On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c5.59

v1.c5.59

during the Liu Sung period there were two, one in 428 and one in 466; and there were none, apparently, after this last date down to the Sui period. Now of the travels of these envoys the Chinese records had not preserved any particulars; and the references to India and the neighbouring countries in the histories of the Han and other dynasties down to the T'ang period are very meagre. It was because the records were thus imperfect, and information was unobtainable, that the pilgrim took notes of the topography and ethnology of the districts which he visited in the course of his pilgrimage.