“Send three and four pence, we are going to a dance,” is a famous apocryphal message which is the the ultimate, distorted through whispered repetition by word of mouth, version of a message that originated as, “send reinforcements, we are going to advance.” This illustrates what we call “Chinese whispers.”
Chinese Whispers is a game, played around the world, in which a message is passed around a group of people by whispered word of mouth. The outcome is usually, either accidentally, more often deliberately, distorted, often beyond recognition.
It seems a particularly appropriate title for a piece that aims to discuss a little of what the Chinese know about the history of Bangladesh. The interest of the Chinese has many motivations, but not least because of their historic trading contacts, and more recently political interests. However, it is knowledge about which most Bangladeshis seem either in complete ignorance, or in complete denial. The result is an often very distorted view, not only of those historic relations, but even of the history and heritage of Bangladesh itself.
China, in fact, both empirically, and in archaeological and documentary form, has learnt a great deal about the ancient history of Bangladesh. As close neighbours, they have shared a great deal of that history.
Take for example the sensation that was caused in the court of the Chinese emperor, Zhu Di, in 1414, by the arrival of a unique animal, sent as a gift by Saifuddin, sultan of Bengal. Its effect on courtiers, we can only imagine.
It was, in fact, a giraffe. And the very fact that Saifuddin had possession of one to gift to the emperor, raises all kinds of interesting questions about the direct trade linkages between early 15th century Bengal, mostly the lands that are now Bangladesh, and the African continent. That live animals should have formed a part of that trade, with all its inherent difficulties, seems to suggest strong, and regular ties.
We can only imagine the whispered comments from those who saw this strange animal; “is it a horse? What is it?,” but it seems the conclusion was rapidly reached that this was a “quilin.”
The first appearance of the African giraffe in China, bears a remarkable resemblance to the mythical quinlin of Chinese mythology in Chinese heritage. The beast was held to be a good omen of prosperity.
It was said that the quinlin would manifest itself with, “the arrival of a wise man in a peaceful nation, symbolising a flourishing age.” It is not hard to imagine the public relations and propaganda use of the gift!
In fact, early 15th century China was already very familiar with the lands of the Indian subcontinent, especially those around the Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers, and their delta. It also seems reasonable to believe that the inhabitants of those lands were more than familiar with the lands known as Sinii, despite a description in a mid first century Greco-Roman publication of the Common Era that describes the source of silk traded in the delta an, “an inland city, called Thina.”
Third century BCE tombs, two thousand two hundred years or so old, have, we are told, been found to contain Money shells of Indian Ocean origin. Such shells, still known as Money Cowries were a traditional currency throughout ancient Asia, and were still used in the lands of Bangladesh as recently as the nineteenth century. Forms of money, are still interred with the deceased, in Chinese tradition, to finance their life in “otherworld.”
These whispers come from the modern historian, Bin Yang. There is even documentary evidence of the linkages, at least from the third century BCE, in the whispers from China. Whispers that the academic world of Bangladesh have not heard, have misheard, not understood, or simply ignored.
The whispers come, not only from Bin Yang, in his seminal work on the history of Yunnan, published in 2008 by Columbia University, New York, but also from an earlier Chinese whisperer, the historian Sima Qian, the eminent historian of China’s second century BCE Western Han Dynasty.
He tells the story of the experiences of the Imperial envoy, Zhang Qian, and his travels to Bactria to establish the best route of trade with India.
On Zhang Qian’s advice, the emperor decided, “to rebuild the connection with the southwest region (India), and thus the Southern Silk Road, a road that had been there long ago, was restored.” (Hear that whisper? “Long ago,” long before the third century BCE!)
The modern historian, Bin Yang, the ancient historian, Sima Qian, and the very ancient emissary, Zhang Qian, have all whispered of this ancient trade route, which they are unanimous in identifying as running from Yunnan, through upper Myanmar, either to Assam and the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, or to other links, through Mandalay, to such coastal destinations as Chittagong, and Ramu.
The whispers resonate, still. In recent times; the United Nations World Tourism Organisation invited Bangladesh to join their Silk Road project to promote tourism along the ancient trade routes. Even more recently, in the early June visit to Yunnan and China by Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, accords were reached to further research and promote the Silk Road heritage, for the development of tourism in the region.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, of seventh to 13th centuries, Chinese sources whisper to us, “trade and people to people exchanges on the Southern Silk Road became even more active, and there were several routes available,” almost all of which eventuated in, or around the Ganges delta.
These whispers, and many others, speaking of millennia of activity, it seems, have not been not so much misheard in Bangladesh. They appear, in fact, not to have been heard at all. A pity, since the distorted view that so many in Bangladesh seem to have of their own history and heritage is certainly depriving them of much needed skilled and semi skilled jobs, and billions of dollars of the foreign exchange for which there is always some use.
Why, I often wonder, are today’s inhabitants of these lands, rich in such an extraordinary heritage, increasingly recognised around the world, but, particularly by one of the nation’s oldest, and still greatest, trading partner, so wilfully, or perversely, ignored or misheard? Especially when China itself, has, over the past two decades, developed a tourism industry worth millions of jobs and billions of dollars of income – an achievement which could probably be matched by Bangladesh with relatively little investment.
The most frequent explanation that has been whispered to me, which I admit to finding both hard to believe, and yet have no alternative explanation, is, “we are a predominantly Islamic people, and we don’t want to know.”
An interesting paradox, considering the Prophet’s reputed injunction, “seek ye knowledge, even unto China.”
In China, it seems, lies knowledge that could unleash social and economic development for Bangladesh, benefitting Muslim citizens as well as all others. If only the people of Bangladesh would listen, more carefully and closely, to Chinese Whispers; and pay more attention to the reputed injunction of the Prophet!
