Iran & China Historical Relations
Compiled and written in parts by:
Arash Akrami

Introduction

History of relationships between Iran & China can be viewed and written from two perspectives, a Chinese perspective or an Iranian one. Goal of this short paper is to catch a few points based on both perspectives. First of all it’ll brief on the first signs of relationships between two nations in the bed of history. And then a little treat on current similarities and what is happening in the current days.

Back in the history
Name of China in Persian language written as چین read exactly as Qin in pinyin writing of Chinese mandarin language implies the starting point of mutual acquaintance going back till the time of Qin dynasty in China which coincides with the rule Arsacid dynasty (Parthian Empire) in Iran. However the oldest document currently available about these relationships points out to the time of Chinese Han Dynasty and Iranian Parthian Empire(247 BC - 224 AD). These relations continued further up to next Iranian dynasty of Sassanids and after invasion of Arabs to Iran and continued in different forms of commercial, religious, cultural & scientific transactions.

Mutual relations before Islam
An outstanding document from Chinese part is Zhang Qian words in Shiji 史记 one of the most reliable records on Chinese history written by grand Chinese historian Sima Qian 司马迁. The Chinese explorer Zhang Qian, who visited the neighbouring countries of Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BCE, made the first known Chinese report on Parthia. In his accounts Parthia is named Ānxī 安息 , a transliteration of "Arsacid", the name of the Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization, which he equates to those of Dayuan (in Ferghana currently located in Uzbekistan) and Daxia (in Bactria currently located in Afghanistan). "Anxi is situated several thousand li west of the region of the Great Yuezhi (in Transoxonia). The people are settled on the land, cultivating the fields and growing rice and wheat. They also make wine out of grapes. They have walled cities like the people of Dayuan (Ferghana), the region contains several hundred cities of various sizes. The coins of the country are made of silver and bear the face of the king. When the king dies, the currency is immediately changed and new coins issued with the face of his successor. The people keep records by writing on horizontal strips of leather. To the west lies Tiaozi (Mesopotamia) and to the north Yancai and Lixuan (Hyrcania)." (Shiji, 123, Zhang Qian quote, trans. Burton Watson).
Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial relations between China, Central Asia, and Parthia flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century BCE: "The largest of these embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members... In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out." (Shiji, trans. Burton Watson).

The Parthians were apparently very intent on maintaining good relations with China and also sent their own embassies, starting around 110 BC: "When the Han envoy first visited the kingdom of Anxi (Parthia), the king of Anxi dispatched a party of 20,000 horsemen to meet them on the eastern border of the kingdom... When the Han envoys set out again to return to China, the king of Anxi dispatched envoys of his own to accompany them... The emperor was delighted at this." (Shiji, 123, trans. Burton Watson).

Parthians also played a role in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism from Central Asia to China. An Shigao 安世高, a Parthian nobleman and Buddhist missionary, went to the Chinese capital Luoyang in 148 CE where he established temples and became the first man to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese.

Like their predecessors the Parthians, the Sassanid Empire maintained active foreign relations with China, and ambassadors from Persia frequently travelled to China. Chinese documents record thirteen Sassanid embassies to China. Commercially, land and sea trade with China was important to both the Sassanid and Chinese Empires. Large numbers of Sassanid coins have been found in southern China, confirming maritime trade.

When the Chinese state of Shu Han fell in 263 CE to Cao Wei, many of its refugees such as nobles and troops fled west to Sasanian Persia. and on various occasions, Sassanid kings sent their most talented Persian musicians and dancers to the Chinese imperial court. Both empires benefited from trade along the Silk Road, and shared a common interest in preserving and protecting that trade. They cooperated in guarding the trade routes through central Asia, and both built outposts in border areas to keep caravans safe from nomadic tribes and bandits.

There are record of several joint Sassanid and Chinese efforts against their common Hephtalite enemy. Following encroachments by the nomadicTurkic on states in Central Asia, we also see what looks like a collaboration between Chinese and Sassanid forces to repel the Turkic advances. Documents from Mt. Mogh also note the presence of a Chinese general in the service of the king of Sogdiana at the time of the Arab invasions.

Following the invasion of Iran by Muslim Arabs, Pirooz, son of Yazdegerd III, escaped along with a few Persian nobles and took refuge in the Chinese imperial court. Both Piroz and his son Narsieh (Chinese neh-shie) were given high titles at the Chinese court. At least in two occasions, last one possibly in 670, Chinese troops were sent with Pirooz in order to restore him to the Sassanid throne with mixed results, one possibly ending up in a short rule of Pirooz in Sistan(Sakestan) from which we have a few remaining numsmatic evidence. Narsieh later attained the position of commander of the Chinese imperial guards and his descendants lived in China as respected princes.

Relations after Islam

As far as we know After the Islamic conquest of Persia, Persia continued to flourish during the Islamic Golden Age and its relations with China continued. In 751, the Abbasid Caliphate which ruled Persia was in dispute with the Tang Dynasty of China for control of the Syr Darya region during the Battle of Talas. The commander of the Abbasid army was Zayid ibn Salih, a Persian, while the commanders of the Tang army were Gao Xianzhi, a Goguryo Korean, alongside Li Siye and Duan Xiushi, both Chinese. After the Abbasids won the battle, relations improved and there were no more conflicts between China and the Arabs.

