After the 2nd century AD, Romans continued to come to China by sea. According to Chinese sources, in 226, the Roman merchant Qin Lun came to Jiaozhi (Jiaozhou, present-day northern Vietnam) in Eastern Wu (222–280), the regime established by Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms period of China, and the Taishou Wu Miao sent him to the capital Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) to meet Sun Quan the Great. Sun Quan asked about the customs of the Roman Empire, and Qin replied seriously.

In 281 AD, Rome sent envoys to the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316) to Guangzhou by sea. The British scholar Yuer (e) believed that the mission to China must have been sent by Emperor Cru (r. 282-283). 26 However, the Italian scholars Giulin Beruili and Federiini were inclined to consider the Roman mission "unofficial." During this time, Rome had several successive emperors: Prbu, Carus, Carinus, and Crinund Numerinonu, all of whom were busy keeping their thrones, and their reigns were short, and it was unlikely that they would send envoys across the ocean to China. According to a Roman historical document, during the time of Augustus, a delegation from the "Land of Silk" (China) made a four-year journey to Rome to offer pearls, precious stones, and elephants. 27

The Romans had an increasingly accurate understanding of the earth and a growing knowledge of distant China, which the Romans called the "Land of Silk" because of its abundance of silk.

Pliny's Natural History states that the Chinese are "above the middle", reflecting the "tall" image of the Chinese in the minds of the Romans; But he added that the Chinese have "red hair and blue eyes," apparently confusing the Chinese with other ethnic groups. Pliny and some of his contemporaries had a good impression of the Chinese and said many good things about the Chinese's temperament:

1. Gentle temperament, calm and orderly. Pliny said: "The Chinese are moderate. Solino (Lin) added: "There was an extreme mildness between them. "Ammin also said: they lived a life of extreme peace."

2. Be fair, honest, and have good moral standards, but have a weak sense of religion. According to Pmni, the Chinese are "full of a sense of justice", and the laws pursued by China prohibit people from killing, adultery, **, theft, and worship of gods, so that temples, statues of gods, prostitutes, and adulterers are not seen in the vast country; No thieves have been tried, and there is no record of someone being murdered.

3. Longevity. This is a topic often discussed in the writings of the Greeks and Romans. Pliny said that Chinese live to be 140 years old, some say 200 years old, others say 300 years old. As for the reasons for the longevity of Chinese, some people attribute it to Taoist cultivation in living hygiene, sexual life, diet, fitness, breathing, alchemy, etc., to prolong life. Some attribute it to air, location, and diet. 28

It can be seen that the knowledge of the Romans about China was mainly derived from hearsay, and their "impression of China" was vague, and some even absurd, but it was valuable. This "impression of China" shows that the contacts and exchanges between the East and the West have bid farewell to the era of "mythology". With the development of the Maritime Silk Road, the main body and channels of communication between the East and the West have changed, but the exchanges have never been interrupted, and the mutual understanding is gradually deepening.

I stumbled upon this article from the Internet. I saw the paragraph of "Chinese red hair, blue eyes" and completely complained (∩_∩) haha~ Old Pliny remembered correctly, at that time, the Roman envoy met Sun Quan, who was blue-eyed and purple-haired. (╯□╰) Quan Tsai Naidi's non-mainstream style has completely twisted the image of Chinese Mindi.

is made of].

div>

BAIDU_CLB_LT_ID="519311";