In the city of Quanzhou in Fujian province of China, there is a Buddhist temple, whose base and pillars are full of Hindu imagery. It reveals the long connection of trade between India and China via the sea route from western coast of India through the Malacca straits (Singapore). The images show lions, which is native neither to South India nor to China. Lions became symbols of royalty in India and China, and was a name adopted by the people of Sri Lanka (Sinhala, or lion people) and Singapore (Singha-pura, city of lions). This reveals how ideas travel along with goods.
As per local lore, a merchant requested the landlord to grant him a piece of land to build a temple to the Buddha. The landlord, unwilling to part with the land, said he would do so only if the mulberry trees in his garden bloomed with white lotus flowers. That is precisely what happened. The landlord then granted the land to the Buddhist monk, and the temple was established. This became a place where different kinds of temples were built by monks and merchants of various Buddhist and Hindu denominations.
As a result, even today one finds images of Shiva in his iconic Shiva Linga form, worshipped by an elephant. There is another image of Shiva with matted locks. An image of Narasimha-an unusual South Indian form known as Purushavrigha (Vyaghrapada), a tiger-footed devotee of Shiva-is also present. There is even an image of Parvati with a demon seated at her feet, worshipped by locals who believe it to be a form of Guan Yin, the compassionate female bodhisattva of Chinese tradition. There is even a pillar resembling a Shiva Linga which local people believe to be a stone bamboo shoot-but it is most likely a Shiva Linga.
Early trade routes connecting India to China were overland, via Central Asia. The sea routes taking advantage of monsoon winds came later.
The oldest Ramayana manuscripts do not mention China. But the oldest Mahabharata manuscripts do. China became familiar with India first indirectly via Central Asian tribes around 200 BC and then directly by 200 AD. This was in the time of the Han emperors (200 BC to 200 AD), when China had been unified. India was called Shendu (from Sindhu) and Tianzhu (heavenly Bamboo grove, from the Buddhist Venu-vana). Buddhism was welcomed, as it brought solace at a time of great turmoil when Chinese lands were torn by civil wars.
In the Tang period (600 AD to 900 AD), when unification took place, Chinese encouraged the import of Buddhist texts and Buddhist relics from India. This is when Buddhist ideas, in Sanskrit, were translated into Chinese script-a complex process as both the sound system and the writing system, not to mention the language structure and meaning structure, was radically different. But by the end of this period, local Confucian scholars became hostile to Buddhism and practices like relic worship.
In the Song period (1000-1300), China was seen as a centre of Buddhism. Buddhism had declined in India, and many people travelled to China which was seen as the land of Maitreya Buddha (future Buddha), Manjushri (sword-bearing Bodhisattva of knowledge) and Amitabha Buddha (saviour Buddha of pure land). The old land routes to China became risky due to the rise of Mongol armies. Instead, the sea became the preferred route to China. This is when Chola kings of Tamilakam established contact with the Chinese imperial court, via Indonesia.
Using the monsoon winds, ships sailed from Arabia to the western coast of India in approximately 30 days. Ships then sailed from the eastern coast of India in another 30 days to the Malacca Straits. Then an additional 30 days to reach China. Effectively, in 100 days-around three to four months-one could travel from Arabia to the farthest edge of China.
This was a major trade route, with horses being transported from Arabia to South Asia, Southeast Asia and China via the sea, especially when land routes were blocked.
In exchange, China supplied silk, silver, tea and porcelain. Gold from Southeast Asia was traded for Indian cotton. Spices and aromatic plants were also exchanged. This was an extensive trading network.
A powerful merchant guild in India (the 500) controlled much of this trade. This trade enriched the Rashtrakuta dynasty who controlled much of Karnataka around 800 AD. The wealth funded some of the earliest temples in India-as well as a cluster of temples in Southeast China.
