A new translation of Part 1 of the Gazetteer of Foreign Lands (Zhufan zhi 諸蕃志, 1225)

via Shao-yun Yang, Denison University, 06 December 2020: A new translation of the Zhufan Zhi, a 13th century Song Dynasty work describing places in Southeast Asia and beyond. This s a great resource and facinating read with updated annotations, especially since the most recent full translation of this work was in 1911.

The Southeast Asia places mentioned are:

1. Jiaozhi (Dai Viet)
2. Zhancheng (Champa)
3. Bintonglong (Panduranga)
4. Zhenla (the Khmer Empire)
5. Dengliumei (Tambralinga)
6. Pugan (Pagan)
7. Sanfoqi (Srivijaya)
8. Danmaling (Tambralinga)
9. Lingyasijia (Langkasuka)
10. Foluoan (possibly Phatthalung)
11. Xintuo (Sunda)
12. Jianbi (possibly Kampar)
13. Lanwuli (Lamuri)
14. Xilan (Sri Lanka)
15. Shepo (Java)
16. Yantuoman (the Andaman Islands)
17. Shahuagong (Zamboanga)
18. The Maluonu (possibly the Maranao)
19. Boni (Borneo)
20. Mayi (Mindoro or Bay)
21. The Three Islands (Palawan and the Calamian Islands)
22. Pulilu (Polillo Island)
23. Liuqiu (Taiwan or Okinawa)
24. The Pisheye (the Visayans)

This is a complete annotated translation of Part 1 of the Zhufan zhi (Gazetteer of Foreign Lands), an early thirteenth-century ethnographic and geographical description of nearly sixty foreign countries known to the Chinese through maritime trade relations, as well as a couple of imaginary countries that appear to be based on Arab myths.

The Zhufan zhi deserves to be more widely known and studied as a source for medieval Chinese geographical knowledge and perceptions of the outside world. I hope that this new translation will make it accessible and useful to a new generation of researchers.

Source: A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands