''Daoyi Zhilüe'' () or ''Daoyi Zhi'' () which may be translated as ''A Brief Account of Island Barbarians'' or other similar titles, is a book written c. 1339 (completed c. 1349) by
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
Chinese traveller
Wang Dayuan Wang Dayuan (, fl. 1311–1350), courtesy name Huanzhang (), was a Chinese traveller of the Yuan dynasty from Quanzhou in the 14th century. He is known for his two major ship voyages.
Wang Dayuan was born around 1311 at Hongzhou (present-day Nan ...
recounting his travels to over a hundred places in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. The book was written in present-day
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. 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:
*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
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 Zhang Zhu (; 1287–1368), courtesy name Zhongju (仲舉), was a Yuan Dynasty poet.
A native of (?), he brought himself into notice by his poetry, and was subsequently employed upon the histories of the Liao, Later Jin, and Song dynasties, rising ...
, ''Daoyi Zhilüe'' was re-published in 1350 as an individual travel account.
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. 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. However, Deng states that Wang Dayuan's account is consistent with later Ming Dynasty accounts of Zheng He's travels. There is currently no full English translation of the book but the Chinese version is available online. Partial translations however are available.
See also
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Zhu fan zhi
''Zhu Fan Zhi'' (), variously translated as '' A Description of Barbarian Nations'', ''Records of Foreign People'', or other similar titles, is a 13th-century Song Dynasty work by Zhao Rukuo. The work is a collection of descriptions of countrie ...
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Chinese exploration Chinese exploration includes exploratory Chinese travels abroad, on land and by sea, from the travels of Han dynasty diplomat Zhang Qian into Central Asia during the 2nd century BC until the Ming dynasty treasure voyages of the 15th century that cr ...
References
Bibliography
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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.
Chinese non-fiction books
1330s books
History books about Sri Lanka
Books about Sri Lankan natural history
Books about Sri Lankan exploration
Primary sources for early Philippine history
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