MA RUAN

YING- YAI SHENG:.LAN

'THE OVERALL SURVEY OF
THE OCEAN'S SHORES'

Translatedfrom .the Chinese text

edited by Feng' C'h' eng~Chiin
with introduction, notes and
appendices by

J. V. G. MILLS
formerly Puisne Judge
Straits Settlements

CAMBRIDGE
?ublished for the Hakluyt Society
A T THE UNIVE.RSITY ,PRESS

CONTENTS
List of illustrations and maps

page ix

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments

xiv

Editorial notes

xv

INTRODUCTION

Cheng Ho and his expeditions

Life of Cheng H 0
B
Outline of the expeditions
C
The first expedition, 1405-7
D
The second expedition, 1407-9
E
The third expedition, 1409-11
F
Thefourth expedition, 1413-15 (Ma Huan'sfirst voyage)
G
Thefifth expedition, 1417-19
H
The sixth expedition, 1421-2( Ma Huan's second voyage)
The seventh expedition, 1431-3 (Ma Huan's thirdyoyage)
places
visited hy Cheng Ho
J
K
Cheng Ho's routes
L
Cheng Ho's ships
M Personnel
N
Retrospect
A

Ma Huan and his book

Life of Ma Huan
B
Extant versions of the' Ying-yai sheng-Ian'
C
The ' Ying-yai sheng-Ian'
(i) Contents
(ii) The importance of the work
D
Other contemporary sources
A

5
8

10
II
II

12
13
14
14
19
22
27
31
33

34
37
41
41
44

55

T RANSLATION OF THE DOCUMENTS IN THE 'YING-YA I

SHENG-LAN CHIAO-CHU,' 'THE OVERALL SURVEY OF THE
OCEAN'S SHORES ANNOTATED' BY FENG CH'ENG-CHUN

Ma Huan's foreword of 1416

M aChing's foreword of 1444

71

vii

Contents
Poem commemorating the journey

page 73

Names of the foreign countries

76

The overall survey of the ocean's shores annotated

The country of Chan City [' Champa', Central Vietnam]
The country of Chao-wa [java]
The country of Old Haven [Palembang]
The country of Hsien Lo [Siam, Thailand]
The country of Man-la-chia [Malacca]
The country of Ya-lu [' Aru', Deli]
The country of Su-men-ta-la [' Semudera', Lho Seumawe]
The country of Li-tai [' Lide', Meureudu]
The country of Nan-p' o-li [' Lambri', Ageh]
The country of Hsi-lan [Ceylon]
The country of the naked people [Nicobar and Andaman islands]
The country of Little Ko-Ian [Quilon]
The country of Ko-chih [Cochin]
The country of Ku-li [Calicut]
The country of Liu mountains [Maldive and Laccadive islands]
The country of Tsu-fa-erh [Dhufar]
The country of A-tan [Aden]
The country of Pang-ko-la [Bengal]
The country of Hu-lu-mo-ssu [Hormuz'l
The country of the heavenly square [Mecca]
Ku P'o's afterword of 1451 (?)

77
86
98
102
108

II4
I I

122
122
124
124

130
132
137
146
151

154
159
165
173
179

APPENDICES

China in Southern Asia, 1433

The Mao K'un Map
Miscellaneous notes on ships, seamanship, navigation, and
cognate matters
4 The location of Lung ya strait
5 The voyage from Kuala Pasai to Beruwala
6 Four stellar diagrams
7 The location of La-sa
8 The earliest European rutter of the voyage from Malacca to China
2
3

Bibliography

181
236
303
3I I
329
335
347
349
352

Index

viii

EDITORIAL NOTES
I. GENERAL

Astronomy
Pei ch'en star. The Pole Star. Polaris (Alpha of Ursa Minor). Arab al-Jah
(Gah). Declination +89 06'.
Hua kai star. Perhaps 50 of Cassiopeia. Declination +72 15'. The
Chinese reckoned that when the altitude of Pei ch' en was I finger, that of
Hua kai was 8 fingers; and the Arabs reckoned that when the altitude of
al-Jah was I finger, that of al-Farqadan was 8 fingers; thus the altitude of
Hua kai was the same as that of al-Farqadan (Beta of Ursa Minor, declination
+74 17', and Gamma of Ursa Minor, declination + 71 57'). One finger
(Chinese chih, Arab isha) represented an angle of 1 36' 25". One chiieh
(,fraction') probably represented an angle of 24' 06". To find the approximate latitude of a place, 3 30' must be added to the altitude of Polaris at that
place in the fifteenth century. I
Capital
The capital of China was removed from Nanking

