What limited China's contact with early civilization of India?

Question

Does anyone know the answer to this ?

Answer 1

The Himalayas...

Spanning about the distance from the East coast to the West coast of the U.S.(with mountains up to 29,000'), it was for the most part impassible by any large amount of people, with the exception of a few traders!

Answer 2

I'm not sure exactly what you are considering early civilized Indian, but for a long time The Silk Road was the trade route which brought India and China together (The Silk Road stretched from Rome to China).  Buddhism originated from India and found its way into China via the Silk Road.  At the end of the 10th century, as a result of conquests cut off the trade route between China and India, the great age of the Silks Roads came to an end, having lasted over a 1000 years.  Take a look at "The Open Empire" by Valerie Hansen which takes a look at the history of early China to AD 1600. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Well, you have to know that two thousand years ago, China's size isn't the size it is today. It continually grew throughout the succeeding dynasties up until the Qing Dynasty. Two thousand years ago, China was surrounded by "barbarians" which could possibly be a reason for China's limited contact with India. For example, the Xiongnu in the north was at constant war with China, which prevented China from doing anything up north. This pretty much lasted up until the Tang Dynasty. If look at the Tang China's empire you can see that it stretches westward, which connects to India, allowing safe contact,  which therefore led to the spread of Buddhism throughout China.

Hope this helps, but I think I went off topic a bit.

Answer 4

One factor could be the very large mountain range that separates them.  In ancient times, mountain ranges were barriers akin to oceans today.