204 stephan peter bumbacher
had to give up his plans as a consequence of negative advice provided
by Parthian sailors (who no doubt feared that a successful Chinese mis-
sion could threaten their position in the east-west trade).^5 Some three
years later “envoys” from the Roman Empire reached China along
the “Silk Road”:
, ,.^6
In the winter, in the eleventh month [of the twelfth year of the yongyuan
era of Emperor Hedi’s reign (100 AD)], the two states of Mengqi
and Doule of the Western Regions sent envoys to [show their]
allegiance [to the emperor], [the emperor] bestowed upon their kings
golden seals on purple ribbons.Some scholars have identi ed Mengqi with Macedonia and Doule with
Ty re,^7 the important eastern Mediterranean port and western terminal
of a trade route that went through Palmyra (Syria, where Chinese silk
has also been excavated)^8 to Parthia and beyond.
During the Han dynasties (206 BC–220 AD) trade on the “Silk
Road” became increasingly intense as a consequence of which more and
more foreign merchants arrived in China. Under Emperor Ling
(r. 168–190) Zhi Fadu , the grandfather of the famous translator
Zhi Qian , settled there together with a group of several hundred
men who all came from Kua (Yuezhi ).^9 Already the Parthian
(?) upsaka An Xuan who in 181 AD arrived in Luoyang ,
was a merchant and for quite some time still practiced his profession
until he—being able to recite a whole series of Buddhist stras—became
involved in a translation project.^10 Also at the end of the second century
we nd Kang Mengxiang who, too, acted as a translator of
Buddhist texts in Luoyang. He was the son of a Sogdian merchant.
The important role merchants played in the growth and propagation
of Buddhism can already be seen in the Pli Canon. According to the
Pli Vinaya, the great merchant (sehi) of Rjagaha received and enter-
tained the Buddha and his following. Famous is the story of Tapussa
and Bhallika, both merchants, who are said to have become Buddha’s
(^5) Hou Hanshu 88, p. 2909.
(^6) Hou Hanshu 4, p. 188.
(^7) Lin Meicun 1992.
(^8) Haussig 1983, p. 69.
(^9) Chu sanzang jiji T.2145.55.97b14.
(^10) Gaoseng zhuan T.2059.50.324b.