Germanicus Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 I was reading an old (1970) paperback book about the Romans the other day, and there was mention of an expedition leaving Rome during Marcus Aurelius' reign for China. The book mentions that it was successfull, and that there are Chinese records from the time that verify the fact. It did not list these references though or say exactly what they were. Has anyone heard this before ? Does anyone know of references to Rome or Romans in historical Chinese documents ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanM Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 I was reading an old (1970) paperback book about the Romans the other day, and there was mention of an expedition leaving Rome during Marcus Aurelius' reign for China. The book mentions that it was successfull, and that there are Chinese records from the time that verify the fact. It did not list these references though or say exactly what they were. Has anyone heard this before ? Does anyone know of references to Rome or Romans in historical Chinese documents ? 15165[/snapback] I don't know of any such references, but I do know that some Roman coins made it to China as well as the Nestorian form of Christianity. My guess is that both were brought to China by Persian merchants, but I also assume that a handful of Romans probably reached China from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 There is the story of Crassus' Carrhae survivors eventually finding their way to China... Roman descendents in Gansu There are also stories of Chinese expeditions sent to Rome that were mischeviously diverted by Persians and other eastern kingdoms. Both sides were seemingly well aware that a mysterious powerful nation existed on opposite sides of Eurasian land mass, but true contact was quite limited. Most trade seems to have taken place between silk road middlemen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.Clodius Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Germanicus you're alive! How was your trip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rork Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 I was reading an old (1970) paperback book about the Romans the other day, and there was mention of an expedition leaving Rome during Marcus Aurelius' reign for China. The book mentions that it was successfull, and that there are Chinese records from the time that verify the fact. It did not list these references though or say exactly what they were. Has anyone heard this before ? Does anyone know of references to Rome or Romans in historical Chinese documents ? 15165[/snapback] The romans who went to China in 166 AD were most probably syrian traders. The chinese archives of that time mentioned that "An-toun, king of Ta-t'sin sent a mission which brought as gifts from Jihnan boarder (Annam) ivory, rhinoceros horns and shells (?)". J-N Robert in his book "de Rome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyrus Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 I don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germanicus Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 The romans who went to China in 166 AD were most probably syrian traders.The chinese archives of that time mentioned that "An-toun, king of Ta-t'sin sent a mission which brought as gifts from Jihnan boarder (Annam) ivory, rhinoceros horns and shells (?)". J-N Robert in his book "de Rome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kestrel lee Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 I was reading an old (1970) paperback book about the Romans the other day, and there was mention of an expedition leaving Rome during Marcus Aurelius' reign for China. The book mentions that it was successfull, and that there are Chinese records from the time that verify the fact. It did not list these references though or say exactly what they were. Has anyone heard this before ? Does anyone know of references to Rome or Romans in historical Chinese documents ? According to Chinese history document, a group of Roman resided in Li qian of Gan Su Province, China. These Romans were the soldiers surrendered to Chan Yue of Mongolians, and then captured by Chinese Han millitary in 53 BC. Majority of Li Qian people looked like Chinese. But a few of them still have light hair, blue eyes, and white skins and bone features of cocaciean. in 2003, 99 cocacian tomes were discovered in Li Qian. Anthropologist said most of them were cocacians. Here is the web address you can see some of these local Li Qian residents. They look quite different from Chinese. http://aladding.com/newsDetail.cfm?postid=300028 Kestrel Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted October 5, 2005 Report Share Posted October 5, 2005 There is the story of Crassus' Carrhae survivors eventually finding their way to China... Roman descendents in Gansu It just struck me that whether the story is true or not, this would make a great movie epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germanicus Posted October 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2005 It just struck me that whether the story is true or not, this would make a great movie epic. A grizzled old western looking man in ancient Chinese dress begins to tell the story....mmmm....good idea Virgil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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