including Jiuquan, Wuwei, Zhangye and Dunhuang which cut the connection between the Xiongnu and the Qiang people (in today’s Sichuan-Tibet region) and thereby linked the Han empire with the western regions. Many beacon towers and fortresses were built from Dunhuang to Yanze (Lop Nor, Xinjiang today) to forestall any invasion by the Xiongnu. In 119 BCE, Zhang Qian was sent to the western regions again and his subordinates were sent to Dayuan (Ferghana today), Kangju (south of present-day Kazakhstan), Dayuezhi, Tokhgra (northern part of today’s Afghanistan), Parthia (present-day Iran), Sindu (present-day India), the kingdom of Khotan (Hotan today), and Yumi (east of Yutian). Thus, the passage from the Han empire to the western regions was ensured. In 77 BC, the army of the Han dynasty conquered the Kingdom of Loulan and moved its capital to Yuni (near Ruoqiang, present-day Xinjiang). In 60 BC, the Han dynasty set up the Western Region Frontier Commandery in order to protect the route to the west. After Zhang Qian was sent to the western regions and forged an alliance with Wusun, there was relatively free passage along this route with the constant movement of envoys and merchants.

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Chinese Map of the Central Asian/ Western Kingdom

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Since a large amount of silk and silk fabrics were transported to the west constantly, the ancient Romans called China “Seres” meaning “country of silk” in Latin. At the same time, the “exotic foreign treasures” of the western regions were introduced into China. From the 1ˢᵗ century CE, due to political volatility, contacts between the western regions and the Han dynasty were temporarily interrupted many times, but the trade still continued. During the period of Ban Chao’s governorship of the western regions, he sent Gan Ying to Daqin (Roman Empire) and Ditiaozhi (present-day Iraq). His journey ended on reaching the sea, which was the farthest appoint west along the Silk Road reached by the Chinese officials.

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In the Wei and Jin dynasties (about 3rd-4th century), trade between east and west continued. Dunhuang, a vital point on the Silk Road, was one of the gathering places of the Hu merchants and business letters of Hu merchants of Sogdiana in Central Asia have also been found here. Although in the 5ᵗʰ-6ᵗʰ centuries, China was divided among the Northern and Southern dynasties, east-west commercial transactions along the Silk Road continued to thrive. Shortly after the founding of the Northern Wei dynasty, a Chinese envoy was sent to the western regions. Envoys and merchants from Central Asian states often gathered in Pingcheng (the capital of the early Northern Wei Dynasty, now northeast of Datong, Shanxi). After moving their capital to Luoyang, it became a more important meeting place of merchants from all countries. It was said that “from the west of the Pamirs to Daqin, merchants from thousands of places

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Silk Road, Yumen Pass ruins, Dunhuang west, Gansu

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gather here together every day for business” and that “all rare commodities in the world could be found here”. There were many Hu merchants in the capital of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

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During the Sui period (589-618 CE), Emperor Yang sent an assistant minister Pei Ju to Zhangye to encourage merchants from the west to trade. The contemporary description — “The constant business of Hu merchants also makes counties around bustle” — could be read as proof of the prosperity of the Silk Road at that time. A large number of Hu merchants came to Chang’an, Luoyang and other major cities of the Tang dynasty, making them virtually international cities of that time.

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Batik cloth (Eastern Han Dynasty) excavated from the no. 1 ruins of Xinjiang, Minfeng Niya

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From the late 9th century to the 11th century, due to the shift of China’s political, economic and cultural centre to the southeast coastal areas and the rise of Arab world, maritime intercourse between the East and West gradually became more important. At the same time, political turbulence in northwestern China affected the safety of the Silk Road and so the importance of this overland channel was reduced. During the Yuan dynasty, the Mongols controlled China as well as many areas in Central Asia and West Asia. This opened up east-west communication along the overland route and many European envoys, missionaries and merchants such as Marco Polo, came to China along this route. Therefore, the Silk Road recovered its prosperity at that time.

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After the early Ming dynasty, the imperial court adopted a closed door policy. Although the road from Jiayu Pass to Central Asia via Kumul was not cut, the overland Silk Road as an east-west route became far less important than the sea route.

