"Records of the Southwest Barbarian Kingdom: Zheng He's Maritime Charts and Two Sea Routes Manuals"

Author: (Ming) Gong Zhen, annotated by Xiang Da
Publisher:
Publication Date:
Features: The Records of Western States is one of the earliest documents recording Zheng He's voyages to the West. The author participated in Zheng He's fleet and documented the conditions of 20 countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia, making it a valuable historical source for maritime history and the history of Sino-foreign exchanges. It is now annotated and compiled based on the only surviving manuscript, the Zhi Sheng Dao Zhai copy, with nine related articles appended. Zheng He's Maritime Charts were compiled in the late Ming Dynasty based on the compass logs used during Zheng He's voyages. They include over 500 place names encountered during the voyages, making them China's earliest maritime charts. They are now reduced from the original prints and accompanied by a place name index indicating their current locations. Two Compass Logs include Windward and Leeward Directions and Correct Methods of the South Pointing Compass. Originally used by sailors in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties for long-distance ocean navigation, they are a precious historical source for maritime research. An index of place names is appended at the end.