Scholar talks of Persia's great influence on China
Exchanges with what is now Iran go back a long way, and may have been stronger than we realise
Chow Chungyan 
Dec 04, 2011	
   

What do jasmine, the pipa musical instrument, Louis Cha's martial arts classics and admiral Zheng He have in common? The answer is their link to Persia - present-day Iran.
Today, when the mention of Iran brings images of terror, it is hard to remember that the region for the most part of its long history has been a well of inspiration and ideas. Chinese culture has benefited tremendously from the exchanges between the two ancient civilisations.




This is the potent message brought here by Bruce Wannell - an Oxford-educated expert on Persia and modern Iran. Wannell was visiting Hong Kong and mainland China for the first time and gave talks here and in Beijing over the past week.

Drawing from years of study, research and travel, Wannell painted a vivid picture of exchanges between Persia and China - starting from early in the Han dynasty (206BC-AD220), reaching a peak in the golden age of the Tang dynasty (618-907) and continuing until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), when China clammed up.

The exchange involved mostly trade - on camel caravans on the Silk Road or merchant ships braving the Indian Ocean. From China, traders brought silk, porcelain and handicrafts and from Persia came warhorses, musical instruments and worked metal. The trade was sometimes carried out via a third country - often in Central Asia - and was frequently disrupted by war, natural disaster or politics. But the traffic of goods and ideas always resumed and flowed both ways for centuries.

Official contacts also started early. Chinese emperors since the Han regularly dispatched envoys to Persia. And in return, the Parthian and Sassanid empires sent envoys to China. Some Persian scholars were even employed in the Chinese court.

"In many aspects of Chinese arts and culture we can find the traces of Persian influences," Wannell said. "Just as we can find strong Chinese influences the other way round

Many Chinese scholars in modern times have also made findings on the subject.

Apart from Buddhism, the earliest foreign religion in China, Zoroastrianism, originated in Persia. It later greatly influenced and shaped the introduction of Christianity to the country. Two other Persian-influenced religions - Manichaeism and Nestorianism, also arrived in China shortly afterwards.

Manichaeism in particular was to play a powerful role in China. Wu Han, one of the most important modern Chinese historians, linked Manichaeism to the Ming sect late in the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, is believed to have been a member of the sect. He named his dynasty "Ming", meaning light, from Manichaeism, which worships the Light Buddha.

Wu's theory gained much following, although it is disputed by some scholars, such as the Hong Kong-born historian Chan Hok-lam. Historians today are still debating the origin of the name Ming, but nobody disputes Manichaeism's influence on Chinese culture and religion.

Louis Cha, or Jin Yong, based his popular martial arts classic The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre on that history. In the book, Cha used many verses written by the great Persian poet Omar Khayyam, whose work was introduced into China in the Yuan dynasty and became popular again in modern China.

In 2009, a team of Chinese experts, including two from Hong Kong, found Manichaean shrines and relics in Fujian .

Wannell believes these rich cultural dialogues between China and Iran should not only be a thing of the past. Despite the growing tension between Tehran and the Western world, the British scholar said China should keep an independent foreign policy. He believes both countries will benefit from open exchanges.

"It's extremely important for China to pursue an independent foreign policy in its exchanges with [ancient civilisations] like Iran and India," he said in Hong Kong.

"If you look back into history, no great civilisation or cultural movement can exist in isolation."

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