to

Peking in

1421.2

Compass
On the Chinese compass 24 named points were marked to divide the circle
of 360 into 24 parts of 1 5 each; by combining the names of two contiguous
points, the circle was further divided into 48 parts of
each.3

7"r

Country of origin
All articles found in a country, irrespective of their real origin, are described
by Chinese writers as products of that country.4
I Compare G. Ferrand, Instructions nautiques et routiers arabes et portugais des XV"
et XVI" siecles, vol. III (Paris, 1928), pp. 154-5, 165, n. I; Ferrand, Relations de voyages
et textes geographiques arabes, persans et turks relatiJs a l'Extreme-orient du VIlle au
XVIII" siecles (Paris, vol. 1,1913; vol. II, 1914), p. 532; appendix 3, Miscellaneous notes
on ships, seamanship, navigation, and cognate matters; appendix 6, Four stellar diagrams.
2 P. Pelliot, 'Notes additionnelles sur Tcheng Houo et sur ses voyages', T'oung Pao,
vol. XXXI (1935), p. 289, n. I. (Hereafter referred to as 'Notes'.)
3 Ferrand, Instructions, vol. III, pp. 44, n. 1 and 58, n. I.
4 W. P. Groeneveldt, 'Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca', in Miscellaneous Papers relating to Indo-China and the Indian Archipelago, Second Series, vol. I,
ed. R. Rost (London, 1887), p. 174, n.

xv

Editorial notes
Dates

The period considered in this study is from 1403 .to 1433. The dates given
for the imperial reigns are those of the 'year-periods', unless otherwise
stated. I Frequently the 'year-period' began at the next New Year after
accession; for individual cases see Philips.2
The emperors of China in this period were: Ch'eng-tsu (Yung-lo),
140},-24; Jen-tsung (Hung-hsi), 1425; Hsiial1-tsung (Hsiian-te), 1426-35.
Ma Huan accompanied Cheng Ho's fourth, sixth, and seventh expeditions.3
His observations are referred to the year 1433, unless otherwise indicated.
His book was probably published in 1451.4
Apparent inconsistencies in dating a traveller's book may be due to the
fact that reference is sometimes made to the date of observation, sometimes
to the date of recording, and sometimes to the date of publication. s
Terminology

, Mile': sea-mile, and distances are measured along the course probably
followed. 'Southern Asia': Asia south of latitude 27 03' N (Hormuz). 'The
Central Country': China.
Values

The present value of gold is taken as 12 lOS. an ounce Troy. The present
value of silver is taken as 9s. 4d. an ounce Troy.
Weights and measures

(The fractions are carried to the last appropriate figure; omission of later
figures sometimes leads to apparent errors in calculation.)
Weight 6
10

hu

10 SSU

I SSU

hao

(0'00037 gramme or 0'005 grain)

(o'ooF gramme or 0'05 grain)

I See Rev. Pere P. Hoang, Concordance des chronologies neomeniques Chinoise et

Europeene. Varietes Sinologiques no. 29 (Shanghai, 1910).
2 C. H. Philips (ed.), Handbook of Oriental History (London, 1951), pp. 201-14.
' 3 P. Pelliot, 'Les grands voyages maritimes chinois au debut du XVe siecle', T'oung
Pao,:vol. xxx (1933), p. 263. (Hereafter referred to as 'Voyages'.)
4 PeUiot, 'Voyages', p. 264.
5 Compare H. Yule and A. C. Burnell, Hobson-Jobson (new ed., London, 1903)
p. xxvi.
6 (Ming) I liang equalled 37'30 grammes (Wu Ch'eng-lo, p. 60). In full, I liang
equalled 575'626655 grains or 1'199195 ounces troy or 1'315571 ounces avoirdupois.
I gramme equals 15'43235 ' grains or 0'03215 ounce troy or 0'03527 ounce avoirdupois.
A liang is sometimes called 'ounce', a chin is sometimes called 'catty' (kati), and 100
catties make I picul.

