Though India and China recently, on April 1, 2003, celebrated fifty years of their diplomatic relations. But a healthy bonding between the two countries can be traced back in history, be it the spread of Buddhism or education or trade.
  • Buddhism arrived in China from India. Two Indian Buddhist monks – Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna arrived in China in 65 A.D. The Chinese government built a monastery on the outskirts of the eastern Han capital, Luoyang for the Indian Buddhist scholars.


  • Kashmir played the initial role in propagation of Buddhism to China. Kashmiri scholars like Sanghabhuti and Gautam Sangadeva visited China in the 4th Century A.D.
  • By the 3rd Century, Buddhists in China were no longer satisfied with the teachings of Buddhist Missionaries of foreign origin. This led to visit of hundreds of Chinese scholars to India over next 4-5 centuries to learn Buddhism first hand.



  • However, the first travelers from China to India were not Buddhist scholars. They were traders who came from southwestern China through the hilly tracts of Assam and Myanmar, and across the deserts of Central Asia to Northern India. The Chinese travelers introduced silk, vermilion and items made of Chinese bamboo.



  • Indian scholar Kumarajeeva who went to China and later died there in 413 A.D., was the first to head a Chinese Sutra translation bureau and supervised translation of several thousand Buddhist books. This was a unique joint effort in Buddhist translation. This translation bureau was in existence for nearly next thousand years and created 7000 plus chapters of translated literature.
  • The golden period of Buddhist influence in China lasted eight centuries from the 5th to 12th Centrury A.D. Tang Dynasty in China played an important role in promotion of Buddhism.



  • Nalanda University came into existence in the 5th Century A.D. By the 7th Century Nalanda began to play the same role in propagation of Buddhism to China as Kashmir in the earlier period. One of the most noted scholars of Nalanda, Prabhakar Mitra, was the first among Indian scholars to visit China in the Tang period.
  • Among the more well known Chinese scholars who visited India are: Fa-Hsien (early part of 5th Century A.D.), Hsuan-Tsang (633 to 643 A.D.) and Yi Tsing (673-695 A.D.).



  • Hsuan-Tsang’s visit to India was particularly fruitful due to personal interest shown by King Harshvardhana of Kanauj. He took back with him 657 manuscripts of Buddhist writings.



  • Yi Tsing spent ten years at Nalanda studying Buddhism. He carried back a collection of 400 manuscripts to China. He also compiled a Sanskrit –Chinese dictionary.
  • Impetus to Chinese invention of book printing was provided by the Chinese Buddhists to popularize Buddhism. The Chinese apparently got the idea for their invention from the ancient Indian practice of block printing by hand.



  • Influence of Indian culture can be seen in many Chinese customs, arts and other fields. The custom of ancestor worship was an adoption of Indian custom. There is presence of Indian motifs in various Buddhist caves in China. Influence of Indian schools in China is also found in the field of astrology, astronomy and medicine.
  • Between the 10th and the 18th century, there were sporadic contacts between the two countries.



  • Chinese travelers came to India by the sea route in 14th – 15th Century A.D. General Zheng from the Ming dynasty arrived in Cochin - Calicut in the early 15th Century A.D. The Chinese brought porcelain, silk, iron, copperware, gold and silver for trade. During this period the Chinese style fishing net was introduced in Kerala.



  • There was trade between Canton, India and England. This country trade accounted for approximately 30% of the British trade between 1764-1800.
  • Nationalist movements in the two countries against colonial oppressors led to some renewed contacts in the late 18th and early 19th century. The early Indian nationalists and reformers expressed opposition to opium trade.



  • Chinese leader Sun Yat Sen maintained contacts with some Indian revolutionaries such as Ras Bihari Bose, M.N. Roy, etc.



  • Rabindranath Tagore visited China in 1924. He maintained close contacts with some Chinese scholars such as Tan Yun Shan. He established the Chin Bhawan in Shantiniketan in 1937.
  • A five-member Indian medical mission visited North China during the anti-Japanese war in late 1930s. Contribution of one of the doctors Dr. Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis, who died in China in December 1942 is still remembered by the Chinese.



  • Indian political parties condemned Japanese aggression against China.



  • Jawahar Lal Nehru visited China in August 1939.
  • The Chinese supported the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942.



  • General Chiang-Kai-Shek visited India in 1942 as the Commander-in-Chief of the allied forces in China.



  • China sent donations to assist India during the 1943 famine in eastern India.