Oct 7

Meeting of the first permanent mission of Iran in china with Wudi, the Chinese Emperor

This piece of history will be completely edited later          On 9 October 516 AD, the first permanent ambassador of Iran in China, who had arrived in the capital of this country with 90 delegates, presented his credentials to Wudi, the Emperor, in a formal ceremony, and introduced his mission members. Among the members were one Zoroastrian mobed, 21 military men, three secretaries, four translators, two architects, and. . . This was the first time that Iran was sending a religious member in a diplomatic mission, because the then government of Iran did not have the intention to impose the Iranian religion to other nations.     The Iranian ambassador explained to the Emperor that the architects have come to build the building of the embassy, the military men to protect the diplomatic mission and the mobed to perform religious ceremonies for members of the mission, and added that since the embassy premises will be considered as Iranian territory, therefore, guarding it cannot be entrusted to foreigners. The Iranian ambassador told the Emperor that after Constantinople (capital of East Rome) this would be the second diplomatic mission of Iran in a foreign country, and added that from the time of the reign of Qobad (Sassanian king), the Buddhists have gained freedom of religion in Eastern Iran (present Afghanistan) because the wife of Qobad, who was the daughter of the chief of the Hun tribe, was a Buddhist. Doagraling, the Emperor’s wife and his successor, who were present in the ceremony, expressed their desire to have discussions with the mobed.     Other historic documents say that after a few sessions of discussion with the mobed, the wife of the Emperor, though being a follower of a branch of Buddhism by the name of Mahayana, which had many followers in Luoyang, China’s capital of those days, was inspired by the Zoroastrian religion and the mobed gained the permission to spread it in China and build fire temples, and in 15 years four fire temples were built in china. The building of the embassy was completed in three years. The friendly relationship of china with Iran was the cause for migration of a group of Iranians to china.     After retreat from the Arab invaders and coming to Khorasan, Yazdgerd III, the last Sassanian king, requested help from the Chinese Emperor, which never materialized. Firooz, Yazdgerd’s son, went to China, to collect an army and prevent the progress of the Arabs in the east of Iran, but did not succeed and came back to East Iran empty handed, and. . .          Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour (AmordadNews writer)