In my search for the spread of Sanatana Dharma, Hinduism, the material for China is hard to come by.

Considering the fact that the route for travel from and to from Bharatavarsha had taken place in the South,South East,West and North West and due East,

Remains of Sanatana Dharma have been found in all the countries of the world(Including China, though it is quite meagre when compared to the other countries),

Sanatana Dharma was well entrenched in South East Asia and is present there even today,

in the Southeastern countries, Buddhism, which is closely associated with Hinduism is present,

Tamil and Sanskrit texts mention China as a part of Bharata Varsha,

Lord Nataraja was considered as the Protector of Buddhism(!)

Shiva worship was present in ancient China,

So was Murugan, Subrahmanya worship,

it was only a matter of time and luck I could get hold on information that the Tamils were associated with China.

That, too a Shiva Idol was consecrated by the Firman of Kublai Khan himself.

We also find epigraph in Tamil in China.

Bilingual (Tamil & Chinese) inscription in China dated Saka era 1203 (1281 CE) Mentions the erection of deity Thirukkaniccuramudaiyar by one Sambandapperumal for the well being of Chinese emperor Cekacaikan Parman

The Story.

          This Tamil Language inscription was found in China.

                It was found about 500 miles north of Canton, in a place called Chuan Chou. This is a port city. It was an important port city in the ancient times also.

‘Normally, the Tamils used to sail to Ta Kua Pa in the west coast of Thailand.
                They would then take an overland journey across the Isthmus of Kra to other ports like Nakon SiTammarat or Songkla. These ports were on the east coast of Thailand. From there they would sail on to one of the ports of present day Vietnam. Then they would sail northwards to Canton.

                A straight sail would be a longer distance which would take them across the Bay of Bengal, Straits of Malacca, Gulf of Siam, and South China Sea. They would have to sail around the Malay Peninsula. This would have increased their journey by more than a thousand miles and would have taken up several more months.

                Apart from Canton, the Tamils had gone to other places also and
established their own colonies. The merchant guilds like ‘Thisai Aayiraththu AinnuuRRuvar’ was very active around this part of the world.

                In Chuan Chou, there was a Sivan Temple. In that temple, an image of Siva was consecrated under the ‘Firman’ – royal orders of ‘Sekasai Khan’.
                This was done for the health of ‘Sekasai Khan’.
                ‘Sekasai Khan’ in this inscription is the name of Kublai Khan himself.
                His full name was Kublai Sekcen Khan.
                Sekcen Khan became Sekasai Khan in Tamil.
                The Sivan Temple was known as ThiruKathaleesvaram and the Lord of the temple was known as ThiruKathaleesvaram udaiya Naayanaar.
                The person who executed the order was Thava ChakkaravarththikaL Sampandha PerumaL.
                It was done on the Chithra Paurnami day of Saka Era 1203 – 1281 AD.

                This was during the rule of Kublai Khan who came to power in 1260 and ruled until 1294 AD.

Kublai Khan.

CitSeptember 23, 1215 – February 18, 1294), born Kublai (Mongolian: Хубилай, Xubilaĭ; Middle Mongolian: Qubilai; Chinese: 忽必烈; pinyin: Hūbìliè, Turkish: Kubilay Han; also spelled Khubilai) and also known by the temple name Shizu (Emperor Shizu of Yuan; Chinese: 元世祖; pinyin: Yuán Shìzǔ; Wade–Giles: Yüan Shih-tsu), was the fifth Khagan (Great Khan) of the Mongol Empire(Ikh Mongol Uls), reigning from 1260 to 1294. He also founded the Yuan dynasty in China in 1271, a division of the Mongol Empire, and ruled as the first Yuan emperor until his death in 1294.ation.

Text, Images,

Research by VIDYALANKARA
DR.S.JAYABARATHI

http://www.visvacomplex.com/Tamil_Inscription_Of_China.html

http://www.tnarch.gov.in/epi/ins2.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kublai_Khan

Please refer my posts.

Chinese descendants of Pururava,

Tamil ancestors of Chinese,Shiva Chief Deity,

Murugan In China, Natarja Protector of Buddhism