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]

References

^ 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
^ Morris Rossabi, ed. (30 August 2013). Eurasian Influences on Yuan China. Institute for Southeast Asian Studies. p. 51. ISBN 978-9814459723.
^ Chiu Hsin-Hui (2008). The Colonial 'civilizing Process' in Dutch Formosa: 1624 - 1662. Brill. p. 233. ISBN 978-9004165076.
^ Race and Racism in Modern East Asia: Western and Eastern Construction. Brill. 2014. p. 320. ISBN 9789004237414.
^ "Wang Dayuan". National Library Board Singapore.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Lee, Meiyu (2014). "Tales of the Dragon's Tooth Strait". BiblioAsia. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
^ Andaya, Barbara; Andaya, Leonard (2014). A History of Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1400-1800. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 20. ISBN 9780521889926.
^ 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.
^ Deng, Geng (1999). Maritime sector, institutions, and sea power of premodern China. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 144. ISBN 0313307121.
^ "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.
^ "《島夷志略》". Chinese Text Project.
^ 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.