GlobalVillageSpace
Media Partner
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2017
- Messages
- 993
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
Global Village Space |
The region comprising today’s Pakistan has long held a seminal place in ancient China’s statecraft and worldview. Historical accounts show exchanges even before the advent of the Christian calendar (Birth of Christ). For example, the name ‘Cheen’ in Urdu for China is derived from Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who united and ruled China from 247 BC to 221 BC.
The Kushan dynasty based in Gandhara had an envoy permanently based in Chang’An, the ancient Chinese capital. Similarly, a Kushan ruler gifted two Lion cubs to Emperor Zhang (87-88 AD) of the Eastern Han dynasty, whose arrival proved auspicious as the King was blessed with a son from his favorite queen.
Even the famous Chinese ‘Lion Dance’ we see has Pakistani origins. Most Chinese children know the folk tales of Xi Wang Mu (the Queen Mother of the West), who held annual banquets of ‘longevity peaches’ (brought from Hunza) to unite rulers of 300 Chinese kingdoms.
Monk traveler Fa Xian (399-414 AD) described the people of Punjab in the most eulogizing terms. Chinese children are also taught the ‘Pilgrimage/Journey to the West’ based on part fiction, part historical travel accounts to South Asia from 630-645 AD of Monk Xuan Zang and the legendary character Sun Wukong (the Monkey), who ate one of these peaches and was blessed with ’72 transformations’ to fight the demons to fetch the Buddhist Sutra.
Read full article...
Evolving China-Pakistan Relations
The region comprising today’s Pakistan has long held a seminal place in ancient China’s statecraft and worldview. Historical accounts show exchanges even before the advent of the Christian calendar (Birth of Christ). For example, the name ‘Cheen’ in Urdu for China is derived from Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who united and ruled China from 247 BC to 221 BC.
The Kushan dynasty based in Gandhara had an envoy permanently based in Chang’An, the ancient Chinese capital. Similarly, a Kushan ruler gifted two Lion cubs to Emperor Zhang (87-88 AD) of the Eastern Han dynasty, whose arrival proved auspicious as the King was blessed with a son from his favorite queen.
Even the famous Chinese ‘Lion Dance’ we see has Pakistani origins. Most Chinese children know the folk tales of Xi Wang Mu (the Queen Mother of the West), who held annual banquets of ‘longevity peaches’ (brought from Hunza) to unite rulers of 300 Chinese kingdoms.
Monk traveler Fa Xian (399-414 AD) described the people of Punjab in the most eulogizing terms. Chinese children are also taught the ‘Pilgrimage/Journey to the West’ based on part fiction, part historical travel accounts to South Asia from 630-645 AD of Monk Xuan Zang and the legendary character Sun Wukong (the Monkey), who ate one of these peaches and was blessed with ’72 transformations’ to fight the demons to fetch the Buddhist Sutra.
Read full article...
Evolving China-Pakistan Relations
