Gan Ying (甘英) was a Chinese military ambassador who was sent on a mission to Rome in 97 CE by the Chinese general Ban Chao. He was part of Ban Chao's expeditionary force of 70,000, which had travelled as far west as the Caspian Sea.

Although Gan Ying probably never reached Rome, he is, at least in historical records, the Chinese who went the farthest west during antiquity.

According to the Hou Hanshu, the Chinese history of the later Han dynasty (25-220 CE):

"In the ninth year (97 CE), Ban Chao dispatched his adjutant Gan Ying all the way to the coast of the Western Sea and back. Former generations had never reached any of these places, nor has the Shanhai Jing given any details of them. He made a report on the customs and topography of all these states." (Hou Hanshu, cited in Leslie and Gardiner).

Gan Ying left an account on Rome (Daqin in Chinese), which may have relied on second-hand sources. He locates it to the west of the sea:

"Its territory is covers several thousand li (a li is around half a kilometer), it has over 400 walled cities. Several tens of small states are subject to it. The outer walls of the cities are made of stones. They have established posting stations... There are pines and cypresses." (Hou Hanshu, cited in Leslie and Gardiner).

He also describes the Roman practise of democracy, their physical appearance and riches:

"As for the king, he is not a permanent figure but is chosen as the man most worthy... The people in this country are tall and regularly featured. They resemble the Chinese, and that is why the country is called Da Qin (The "Great" Qin)... The soil produced lots of gold, silver and rare jewels, including the jewel which shines at night.. they sew embroidered tissues with gold threads to form tapestries and damask of many colors, and make a gold-painted cloth, and a "cloth washed-in-the-fire" (asbestos)." (Hou Hanshu, cited in Leslie and Gardiner).

Finally Gan Ying determines Rome correctly as the main pole at the western end of the Silk Road:

"It is from this country that all the various marvellous and rare objects of foreign states come." (Hou Hanshu, cited in Leslie and Gardiner).

References

• "The Roman Empire in Chinese sources", Leslie and Gardiner, Rome, Bardi, 1996
• "The Silk Road", Frances Wood, University of California Press, ISBN 0520243404