The direct contact between China and East Africans began in the Tang Dynasty. Du Huan traveled west in 75 1 year and returned to China in 762. He lives in argyle (Baghdad), the capital of the Abbasid Dynasty of the Arab Empire. There are Arabs from all over the world and Arabs who have settled in East Africa. As for the black workers in East Africa, they were unfortunately sold as slaves, and some of them came to China. The Book of the New Tang Dynasty (Volume 222) records that in the eighth year of Yuanhe (8 13), Tang Xianzong "offered monks as slaves for four years". Monks are just Zanzibar, which means black land or black country. However, Zanzibar, as mentioned by the Arabs in the Middle Ages, refers to the whole coastal area of East Africa from the mouth of Juba (the bamboo step in the history of the Ming Dynasty) in the north to Cape delgado in the north of Mozambique.
In the Tang Dynasty, ships from China could fly directly to the Persian Gulf. China's navigation technology further developed in the Song Dynasty. It was possible for China ships to reach East Africa directly in Song Dynasty. It is worth noting that an envoy from Zanzibar in East Africa visited China twice in the Song Dynasty, once in 10 17 and once in 1083. It is mentioned in the Biography of Song History and Layered Tanny that Bao Shunlang returned to Layered Tanny in the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083). Dai Weixun thought that the last three words of the envoy, "Tietani", sounded like "Monk Talent" (ie Tiela). Chinese and foreign historians generally believe that the sandalwood layer is the layer of pulling, that is, the monk talent. Before the appearance of new historical materials, it can be said that this is the first African envoy to China. In Yuan Dynasty, Wang Dayuan, a great traveler in China, reached the top of the country in the middle of14th century. Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu also sent a special envoy to Madagascar. Zheng He's fleet arrived at the east coast of Africa in the Ming Dynasty, and the nautical chart he drew was the first time that China included it in the nautical chart of Africa. Lu said that in the 13th year of Yongle (14 15), Ambassador Marin came to China and resigned in the same year. In the 14th year of Yongle (14 16), in November, envoys from more than ten countries, including Gu Mu Du Shu, Bulawah and Malin, came to China to present horses and rhinoceroses. Zheng He's fleet sailed to the Western Ocean for the fourth time, and successively arrived in Marin and Gumu in East Africa. Zheng He's fifth voyage to the West also included the task of escorting 18 envoys from various countries to return home. According to the Biography of Zheng He in Ming Dynasty, in the 14th year of Yongle (14 16), Malaga, Guli and other countries 19 sent envoys to pay tribute, resigned and gave me the title of monarch. Seventeen years (14 19) returned in July. (The starting date recorded in Nanshan Temple Monument is 14 17) The records of the Ming Dynasty point out the names of 19 countries, including the ancient wooden trees in East Africa, Bulawang and Malin, and only 18 countries because the name of another country has two translations. In the 18th year of Yongle (1420), King Valedun of Marin personally led his wife and envoys to visit China, and died after arriving in Fuzhou. Ming Chengzu "ordered Kang Jing to be buried in Min County so that the secretary could sacrifice it when he was old".
East Africa is rich in spices and ivory. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, China needed spices and ivory mainly from East Africa, and the goods that China transported to East Africa were mainly porcelain and silk. China coins in the Tang and Song Dynasties also flowed into East Africa. China's coins and porcelain are constantly found in the Somali capital Mogadishu (the ancient capital of the Ming Dynasty), Brava (the ancient capital of the Ming Dynasty), Zanzibar and the mafia. One of the biggest discoveries was that 1945 found 176 China coins in Zanzibar. Except for eight coins whose dates can't be determined, the others are all Tang and Song coins (7th century to13rd century). In addition, from the Gulf of Aden to Zanzibar, and even in Transvaal, Rhodesia, there are fragments of China ceramics everywhere along the East African coast. According to textual research, these fragments of South Africa belong to Song Dynasty or Ming Dynasty. No matter how the porcelain and coins were transported, the discovery of these items fully proved that China and East Africa have a long-standing economic relationship with South Africa. The famous Meroi civilization around A.D. (in today's Sudanese Democratic Republic) was also influenced by China. When Caesar made an expedition to Britain in the middle of BC 1 century, Britain was still desolate, and Meroe had become the ironmaking center of Africa. Goods from China were transported to the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea as early as 1 century. Chinese Ding Discovered in Merroe Site.