Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray
Ironduke,
That was a very interesting information and does add to further insight into China.
There is no doubt that a great civilisation existed in China and it did contributed to the world in adequate measures.
|
It's just a portion of the original article. I'm not supposed to reproduce it because it's from JSTOR, an online database of most academic journals. But I'll dig up some more and post them here tomorrow.
The assertion that there was no direct contact between the Roman and Han Empires is a bit misleading however... from texts I've read by ancient Chinese historians there was contact between Chinese and Romans in an official capacity, an exchanges of gifts, though it was highly sporadic and embassies were never established. The Romans came to Assam with gifts for the Chinese emperor according to one of the Chinese sources, and the Chinese traveled to Antioch and Alexandria.
Though some of the information in the accounts of ancient Chinese historians contained embellishments (such as the Romans being forced to travel in large convoys in the countryside between cities because they'd be eaten by tigers or bears), much of it was fairly accurate. For example, the structure of Roman government, writing style (characterized as "sideways"), dress, and so on.
Somewhat amusingly, the Chinese title for the Roman and Byzantine emperors throughout the empire's history was An-tun (from Antoninus Pius).