Chapter 7 Section 5 The first climax of cultural exchanges between China and the West

With the development and prosperity of the land and sea Silk Road with the Han Empire at one end and the Roman Empire at the other end, the cultural exchanges between China and the West also experienced a climax for the first time in history. For the Western Mediterranean world, China is a silk-producing country; in a certain sense, Han culture is also silk culture.Along the ancient silk road, a large amount of Chinese silk was transported westward, to Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa, until the Mediterranean world.For example, Palmyra, an oasis country in the eastern desert of Syria, is an important stopover for Chinese silk fabrics to be transported to the Mediterranean region.The brocade with Chinese characters unearthed here is a silk fabric from the 1st century AD.Its patterns and woven Chinese characters are similar or identical to the silk fabrics found in Loulan, Xinjiang and other places at the beginning of this century. They are all silk brocades and colorful silk fabrics produced in the Han Dynasty.After Chinese silk was shipped to the Mediterranean region, it became very popular and soon became a common pursuit of people of all nationalities and social classes there.

All silk goods shipped from China to Rome first passed through Egypt.Because Egypt at that time belonged to the province of Alexandria under Roman rule.As the hub of communication and trade between the East and the West, most of the goods exported from Rome to the East were transported from Alexandria to various parts of the East; goods from China, India, Arabia, and Persia also used this as the largest distribution center. Chinese silk goods were transported directly to Syria by Chinese caravans, or transshipped there by Persian and other intermediary caravans, and then entered Egypt.From the beginning of AD, Chinese silk became popular in Egypt.According to records, Queen Cleopatra (reigned from 43 BC to 30 BC), the last monarch of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty, attended the banquet in full dress.The gorgeous silk dress worn by this historical Merry Queen is a specially made Chinese silk dress.In the mid-1st century A.D., the Roman writer Rocana described the queen as saying: "Her fair breasts shine through the Sidonian cloth, which was originally woven with fine silk, but was unraveled with needles by Roman craftsmen, and reapplied. woven."That is to say, the gorgeous silk dress worn by Kleopatra was re-woven in Tire and Sidon from silk imported from China.Julius Caesar also wore this exquisite silk robe to the theater, which aroused both envy and criticism.

After Rome conquered Egypt, Chinese silk products naturally sold well in various regions in Rome.At that time, the exquisiteness of Chinese silk was unparalleled in the world.Silk fabrics in the Han Dynasty are collectively referred to as "Zancai".Clothes made of Chinese silk fabrics, such as damask, Luo, Qi, and yarn, are most suitable for the regions around the Mediterranean Sea where the summer is dry.Especially those extremely light and transparent veils and colorful embroidered silks are unique because of their unique softness and gorgeousness. In the Mediterranean world where wool, linen and cotton are used as textile raw materials, they quickly opened up the situation. , occupies a vast market.The famous Roman naturalist Pliny (A.D. 23-79) wrote in his book "Natural History" that the silk produced in the country of Seres is famous in the world.This kind of silk was woven into splendid wenqi and shipped to Rome.Jiaoyuan, the wife of the rich and noble, cut it into clothes, which are dazzling. "Roman girls rely on this transparent veil to reveal their beauty."

As early as the end of the Roman Republic, the price of silk was actually more expensive than gold.The silk trade has become the largest trade in the ancient world.By the 2nd century AD, even in the British Isles at the extreme west of the Roman Empire, the popularity of silk was no less than that of Luoyang in China.In order to obtain silk goods and other things, no less than 100 million Sestes (the currency unit of ancient Rome) flowed from Rome into India, Seris and the Arabian Peninsula every year.This fashion of advocating silk has intensified.By the 4th century AD, the Romans, regardless of their status, wore silk and satin.Chinese silk not only became an indispensable item in the lives of people in Rome and the Mediterranean world, but also greatly broadened the vision of the pursuit of beauty by the ancient Western people of all ethnic groups spiritually.

