Ibn Batuta＇s book The Rihla gives us a unique insight into life of a 14th C travelling scholar in the golden age of Dar AI Islam （the world of Islam）. This paper is a reflection on Ibn Battuta focusing on three cur...Ibn Batuta＇s book The Rihla gives us a unique insight into life of a 14th C travelling scholar in the golden age of Dar AI Islam （the world of Islam）. This paper is a reflection on Ibn Battuta focusing on three curious things we don＇t know about him. First, we don＇t know what he looks like--what does this tell us about visual culture, ethnicity and the idea of self-image in 14th Century. Second, we don＇t know if he really went to China--if not why would this section be included？ Third, we don＇t know how his story became lost to history, which it certainly was for close to 400 years--what does this tell us about the man, the book, it＇s intended audience and the changes happening within Dar AI Islam at that time.展开更多
Vasco da Gama＇s voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to East Africaand further arrival in India in 1498 is considered as a great event inhistory. Yet contact between China and Africa started as early as in theHan Dyna...Vasco da Gama＇s voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to East Africaand further arrival in India in 1498 is considered as a great event inhistory. Yet contact between China and Africa started as early as in theHan Dynasty （206 B. C.- A. D. 220）. Du Huan of the Tang Dynasty （618-907） left a note about his visit to Africa in the 8th century. Porcelains fromTang to the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） were found in Africa. Ibn Battutavisited China in the Yuan Dynasty （1271-1368）. There is a Chinese silkmap of Africa in the 14th century. Zheng He＇s junk visited Africa in theearly 15th century. This paper is intended to examine the archeologicalevidence, related documents and historiography in Chinese on earlyChina-Africa contact thus to probe the early bilateral relations. It willdivide into four parts, the study of the period of the pre-Tang Period,Tang Dynasty, Song （960-1279） and Yuan dynasties, and finally earlyMing Dynasty, respectively. It demonstrates that China-Africa contactprobably started before the birth of Jesus Christ, Africans came to Chinain ancient times through different ways, and Chinese had sailed to Africalong before Vasco da Gama.展开更多
文摘Ibn Batuta＇s book The Rihla gives us a unique insight into life of a 14th C travelling scholar in the golden age of Dar AI Islam （the world of Islam）. This paper is a reflection on Ibn Battuta focusing on three curious things we don＇t know about him. First, we don＇t know what he looks like--what does this tell us about visual culture, ethnicity and the idea of self-image in 14th Century. Second, we don＇t know if he really went to China--if not why would this section be included？ Third, we don＇t know how his story became lost to history, which it certainly was for close to 400 years--what does this tell us about the man, the book, it＇s intended audience and the changes happening within Dar AI Islam at that time.
文摘Vasco da Gama＇s voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to East Africaand further arrival in India in 1498 is considered as a great event inhistory. Yet contact between China and Africa started as early as in theHan Dynasty （206 B. C.- A. D. 220）. Du Huan of the Tang Dynasty （618-907） left a note about his visit to Africa in the 8th century. Porcelains fromTang to the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） were found in Africa. Ibn Battutavisited China in the Yuan Dynasty （1271-1368）. There is a Chinese silkmap of Africa in the 14th century. Zheng He＇s junk visited Africa in theearly 15th century. This paper is intended to examine the archeologicalevidence, related documents and historiography in Chinese on earlyChina-Africa contact thus to probe the early bilateral relations. It willdivide into four parts, the study of the period of the pre-Tang Period,Tang Dynasty, Song （960-1279） and Yuan dynasties, and finally earlyMing Dynasty, respectively. It demonstrates that China-Africa contactprobably started before the birth of Jesus Christ, Africans came to Chinain ancient times through different ways, and Chinese had sailed to Africalong before Vasco da Gama.
