General Discourse on the Western Oceans, Part II

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Their writing does not proceed in straight vertical lines. Today, the various nations of the Western Ocean Xiyang; a term used during the Ming and Qing dynasties to refer to Europe and the Atlantic world write in horizontal lines that slant upwards, all using the Latin script. Today, the Imperial Bureau of Astronomy The government office in Beijing responsible for the calendar, where many European Jesuit missionaries were employed possesses books written in the Latin script. These marks resemble bird tracks and spider silk, proceeding from the left to reach the right. This is the second point in which their customs are similar to the ancients.

The Book of Han original: "Ban Shu"; the history of the Western Han dynasty states that from the region of Dayuan An ancient kingdom in the Ferghana Valley, modern-day Uzbekistan/Tajikistan westward to the kingdom of Anxi Parthia, ancient Persia, although the languages differ somewhat, they are largely the same and the people can understand one another. The people there all have deep-set eyes and thick beards. They are a compliant people who are skilled at trading in the markets, where they will haggle over even a fraction of a penny. They honor women; whatever a woman says, the husband then carries out as a decision.

In the modern nations of the Western Ocean, the people are likewise skilled at trade and the pursuit of profit. Family matters are usually decided by the women. They are devoted to their masters and value wealth. A husband has no concubines or secondary wives. The only slight difference from the ancient accounts is that while they have deep-set eyes, they have sparse beards. This is the third point in which their customs are similar.

The lands of the "Great Western Ocean" are those which, in the Book of Han, only the kingdom of Da Qin The name used by ancient Chinese historians for the Roman Empire, later associated with the West in general is grand enough to correspond to. The Book of the Later Han original: "Fan Shu," referring to the history compiled by Fan Ye also refers to Da Qin as the "Kingdom West of the Sea." They use gold and silver for currency, with ten silver coins being equal in value to one gold coin. Their king constantly desired to send envoys to the Han Dynasty, but the kingdom of Anxi (Parthia) wished to trade Han silks original: "zeng cai," referring to fine multicolored silk fabrics with them themselves, and thus prevented direct contact.