Due to the long-term influence of a large number of Chinese silk goods flowing westward, some advanced civilizations and regions in the West not only purchased Chinese silk products, but also deliberately imitated Chinese silk products.For example, after the 4th and 5th centuries AD, the Egyptians began to use raw silk transported from China as raw materials for local processing and manufacturing, or disassembled Chinese silk fabrics into silk threads for reweaving.For example, fabrics woven with Chinese silk were found in Kawu, Egypt.With the increasing number of Egyptian imitation silk goods, a small amount of them returned to the Chinese market, collectively known as "variegated silk".However, although the simple looms in Egypt and Rome at that time could weave transparent gauze, they could not weave Chinese patterns.The latter requires Chinese jacquard machines to weave.From the 3rd to the 7th centuries, Chinese jacquard machines were introduced into Egypt.In addition, the stepping device of the silk loom was also invented in my country first, but the vertical machine commonly used in Egypt could not be equipped with this device, and this device was adopted only after the introduction of the Chinese flat machine.

As for the westward spread of Chinese silk weaving skills to Europe, there is a vivid legend that in 550 AD, Emperor Justinianus of the Eastern Roman Empire decided to establish a silk reeling industry in Eastern Rome.At that time, two Persian monks who had been to China told the Eastern Roman emperor about the process of raising silkworms and reeling silk they had seen in China.The emperor then ordered them to try to bring Chinese cocoons to Eastern Rome.The two Persian monks racked their brains to hide silkworm eggs in hollow bamboo sticks, traveled mountains and rivers, arrived in Eastern Rome, and presented the silkworm eggs to the Eastern Roman emperor.Since then, Chinese silk weaving skills have been introduced to Europe.

When Chinese silk products flowed westward by sea and land, items and information from the far west were also continuously introduced into China. Through commercial and diplomatic activities, the Chinese at that time were quite familiar with the products of the "Great Qin" (that is, the Roman Empire, especially Egypt centered on Alexandria) in the far west.Kangtai, who was sent as an envoy to Funan in the early 3rd century AD, called Rome a treasure country.In "Wei Lue", Yu Huan even talks about the products of the Great Qin Dynasty and discusses them in different categories. The Daqin products listed in "Wei Lue" include metals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron; fabrics such as gold thread embroidery, variegated satin, gold coating, and fire cloth; There are a total of 65 items such as agate, talisman jade, moon beads, luminous beads and other gems; as well as special products such as ivory, rhino horn, and spices.Most of them traveled across oceans and exported to China, where they are appreciated and loved by Chinese people.

Most of the jewelry shipments shipped from Rome to China were produced in Egypt and the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions.Take coral as an example. It is recorded in ancient Western literature that as early as the beginning of AD, coral became an important export of the Roman Empire to India.In Chinese historical records, there are many such records.For example, in "Taiping Yulan" and other books, there are words such as "Daqin coral", "Coral comes out of the Daqin West Sea", "Coral comes out of Daqin, and there are continents in the sea".The Red Sea is also known as the "Sea of ​​Coral" because of its rich coral.In these Chinese history books, there are also detailed descriptions of how people in the Mediterranean and Red Sea regions used iron nets to collect coral.