During the Tang Dynasty, communities of Persian-speaking merchants, known as Bosi, formed in northwestern China's major trade centers.

A large number of Central Asian and Persian soldiers, experts, and artisans were recruited by the Mongol Yuan Dynasty of China. Some of them, known as semu ("assorted officials") occupied important official posts in the Yuan state administration.[6]One of the most famous settlers from Persia was Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, who is identified as an ancestor of many Chinese Hui lineages and that of Yunnan's Panthay Hui population. His most famous descendant was Zheng He郑和, who became the Ming dynasty's most famous explorer. And this last guy is quite famous in Persian-Arabic Stories Book of tales of One Thousand and One Nights as Sandbad or Sinbad. And it’s interesting that his other name in Chinese is Sānbǎo三宝.

Relations continued during the Ming Dynasty. The famous Maragheh observatory in Maragheh, Iran, is also known to have had some Chinese astronomers working there alongside Islamic astronomers, and some Islamic astronomical instruments were also being used by astronomers in China. Safavid Iranian art was also partly influenced by Chinese art to an extent. Shah Abbas had hundreds of Chinese artisans in his capital Esfahan. 300 Chinese potters produced glazed tile buildings, and hundreds of others produced metalwork, miniature paintings, calligraphy, glasswork, tile work, and pottery.

Some of Cultural Similarities

Miniature painting
Persian miniature as a form traditional painting in Iran going back to more than 2000 years, after invasion of Mongols in 13th century and bringing some painters from china with them were highly influenced by Chinese techniques. Below paintings are few instances of this trend

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Persian Miniature Painting 17th century
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By Iranian Miniaturist Reza Abbasi 17th century
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Persian miniature painting 16th century
Iranian New year festival and similarities to new year festival in China
Ancient Nowrooz festival ( which literally means new day ) is one the oldest ceremonies in Iranian culture which still is living as one of outstanding manifestations of this culture. Its date is on 21th March as the beginning of the year and the first day of spring. As a part of ceremonies being held on this day and the next two weeks after that is to pay a visit to the cemeteries in the memory of departed family members and friends, visiting elders of the family, giving presents to the children and youngsters which mostly are in the form of new unfolded banknotes.

Silk road
Connection of two countries through business and a famous road built for that, the famous Silk Road. Business of silk and other goods through land and marine ways in the old days was another aspect of Iran-China relationships, or more precisely it could be considered as the main canal of assorted kinds of mutual transactions through centuries up to 1800s.

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Current Relations

Trade

China finds in Iran a permanent partner for its exports and a source for its growing energy demand. In March 2004, Zhuhai Zhenrong Corporation, a Chinese state-run company, signed a 25-year contract to import 110 million metric tons of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Iran. This was followed by another contract between Sinopec and Iran LNG, signed in October of the same year. The deal, worth $100 billion, adds an extra 250 million tons of LNG to China's energy supply, to be extracted from Iran's Yadavaran field over a 25-year period. In January 2009, Iran and China signed a $1.76bn contract for the initial development of the North Azadegan oil field in western Iran. In March the two countries struck a three-year $3.39 billion deal to produce liquefied natural gas in Iran’s mammoth South Pars natural gas field. Because of its limited refining capacity Iran imports one third of its refined products such as petrol from China.

In 2001, the volume of trade between Iran and China stood at $3.3 Billion, and in 2005, the volume of Sino-Iranian trade hit $US 9.2 billion. In 2005, exports from China represented 8.3% of the total import market in Iran, giving China the second largest share of the market after Germany. China's exports to Iran have experienced particularly rapid growth in the past five years, with China replacing Japan as the world's second largest exporter to Iran. Iran's imports from China rose by 360% between 2000 and 2005. Aside from China's inexpensive products, Iran is also buying more from China for strategic reasons. Iran’s Deputy Minister of Commerce Mehdi Ghazanfari said trade exchanges between Iran and China will exceed $25 billion in 2008. Iran is currently China’s third largest supplier of crude, providing China with roughly 12 percent of its total annual oil consumption (nearly one million barrels daily).

Ali Akbar Saheli, Iran's former representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the two countries "mutually complement each other. They have industry and we have energy resources".

Politics

Iran today continues to align itself politically with the People's Republic of China as the European Union and United States push forward with policies to isolate Iran both politically and economically. Iran has observer status at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and aspires to membership to this organisation, in which China plays a leading role.

In July 2004, Iranian parliamentary speaker Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel stressed China's support for Iran's nuclear programs. China's Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing also said that his country opposes Iran being referred to United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program, and claimed that the Iranian government had a very positive attitude in its cooperation with the IAEA.

Conclusions

As history hints these two great and old nations can always find some common grounds – more than most of the other countries – to develop their aged relations and renew it in any way which would be beneficial for both sides; cultural, academic, commercial & political.

References:
- http://www.iranica.com
- http://www.wikipedia.org
- News Websites on the Internet