Cultural exchange in ancient China
4 min readChina’s first large-scale diplomatic missions to other countries occurred during the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD). During the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-9 AD), Zhang Qian(d.114BC) undertook two diplomatic missions to the Western Regions(present-day Xinjiang andCentral Asia), raising the curtain on cultural exchange between China and the West. Zhang Qian traveled from Chang’ an(present-day Xi’ an) to the upper reaches of the Amu-Darya River, where he arrived at the Kingdom of Darouzhi(present-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), Ban Chao(32-102 AD) used the route blazed by Zhang Qian to undertake further missions to the Western Regions. Ban Chao also dispatched his assistant, Gan Ying(dates of birth and death unknown), on a diplomatic mission to Daqin (ancient Rome), but Gan Ying only reached the shores of the Persian Gulf. During this period, numerous envoys and merchants from the Western Regions also made the trek to China to pay their respects, returning to their homes loaded with Chinese goods, primarily silk. As a result, this critical overland route between China and the West came to be known as the Silk Road.
The opening of the Silk Road provided the bridge necessary for cultural exchange between East and West. Silk fabrics as delicate as a cicada’s wing, gorgeous multi-colored embroidery, crystalline white porcelain-all proclaimed the elegance and beauty of Chinese culture to the Western world, while sweet and heady grape wines, spirited and powerful”celestial horses,” and the graceful and whirling dances of the West opened the eyes of the Chinese people to a previously unimagined world.
The Silk Road not only enabled the Chinese people to enjoy the food and drink, music and dance of the Western Regions, it also brought them Buddhism from India. Late in the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-9 AD), Buddhist disciples arrived in China and started to orally transmit the teachings of Buddhism. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD),a number of Buddhist monks from the Western Regions traveled to Luoyang in the interior of China, totranslate Buddhist scriptures, or sutras. During the Tang Dynasty(618-907 AD), the eminent monk Xuan Zang(c.600-664 AD) undertook the arduous journey to distant Tianzhu(ancient India), in order to clarify inaccurately translated portions of the scriptures. Xuan Zang studied at India’s most renowned center of Buddhist learning, Nalanda Monastery, and traveled throughout India for many years. After seventeen years, he returned to Chang’ an(presentday Xi’ an) loaded down with Buddhist scriptures. Xuan Zang translated seventy-five complete sutras, contained in a total of 1,335 scrolls, and systematically introduced Buddhism to China.
The story of Xuan Zang’s journey to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures was widely known and loved by the Chinese people. During the Ming Dynasty, it became the basis for the famous fantastical novel, Journey to the West.
Another noteworthy figure in the history of Sino-foreign cultural exchange was Marco Polo(c.1254-1324AD), an Italian traveler who served at the court of the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368 AD). His book, The Travels of Marco Polo, provided European readers with an introduction to China, and stimulated Western interest in and understanding of Chinese civilization.
Over the ages, the ancient overland Silk Road gradually fell into oblivion. However, maritimeand other routes that had been developing since the Han Dynasty prospered. During the SongYuan period(960-1368 AD), maritime expeditions launched from the port of Quanzhou, on China’s southeast coast, reached south to Thailand, the Philippines, and the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia, and west to the shores of the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea region. Chinese voyagers eventually reached Egypt and even Europe.
During the early Ming Dynasty(13 68-1644 AD), the great navigator and explorer Zheng He(1371-1435AD) commanded an enormous fleet that completed seven major maritime expeditions. The scale of these voyages was unprecedented in the history of the world. The Ming Dynasty saw a number of Catholic missionaries arrive in China via maritime and other routes, bringing with them the scientific achievements of the European Renaissance. Among them were Matteo Ricci(1552-1610 AD) and Adam Schall von Bell(1592-1666AD). These missionary-scholars translated numerous books on topics including astronomy, geography, water conservancy, physics, and mathematics into Chinese, introducing Western science to China. Several hundred years later, numerous artifacts, including porcelain and coins, started to be regularly salvaged from merchant ships that sank along these maritime routes. These valuable cultural relics fully confirm the blossoming of cultural exchange between East and West that took place during this period. Numerous Buddhist, Catholic, Moslem, Hindu, and Manichean places of worship, constructed since the Tang Dynasty, still stand in the modern city of Quanzhou, illustrating the wide embrace and great tolerance of Chinese culture.