While absorbing Chinese silk goods in large quantities, the Romans in the West also shipped their various high-quality textiles to China.Weavers from Alexandria and other places are good at weaving embroidered wool fabrics and silk fabrics with gold threads. When they are shipped to China, they are called golden thread 罽 [jiji] and golden thread embroidery.The Chinese are good at silk weaving, while the Western Roman Empire people are good at cotton, linen, and wool weaving. The book "Wei Lue" lists eight kinds of cotton and linen fabrics.For example, "falu cloth" is a kind of high-quality cotton cloth, which is named after the famous Farus Island where the lighthouse of Alexandria is located.The Egyptians planted cotton for a long time.According to Herodotus, the father of western historiography, as early as the twenty-sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt (569-525 BC), the Egyptian pharaoh gave cotton cloth to the temple.Pliny also recorded that the Egyptians planted tree cotton in the Roman era, and the robes worn by Egyptian priests were made of cotton cloth.The fine cotton cloth of ancient Egypt was sold well in China because of its cleanliness and fineness.The wool spinning industry was the most developed handicraft industry in the Roman Empire, and its technology was advanced enough to be proud of the world.Wool fabrics are called "氍毹 [qu shuqushu]" and "毾 (Deng Mao) [ta deng]" in ancient Chinese books. "Wei Lue" records that Daqin has "yellow, white, black, green, purple, red crimson, cyanotic, golden, ethereal, and yellow ten kinds of 氍毹, five-color 毾 (Dengmao), five-color and nine-color Shouxia 毾 ( Deng Mao)".Another ancient Chinese book even introduces Egyptian blankets, which are woven with birds, beasts, figures, vegetation and clouds, which are very vivid;The quilts shipped from Egypt are very popular in all parts of China.

In addition to the above-mentioned jewelry, fabrics, ivory, rhino horn, spices, etc., among the items introduced into China, glass should be mentioned in particular.Around 3000 BC, the Egyptians and Phoenicians made the world's earliest glassware.During the period of Pharaoh Amenophis I (1557-1530 BC) of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the glass made in Egypt was already colorful.In the Roman era, Egyptian glass products were well-known all over the world, especially glass beads, which were colorful, crystal clear, and mass-produced, and occupied a prominent position in the shipments from Rome to the East.Since the Han Dynasty, Chinese people have used to call glass glass. The ten-color glass in Egypt, whether it is a vessel or a bead decoration, is very popular in China.In Henan Province of my country, a glass bottle produced in Alexandria in the 2nd century BC was discovered, with the face of the goddess of Athens on it.By the 5th century A.D., the methods of making colored glaze in Egypt were introduced to China, and they all played a certain role in promoting the development of ancient Chinese arts and crafts.

