The interconnected history of India and China and the circulatory movement of ideas, people, technologies and commodities are well recorded in the textual as well as oral traditions of both countries. Its footprints could be found throughout the geographical landscapes of present-day India, China and beyond, whether it was the birth of Chinese Buddhism or the dissemination of ancient India's astronomy, literature, music and languages into China, or technologies such as sugar making, paper manufacturing and silk production coming from China to India and other countries.
All of it enriched knowledge systems across the world. The translation industry in China, for example, had people from India and many Central Asian polities supporting it, along with hundreds of Chinese scholar monks. Even today, there are 35,000 Sanskrit words in the Chinese language. The Dai, a minority nationality in the Yunnan province, had its own version of the Ramayana.
It was during the colonial period that contemporary images of India and China found their foundations. As Qing China (1636-1912) became apprehensive of the threat from British India, it sent officials to study the decline of the Indian civilisation and the intentions of the British in the Himalayan states. Qing officials such as Huang Maocai, Ma Jianzhong, Wu Guangpei and Kang Youwei lamented the decline of Indian civilisation. Indians were called “people of a lost century” and “no more than slaves”. Lu Xun, one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, despised Rabindranath Tagore as a “poisonous datura” and Indian people as “inferior slaves”. In his opinion, colonised India had become a defeated country and, therefore, it was impossible for it to produce great writers and works any longer.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.