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**The configuration of the Silk Road:** The basic route of the Silk Road was determined in the period of the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties. It started from Chang’an and passed through Longban via four counties of the Hexi Corridor: Wuwei, Zhang Ye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang. It then went through the Yumen Pass or Yang Pass and Bailongdui to Loulan. Loulan was located in the northwest of Yanze (present-day Puchanghai, Lop Nor). In the western regions, there were two roads, with Loulan as the meeting point. The northern road was from Loulan to Quli (Korla), Wulei and Luntai along the Konqi River and on to Shule (present-day Kashgar) via Qiuci (Kuqa) and Gumo (Aksu). The southern route went from Yuni in Shanshan along the Qarqan River in the southwest via Qiemo, Yumi, Khotan, Pishan and Shache to Shule. Due to the southward shift of the Gobi Desert over more than 1,000 years, the eastern part of the southern road was subject to desertification. The ancient cities such as Yixun and Yuni were covered by the desert so that the road had to shift further south. In 73 CE, Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty attacked the Xiongnu and took Yiwulu (present-day Kumul, Xinjiang). They sent military officers for garrison and reclamation work to prevent the Northern Xiongnu from invading the western region. The Han and the Northern Xiongnu fought many battles for Yiwu but the Northern Xiongnu was finally forced to move west and the Han government was able to open up the new north road. The new north road started from Dunhuang and passed through Yiwu to the north then through Liuzhong, Gaochang, Jiaohe in Cheshiqianbu (all in the Turpan Depression today), Mount Tianshan and Yanqi to Qiuci and then along the earlier mentioned northern road to reach Shule (Kashgar). This new north road was called “middle road” in the *Brief History of the Wei*.

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*Tri-coloured guzzled pottery of the Tang Dynasty: Silk Road Camel Business figurines*

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Besides the main lines of the Silk Road mentioned above, there were a lot of branches. With the changes over time and the development of political and religious conditions in the regions through which they passed, the importance of the various routes changed and new roads were constantly being opened up. In recent years, some scholars have broadened the concept of the Silk Road. They call the road passing through the oasis states through the desert as the Oasis Road. The route passing through the nomadic areas in northern China is called the “Prairie Road” and the southernmost route has been termed the “Maritime Silk Road” or “South China Sea Road”. Some scholars also emphasise the importance of a particular commodity or religion so they refer to various roads such as the “Fur Road”, “Jade Road”, “Jewelry Road”, “Perfume Road”, “Ceramic Road”, “Buddhist Road” etc. Although these concepts help to throw light on the broader nature of east-west traffic, they cannot fully convey the character of the original Silk Road.

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**Significance of the Silk Road** The Silk Road is not only an important channel of East-West trade but also a major channel of political and cultural exchanges between China and other countries in Asia and Europe. From regions to the West, music, dance, painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts, astronomy, calendar, medicine and other scientific and technical knowledge, along with Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manicheism, Nestorianism, Islam and other religions were successively introduced into China through this road, producing a great impact on China. Textile technology, papermaking, printing, gunpowder, compass, porcelain making and other technologies, as well as painting and other artistic techniques along with Confucian and Daoist thought were also conveyed from China to regions further west along this road. The Silk Road thus still embodies peaceful and mutually beneficial exchange between the East and West.

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Lanzhou, Gansu, Silk Road Sculptures

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(*Sun Yutang*, *Yang Jianxin* & *Rong Xinjiang*)

India-China Transport and Communication Lines During World War II

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One of the unforeseen consequences of the Japanese occupation of eastern China and the shift of the capital of the Government of China to Chongqing in western China during World War II was the revival of old transport and communication links between India and China and the development of new ones. Foremost among these were - the air link between Calcutta (Kolkata) and Kunming; the Ledo (Stilwell) Road and the old Tea Horse Road and the Calcutta-Kunming oil pipeline.

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From 1938, when the Burma Road was completed till 1942, supplies to southwestern China from outside had been routed through Burma (now Myanmar). The Japanese invasion of Burma including Lashio, the starting point of the Burma Road in April 1942 cut off this vital access. Almost immediately, the process of airlifting military supplies and personnel into southwest China from airfields in eastern India started operating. This was the famous ‘Hump’ route so called because the aircraft had to fly over the easternmost spur of the Himalayas, where the peaks rose to nearly 20,000 ft and which was hence nicknamed ‘the Hump’ by the pilots. The China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), that started the operations, was joined by the American Volunteer Group known as the Flying Tigers. From June 1942 to September 1945, a total of over 700,000 tonnes of goods and over 33,000 passengers were flown over the Hump between India and China. Because of its dangerous nature, about 1,500 people and 514 aircraft were lost on this route by the time the War ended.

