The Indian literature is of little help beyond establishing that voyages did take place. The writers are story tellers rather than keepers of records; dates, ports of call, etc. are a minor consideration in tales of glory and spiritual inspiration. One would think that commercial interests were beneath them. Chinese records, on the other hand, picture the Chinese missions as strictly business affairs. They note all the points that would be useful to ship captains and traders on future trips to these strange countries. Although the presence of Buddha images among tribute gifts is recorded, only in the biographies of noted monks dose one find evidence that trading groups were frequently joined by persons on a purely religious mission. As Soper points out more than once, Chinese lay historians (usually Confucian scholars) were biased against Buddhism and tended to ignore it.