page_title: China–Iran relations
section_title: Han-Parthian era
hierarchical_section_title: China–Iran relations / History / Han-Parthian era
caption_attribution_description: English: The travel of Zhang Qian to the West. Mogao caves, 618-712 CE.　Translation of Chinese note: "This is a section of a Dunhuang mural showing a line of officials led by Han Emperor Wu (Han Wudi) to see off Zhang Qian in the outskirts of Chang'an (the capital city). Zhang Qian is shown kneeling at the left edge of the painting." 中文: 注意：这是一幅敦煌壁画的局部。图中一行人其实是汉武帝（zh, en）所率领的群臣，到长安郊外为张骞送行。张骞就在图画左面跪着。 日本語: 西方遠征隊を見送る鞍上の武帝と、画面左端でひざまずく遠征隊長張騫。618年-712年頃、中国・莫高窟の壁画。image:HanWudiBuddhas.jpg、Image:ZhangQianTravels.jpgとの連作。
context_page_description: China–Iran relations refer to the economic, political, and social relations between China and Iran from the 1979 Iranian Revolution to the present. Official relations began in 1937. The two civilizations have had a history of cultural, political, and economic exchanges along the Silk Road since at least 200 BC, and possibly earlier. To this day, China and Iran have developed a friendly economic and strategic partnership.
context_section_description: The Han dynasty explorer Zhang Qian, who visited the neighbouring states of Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BCE, made the first known Chinese report on Parthia. In his accounts Parthia is named "Ānxī" (Chinese: 安息), a transliteration of "Arsacid", the name of the Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization, whose development he equates to those of Dayuan (in Ferghana) and Daxia (in Bactria).
  "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, the Han conquered Dayuan in the Han-Dayuan war and established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, thereby opening the Silk Road. 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 Shih Kao, 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. The Persianized kingdom of Kushan became the crossroads for Sino-Indian Buddhist transmissions, with many Iranians translating Sanskrit sutras into Chinese.
caption: The 138–126 BCE travels of Zhang Qian to the West, Mogao Caves, 618–712 CE mural.
exif: {"Image Make": "HP", "Image Model": "HP Scanjet G3010", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Microsoft Windows Live Photo Gallery14.0.8081.709", "Image DateTime": "2013:01:05 03:26:46", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ReferenceBlackWhite": "[0, 255, 128, 255, 128, 255]", "Image ExifOffset": "2318", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:01:05 03:25:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:01:05 03:25:09", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2514", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3484", "EXIF Saturation": "Soft", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft", "EXIF DeviceSettingDescription": "[1, 0, 19, 0, 32, 32, 32, 48, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 55, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 56, ... ]", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "FC0B5DD57BB54BF68045C85CCFDDECC7", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}