Exhibition reveals ancient cultural links

Events provide opportunity to bolster understanding among nations

In 1409, before Chinese admiral Zheng He led his large fleet to distant shores, he asked artisans to make a carved-stone stele in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

The stele traveled with the flotilla and was left in Sri Lanka as a gift to a local Buddhist temple. Praises for deities in three languages - Chinese, Persian and Tamil - were carved on the stele.