THE GREAT ATLAS OF DISCO\T£ RY

Ancient Chinese Chang Ch'ien escapes

toFergana. He
admires the splendid
Hsuan Tsang witnesses the final
gathering ojthe Turks before they
go their separate ways through

Explorers horses, later imported

to China, and wine
made from grapes.
the world, at
Issyh Kul, in
a.d. 630.

ABOUT 2,000 YEARS AGO the ancient

Romans and the Chinese still lived in separate worlds -
their civilizationswere developing in isolation. Between Chang Ch'ien
reaches Bactria. The
them lay high mountains, thick forests, and vast deserts,
people have no interest
as well as warlike tribes who guarded their lands fiercely. in an alliance with
China. He returns --'
Nonetheless, the Chinese and Romans knew of each to China a ,4
others existence: Silk worn by rich Romans came from \ear later SWIARKAND

China, passing through many hands on the way.

It came overland, along the old Silk Road.
These routes across central Asia were
explored by a great Chinese traveler, Chang Hsiian Tsang
2 huge
Ch'ien, in 138 b.c. Ancient trade routes also led sees
statues of th
to a third center of ancient civilization - India, Buddha at
Bamian.
the homeland of the religion of the Chinese
Buddhists. Learned Buddhist monks, such as
Fa Hsien in a.d. 399 and Hsuan Tsang in
a.d. 629, journeyed there to study and

to visit the holy places where the

Buddha had taught.

Chang Chien
Chang Ch'ien was bom in about 150 B.C. He was an
official at the court of the Chinese emperor Wu Ti and

did more than any other person to bring the different

ancient civilizations into contact. In 138 b.c. Wu Ti sent
Chang Ch'ien west to central Asia. He was to find allies
to help China fight against the marauding nomads, the Hsuan Tsang saw this gigantic
Huns, who were threatening his empire. He reached statue of the Buddha, which lies
Bactria, once part of the Greek empire of Alexander the nestled in the cliffs of the Bamian
valley in Afghanistan.
Great. The people of Bactria did not want to join a war
against the Huns, but Chang Ch'ien had succeeded in
forming links between China, India, and the Middle East.

Fa Hsien sails
Buddhism for China,
Buddhism began in India in the 6th century B.C., with many
as amovement within the older religion of manuscripts
Hinduism. It was an unusual religion because it and religious

had no god. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism was a V

KANCH1PURAM
objects.
in
He stops
Malaysia cfad
great missionary religion, and it spread through
Indom
much of Asia, reaching China in about a.d. 100.
Chinese Buddhist monks like Fa Hsien wanted to
learn more about their religion. Their holy books had
been translated from Sanskrit (the ancient language /

of India), and parts were hard to understand. Buddhist

monks and pilgrims made amazing journeys through Asia r¥
in order to leam more about it. Fa Hsien and others set off
to find groups of Buddhists, more holy books, and better
translations, and also to study in ancient Buddhist temples.

SRI
LANKA