Buddhism is one of the three major religions in the world. It was founded by Gautama Siddhartha, the prince of Kapilavatthu in ancient India (in today's Nepal) in the 6th to 5th centuries BC.By the 3rd century BC, it began to spread widely.Buddhism was introduced to my country through the ancient silk road from the western regions to the east.At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the Da Yue clan in the Western Regions sent envoys to the Han Dynasty and "dictated the Buddha Sutra" (Futu, the transliteration of Buddha) to Jing Lu, a doctoral student.By the time of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism was officially introduced to China.Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty once sent envoys to Dayuezhi to invite Tianzhu (another name in ancient India) Samana (monk) Shemoteng and Zhu Falan to bring Buddhist scriptures to the east. They carried Buddhist scriptures on white horses to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The White Horse Temple was built.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism spread widely in China, and its influence spread all over the country.From then on, Indian monks came east to preach, and Han monks went west to seek the Dharma, which became an activity with a large number of people for hundreds of years, and became an important chapter in the history of cultural exchanges between the East and the West.The two ancient civilizations of China and India have produced a convergence with profound connotations. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhism was gradually introduced to China through the ancient silk road.Gandhara art, which expresses Indian and Roman themes with Greek and Roman decorative techniques, has also spread to the Xinjiang region of my country, bringing Greek and Roman charm to Chinese painting, arts and crafts, sculpture and architecture.For example, Romanesque murals were discovered in Milan, the ruined site of Muni City, the capital of Loulan in the Southern Han Dynasty in Lop Nur, at the beginning of this century.The princes, monks and winged angels in the murals, as well as Buddhist monks, are exactly the same as the Egyptian Fayum.The titles of the murals should represent Buddhist stories, but the composition, tone and painting techniques are completely Roman.What is particularly interesting is that the carriage driven by Prince Shanya and the Queen in the Indian Buddhist story is actually a Roman-style four-horse carriage.The paintings of Kuqa and Baicheng Thousand Buddha Caves, which were later than Milan, are mostly Greek and Roman in style.Illustrations of seahorses and mermaids in classical Greek art are attached to the banquet pictures everywhere, and the source is no less than Egypt under Roman rule.In the hinterland, on the stone reliefs unearthed from Tanghe Han tombs in Henan, winged figures and animals popular in Greece and Rome have appeared. The images are very vivid and belong to the relics of the early Eastern Han Dynasty.This kind of Gandhara art has been spread in the Xinjiang region of my country until the 8th century.Along the northern and southern routes of the Silk Road, the large-scale murals found in many Buddhist temple sites are the crystallization of the fusion of Greek, Roman, Indian, Persian and Chinese painting methods. In terms of plastic arts, the Egyptian eagle-headed animal-style sculpture art also flowed into China through the Scythian peoples of the Eurasian steppe.The Greeks and Scythians were all keen to adopt this image and regard it as a fetish.During the Warring States Period, the Huns in northern my country loved this pattern.The gold ornaments unearthed in Inner Mongolia from the tomb of the Xiongnu in the 4th century BC and the round-carved golden deer-shaped eagle-headed beast unearthed in Shenmu, Shaanxi, are all evidence.Even the silk fabrics exported to West Asia during the Han Dynasty contained the pattern of the eagle-headed animal. The purpose was obviously to meet the needs of the civilized countries in the eastern Mediterranean, and it had a strong market awareness.In addition to the eagle-headed beast, the sphinx, the sphinx of the ancient Egyptian pyramids, also settled in China.The pottery beast unearthed from the tomb of Xu Minxing, an official of the Sui Dynasty in Jiaxiang, Shandong Province, is also the head of a sphinx. The head part is an old man, 38 cm high and 12 cm wide.It shows that the cultural exchanges between the two countries have a long history. In terms of architectural art, Egyptian styles are also popular in Xinjiang, my country.The Dorian pillars were originally the architectural pillars prevailing in ancient Egypt, and were later absorbed by the Greeks.Around the third and fourth centuries AD, it was introduced to the eastern part of Xinjiang.In the 6th century, Greek-style stone pillars were introduced to the mainland of China. The Greek-style melon-shaped concave-shaped stone pillars in front of the tombs of the emperors of the Liang Dynasty during the Six Dynasties in Nanjing are the representative ones.It can be seen that the Egyptian architectural style in the Roman era had to find a new residence in the Yangtze River Delta on the coast of the East China Sea. With the gradual opening and development of transportation between China and the West and the expansion of economic exchanges between the two sides, China's understanding of the West has also deepened.This understanding extends as far as the Roman Empire in the Far West.Geographically speaking, the "Great Qin" that China knew at that time, that is, the Roman Empire, was probably mainly limited to its eastern border, especially Alexandria in Egypt.Since Zhang Qian traveled to the Western Regions, the Chinese have known "Li Xuan".Since then, in the historical records of our country, there are more records such as "Sh〔li Li〕靬", "Liqian", and "Liqian".This far-off country, which has enduringly fascinated the Chinese, is the city of Alexandria.The so-called "Yaoxuan", "Liqian", "Liqian" and other names are the antiphonal sounds of Alexander.The Chinese historical records written at the beginning of the 3rd century AD clearly pointed out that "Li Xuan" was in the west of Anxi and Tiaozhi (Arabia), and the west of the sea.He also pointed out that there is a river in the country, and there is a sea in the west of the land.It is also recorded that "there is quicksand in the west".These records have quite clearly marked the location of Egypt west of the sea area connected by the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and Red Sea, and pointed out the Nile River, the Mediterranean Sea, and even the Libyan Desert or the Sahara Desert to the west of Egypt.In the same record, when describing the local commerce, currency, products, transportation, etc., it also mentioned the political life there. , the king dare not complain" (Yu Huan "Wei Lue").The so-called "the country has no permanent master" and "the sages are the master" described here are related to the implementation of the head of state system in the Roman Empire at that time, which retained some republican cloaks. introduce.Although it is very vague, but for the ancient Chinese who have been in the autocratic monarchy for a long time, it undoubtedly left a room for imagination in the field of political thought.