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