Envoys from Da Qin (Rome) at the Han court
According to the Book of the Later Han, in 166 an envoy of “Andun, king of Da Qin” — probably the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — came from beyond the southern frontier of Rinan and presented ivory, rhinoceros horn and tortoiseshell to Emperor Huan. The chronicle calls this the first direct contact between Rome and China, although the visitors were most likely merchants.
- Date
- 166year known
- Place
- Luoyangtoday: Han–Wei city site east of modern Luoyang, Henan, China · East Asia
- Route
- Rinan Commandery (central Vietnam) → Luoyang
- Participants
- Roman Empire, Marcus Aurelius, Han dynasty, Emperor Huan of Han
- Threads
- East Asia in the 1st–5th centuries
- Also known as
- Roman embassy to China; Embassy of Marcus Aurelius; Andun; Da Qin; Daqin; Римское посольство в Китай; Аньдунь; Дацинь; 大秦王安敦
In 97 the Han envoy Gan Ying had tried to reach Da Qin, the Roman Empire, but turned back at the western edge of Parthia without sailing on. The Book of the Later Han explains that the king of Da Qin had always wished to send envoys to Han, but the Parthians, who wanted to trade Chinese silks with him themselves, blocked the way; only in the ninth year of Yanxi (166) did Andun send an envoy from beyond the frontier of Rinan, and “for the first time communication was established”. The annals of Emperor Huan place the arrival in the ninth month of that year, in the autumn. Andun is Antoninus: either Antoninus Pius, who had died in 161, or, more likely, his adopted son and successor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
The mission came from the south, by sea, through Rinan, the southernmost Han commandery, on the coast of central Vietnam. Its gifts were not Roman goods but tropical products, probably acquired on the way, and the chronicler remarked with some suspicion that they included nothing rare or precious. Many historians, among them Rafe de Crespigny and Warwick Ball, think that the visitors were a party of Roman merchants rather than official envoys. Chinese sources mention other visitors from Da Qin as well: in 120 the king of Shan (in present-day Myanmar) presented to Emperor An jugglers who called themselves men from “west of the sea”, which, the chronicle explains, is Da Qin; later a merchant named Qin Lun reached Jiaozhou in northern Vietnam in 226, and an embassy came to the Jin court in 284.
Connections
Related events
- Gan Ying’s mission to Da Qin (Rome)97 · Central and Northern AsiaGan Ying had tried to reach Da Qin overland in 97; in 166 visitors from Da Qin came to China by sea
- Reign of Vologases IV147–191 · Middle East and Egyptaccording to the Book of the Later Han, Parthia blocked direct contact between Da Qin and the Han to keep the silk trade
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600 · Southeast Asia and Oceaniaboth reflect the sea route from the Roman world to China through Southeast Asia
Same participants
- An Shigao begins translating Buddhist texts in Luoyang148 · East Asiavia Han dynasty
- Roman–Parthian War of 161–166161–166 · Middle East and Egyptvia Roman Empire
- Tanshihuai’s Xianbei confederationc. 156 – 181 · Central and Northern Asiavia Han dynasty
- Costoboci sack Eleusisbetween 170 and 171 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Roman Empire
- Partisan Prohibitions: purges of scholar-officials166–184 · East Asiavia Emperor Huan of Han
Same place
- Liu Xiu restores the Han: the Eastern Han25 · East Asia
- The Book of Han is writtenc. 54 – 111 · East Asia
- Cai Lun presents papermaking to the Han court105 · East Asia
- Zhang Heng presents the first seismoscope132 · East Asia
- Lokaksema translates the first Mahayana sutras into Chinese179 · East Asia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Antonine Plague165–180
- Marcomannic Wars166–180
Eastern Europe
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Middle East and Egypt
- Roman–Parthian War of 161–166161–166
- Reign of Vologases IV147–191
Africa
- Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass)150s … 180s
Central and Northern Asia
- Tanshihuai’s Xianbei confederationc. 156 – 181
South Asia
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Preclassic Maya collapse: El Mirador is abandonedc. 100 – c. 250
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Sino-Roman relations
- Wikipedia (English): Rinan
- Wikipedia (English): Emperor Huan of Han
- Wikipedia (Russian): Древние контакты между Китаем и Средиземноморьем
- Wikipedia (Russian): Хуань-ди (Хань)
- Хоу Хань шу, гл. 88: «Описание Западного края», раздел о Дацинь (кит. текст, Викитека)
- Leslie D. D., Gardiner K. H. J. The Roman Empire in Chinese Sources. — Rome: Bardi, 1996.
- Hill J. E. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE. — Charleston: BookSurge, 2009.