Daoyi Zhilüe

Daoyi Zhilüe (simplified Chinese: 岛夷志略; traditional Chinese: 島夷誌略; pinyin: Dǎo Yí Zhì Lüè; Wade–Giles: Tao i chih lio) or Daoyi Zhi (simplified Chinese: 岛夷志; traditional Chinese: 島夷誌; pinyin: Dǎo Yí Zhì; Wade–Giles: Tao i chih)^[1] which may be translated as A Brief Account of Island Barbarians or other similar titles,^[2][3][4][5] is a book written c. 1339 (completed c. 1349)^[6] by Yuan dynasty Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan recounting his travels to over a hundred places in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. The book was written in present-day Sri Lanka. It described the weather, products, people, and customs of the places that Wang Dayuan visited.

The timeline for Wang Dayuan's life and travels is:^[7]

• 1311 - born
• 1330 - sailed for the first time from Quanzhou
• 1334 - returned to Yuan dynasty
• 1337 - sailed for the second time from Quanzhou
• 1339 - returned to Yuan dynasty

The content of the book (known as Dao Yi Zhu) was originally an appendix in a local gazetteer Qing Yuan Xu Zhi ( 清源续志, A Continuation of the History and Topography of Quanzhou) composed by Wu Jian in 1349. According to the Yuan poet Zhang Zhu, Daoyi Zhilüe was re-published in 1350 as an individual travel account.^[8]

Andaya and Andaya write that Dao Yi Zhi Lue provides more information on areas east of the Malay Peninsula than any other Yuan dynasty source.^[9] According to the postscript Wang Dayuan visited all the places described. However, Park notes that 90% of the text is devoted to Southeast Asia and that Wang does not give details of his route and itinerary to West Asia.^[10] However, Deng states that Wang Dayuan's account is consistent with later Ming dynasty accounts of Zheng He's travels.^[11] There is currently no full English translation of the book but the Chinese version is available online.^[12][13] Partial translations however are available.^[14]

See also

• Zhu fan zhi
• Chinese exploration

References

1. Wang Dayuan, Yuan Dynasty. Dao Yi Zhi Lue. Explanation by Su Jiqing. Zhonghua Book Company 1981, 2000, ISBN 7-101-02026-7, In Chinese.（元）汪大渊著《岛夷志略》，苏继庼校释 1981年, 2000年 中华书局，ISBN 7-101-02026-7
2. Morris Rossabi, ed. (30 August 2013). Eurasian Influences on Yuan China. Institute for Southeast Asian Studies. p. 51. ISBN 978-9814459723.
3. Chiu Hsin-Hui (2008). The Colonial 'civilizing Process' in Dutch Formosa: 1624 - 1662. Brill. p. 233. ISBN 978-9004165076.
4. Race and Racism in Modern East Asia: Western and Eastern Construction. Brill. 2014. p. 320. ISBN 9789004237414.
5. "Wang Dayuan". National Library Board Singapore.
6. Rockhill (1915). Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean During the Fourteenth Century, Part II - Introductory Note. p. 62.
7. Wang, Dayuan; Su, Jiqing (2009). Dao Yi Zhi Lue Explanatory Notes 島夷誌略校釋. Beijing: Zhong Hua Shu Ju. p. Intro 10. ISBN 9787101020267.
8. Lee, Meiyu (2014). "Tales of the Dragon's Tooth Strait". BiblioAsia. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
9. Andaya, Barbara; Andaya, Leonard (2014). A History of Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1400-1800. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 20. ISBN 9780521889926.
10. Park, Hyunhee (2012). Mapping the Chinese and Islamic worlds: cross-cultural exchange in pre-modern Asia. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 116. ISBN 9781107018686.
11. Deng, Geng (1999). Maritime sector, institutions, and sea power of premodern China. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 144. ISBN 0313307121.
12. "Dao Yi Zhi Lue 島夷誌略". NTI Reader. NTI Buddhist Text Reader project. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
13. "《島夷志略》". Chinese Text Project.
14. Paul Wheatley (1961). The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula before A.D. 1500. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press. pp. 77–83. OCLC 504030596.

Bibliography

• Rockhill, William Woodville (1914). "Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean During the Fourteenth Century, Part I - I." T'oung Pao. 1: 419–447.
• Rockhill, William Woodville (1915). "Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean During the Fourteenth Century, Part II - Introductory Note". T'oung Pao. 1: 61–159.
• Rockhill, William Woodville (1915). "Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean During the Fourteenth Century, Part II - II. Java and the Eastern Archipelago". T'oung Pao. 1: 236–271.
• Rockhill, William Woodville (1915). "Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coast of the Indian Ocean During the Fourteenth Century, Part II - III. Ceylon and Maldive Islands". T'oung Pao. 1: 374–392.
• Rockhill, William Woodville (1915). "Notes on the relations and trade of China with the eastern archipelago and the coast of the Indian Ocean during the fourteenth century, Part II - IV. Coasts of India". T'oung Pao. 1: 435–467.
• 1330 - Singapore's Early Settlements & Trade - a short documentary about how Singapore was depicted in Wang Dayuan's Daoyi Zhilue, produced for the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019.