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Apart from the air supply route, land-based supply routes between India and China also proved their importance for the War. Even before the Burma Road was cut off, in February 1942 an agreement had been reached between China, the US and Britain to construct an alternative road from India to China. This road (中印公路) was to run from Ledo in India’s Assam to Yunnan’s Tengchong and Longling via Putao and Myitkyina in Burma. Work on this road began in late 1942 in extremely adverse conditions. Over 12,000 Indian labourers were among those involved in the construction. The road, covering a distance of 1,568 km, was finally completed and opened in January 1945 after Myitkyina as well as Tengchong and Longling had been retaken from the Japanese. A slightly longer southern branch of this road starting from Ledo and passing through Myitkyina, Bhamo, Namkhan and Muse was also opened a few days later. The new road was named by Chiang Kai-shek in honour of the American General Joseph Stilwell,

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Stilwell Road, Communication transit between India and China during World War II

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the supreme commander of the Allied forces in the China-Burma-India theatre who had overseen the project. Although the Hump air route proved capable of carrying more supplies than the Ledo Road. Nevertheless, in the six months after it was opened to traffic, the Ledo Road carried 129,000 tonnes of material to China.

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A lesser-known route of transport between India and China during the War was the old Tea-Horse Road (茶马路), which had traditionally been one of the main commercial arteries connecting Yunnan and Tibet. With the closure of the Burma Road, even an old low-profile trade route like this one assumed strategic importance. Mainly non-military goods from eastern India, which were in short supply in China, were taken first to Kalimpong in north Bengal. From there, they were loaded onto horses, mules and yaks to be transported to Lijiang in Yunnan via Tibet. Approximately 8,000 mules and horses and 20,000 yaks were involved in what came to be known as Operation Caravan.

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The southern route of the Ledo/Stilwell Road was also the route of a critical oil pipeline that was built between the port of Calcutta in India to Kunming in China. The decision to construct such a pipeline to meet the energy demands of the War in this theatre was taken at a meeting of Allied leaders held in Quebec, Canada, in August 1943. Work on the pipeline began in December 1943 and after its completion in April 1945, it spanned a distance of 3,218 km. Over 100,000 tonnes of oil was transported along this line between June 1945 and January 1946.

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The transportation aircraft of the allied forces over the Hump flight route

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The first transport fleet team reached Kunming crossing the Stilwell Road, February 4, 1945

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These communication and transport links served the purpose of providing crucial support to China's Resistance War against Japanese occupation at a time when various other channels of assistance were closed to China. At the same time, the War had the effect of connecting India and China across their land borders in a way that had not been done before, except in a minimal fashion, for many centuries.

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*(Madhavi Thampi)*

A. Name of Places

China

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"Cina" is one of the Indian names for China. The Chinese name for China, "Zhongguo" appeared as early as the 11^th century BCE, in inscriptions of the Western Zhou's bronze vessels of He Zun. "Zhongguo" initially referred to the central part of China centered on Luoyang. With the progressive expansion of Chinese civilisation into new territories, the region around the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River also came to be known as "Zhongguo". In the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States periods, each state called its capital as "Zhongguo" and "guo" meant the fiefdom of a feudal lord. From the Han dynasty onward, the word "Zhongguo" developed as the sign of the legitimate dynasty. In 1689, when the Qing government signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Russia, "Zhongguo" was formally used as the name of China for the first time. In 1912, when the Republic of China was founded, and also after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the country's name was called "Zhongguo" for short.

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In ancient times, Indians called China as "Zhina". The word was seen as early as in the Indian epic *Mahabharata* (5^th century BCE) and in the '*Laws of Manu*' (2^nd century BCE). Even now, China is also called Cina in many languages, including Hindi and

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Chinese-Western Zhou Dynasty Bronze Wares with Hezun inscriptions (11^th century BCE)

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Bengali. In Chinese translations of Indian Buddhist scriptures before the 10^th century, China was also called Cina, Zhina, Zina, Cinisthana and so on.

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In ancient Greece and Rome, China was called Seres or Serica, ie, the country of silk. The ancient Farsi "China" came from Cina and it then passed on to Western Europe. After the Khitan founded the Liao dynasty in northern China, western countries began to call China after the Khitan. For example, China is called "Kitai" in Russian. The Western term "Cathay" also derives from Khitan. In 1516, the word "China" appeared in the diary of the Portuguese traveller Duarte Barbosa.

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*(Han Zhigeng)*

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Chang'an

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Chang'an was the ancient capital of several Chinese dynasties. These included the Western Han, New Mang, Former Zhao, Former Qin, Later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou and the Sui and Tang dynasties. The sites that are still in existence include the Western Han Chang’an and Sui-Tang Chang’an.

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In the seventh year of the Western Han’s first emperor (200 BC), the Weiyang Palace was built and the capital was moved from Liyang to Chang’an. Emperor Wu further expanded the city. The character “长” was changed into “常” in the New Mang Period. In the Eastern Han, the capital was shifted to Luoyang but Chang’an remained the secondary western capital. Emperor Xian once again moved the capital to Chang’an. Under later dynasties, Chang’an’s old city was re-established as the capital. The Sui dynasty built a new city, Daxing, and the old Han Chang’an was abandoned. The new capital was about 3,000 metre northwest of today’s Xi’an City in Shaanxi Province.

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In the second year of the Kaihuang period of the Sui dynasty (582), the new capital Daxing was built southeast of Han Chang’an. Under the Tang dynasty, Chang’an remained the capital. It was rebuilt and partially expanded. In the golden age of the Tang dynasty, Chang’an was the largest and most prosperous metropolis in the world. In 904, Zhu Wen coerced Emperor Zhaozong to move to Luoyang. The palaces and houses of Chang’an were destroyed and Chang’an was ruined and abandoned. The ruins of the city are to be found in today’s Xi’an and its suburbs.

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Tang Chang’an consisted of an outer city, an imperial city and a palace complex. Chang’an was the most perfect form of a capital city under ancient China’s “li” and “fang” (living area and commercial area) system. It had an axial symmetrical layout, strict specifications and orderly neighbourhoods. It had a royal city as the administrative headquarters and closed “li” and “fang” areas for the administration of the common people. The layout of Chang’an had a significant impact on the capitals of some countries in East Asia.

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The Chang’an of the Tang dynasty was the starting point of the Silk Road as well as a major centre of cultural exchange between India and China, especially of Buddhist culture. The eight Chinese Buddhist sects originated in Chang’an. Chang’an retained many of the founding temples of those sects including the Sanlun sect’s Caotang Temple, Dharmalaksana’s Da Ci’en Temple and Xingjiao Temple, the Vinaya sect’s Jingye Temple and Fengde Temple, the Jodo sect’s Xiangji Temple, the Huayan sect’s Huayan Temple and Zhixiang Temple and the Tantra sect’s Great Xingshan Temple and Qinglong Temple. The four famous sites for the translation of Buddhist scriptures such as the Caotang Temple, the Great Xingshan Temple, the Da Ci’en Temple and the Jianfu Temple were all located in Chang’an.

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City wall of Xian, Shaanxi during Ming Dynasty

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Great translators such as Kumarajiva, Xuanzang, Yijing and Bukong once presided over the translation of scriptures in Chang’an. Monks from the western region such as Dharmaraksa and Kumarajiva and three famous masters in the Kaiyuan Period (the Indian monks Shan Wuwei, Bukong and Vajrabodhi) propagated Buddhism in Chang’an and translated Buddhist scriptures. Japanese and Korean monks such as Konghai, Yuanxing, Yuanren and Bukesiyi also studied the Buddhist scriptures and Chinese culture in Chang’an.

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A large number of Buddhist heritage sites are to be found in Chang’an. Da Ci’en Temple’s Dayan Pagoda was built in 652 in the Tang period. It is a landmark of the ancient city of Chang’an. In addition, Famen Temple, Xiaoyan Pagoda, Fawang Pagoda, Xuanzang Relics Pagoda, and the Kumarajiva Babao Yushi Pagoda that stored the Buddha Sakyamuni’s relics are all important historical monuments which have been carefully preserved.

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