xvi

Editorial notes
10 hao =
10 Ii
_=
10 fen
=
10 ch'ien =
16 liang

I
I
I

= I

Ii
(0'037 gramme or 0'57 grain or .0'001 19 ounce troy)
fen
(0'37 gramme or 5.'75 grains or 0'0119 ounce troy)
ch'ien (3'73 gra'mmes or 57'56 grains or 0'.1 19 ounce troy)
liang . (37'30 grammesor 575'62 grains or 1'19 ounces troy
or 1'31 ounces avoirdupois)
chin
(596'80 grammes or 9210'02 grains or 19'18 ounc~s
troy or 1'31 pounds avoirdupois)

Capacityl

ko

10 sheng

10

sheng (1'07litres or 1'88 pints)

Itou (10'737 litres or 2'36 gallons)

Length 2
(a)

fen (0'31 centimetre or 0'12 inch)

ts'un (3'11 centimetres or 1'22 inches)
10 ts'un = I ch'ih (31'10 centimetres or 12'24 inches)
10 ch'ih = I chang (3'11 metres or 10 feet 2 inches)
(h) I Ii in theory equalled 612'20 yards,3 but in practice varied at differen~
times and places,
10

Ii

10 fen

II, LINGUISTIC

Transliteration
The Wade-Giles system is used for transliterating Chinese words, except
that chio is replaced by chiieh, ch'io by ch'iieh, hsio by hSiieh, yo by yiieh,
andyi by i,
Nomenclature
The main rules of the P,C,G,N. (Permanent Committee on Geographical
Names) Principles employed in British Admiralty Hydrographic publications since 1954:
(a) The names of countries are spelled in accordance with English conventional usage;
(h) The approved names of places and administrative divisions in a state
are those adopted by the supreme administering authority concerned with
that state;
I (Ming) I sheng equalled 1'0737litres (Wu Ch'eng-lo, p, 58), In full, I sheng equalled
1'88949726 pints, I litre equals 1'75980 pints, A sheng is sometimes called 'pint', a tou
is sometimes called 'peck'.
2 (Ming) I ch'ih equalled 31'10 centimetres (Wu Ch'eng-lo, p, 54), In full, I ch'ih
equalled 12' 24407 inches, I centimetre equals 0'3937 inch, A ts'un is sometimes called
'inch', a ch'ih is sometimes called 'foot',
3 I Ii equalled 1,800 ch'ih (Giles, No, 6870),

xvii

Editorial notes

(c) The official names of places in China are rendered in Roman letters in
accordance with the Wade-Giles system subject to minor modifications. I
Conventions used for the romani{ation of Chinese
(a) Book titles
Current academic convention is followed throughout. Capital letters are
used only for the initial letter of the first word of the title, and for proper
names. Hyphens are used to indicate word groupings containing single ideas.
(h) Names ofpersons
Again, current academic convention is followed throughout. Capitals are
used for the initial letter of a patronym, and for the initial letter of the first
syllable of a given name only. The syllables of a given name are linked by a
hyphen. For example: Feng Ch'eng-chiin, Ma Huan, Wang Ta-yiian, and
so on.
(c) Names ofplaces and stars, of Chinese origin
Capitals are ordinarily used only for the initial letter of the first syllable. In
order to indicate Chinese origin, hyphens are omitted throughout (a departure
from current academic practice). Capitals are used for medial syllables when it
is clear that these syllables are full proper names. For example: Chia Wu hsii.
(d) Place-names whiciz are apparently Cizinese transliterations of originals in
other Asian languages
If the syllables cannot be understood with reasonable certainty, a capital is
used only for the initial letter of the first syllable, and the syllables are not
hyphened. For example: Ya shu tsai chi. If the syllables can be understood
with reasonable certainty, a capital is used for the initial letter of each name,
and the syllables of each name are hyphened. For example: P'ang-chia
Shih-Ian, 'Panga Sinan'.
Glossaries
Geographical terms 2
English
Bay
Cape
Island

Chinese
Wan
Tsui
Hsii

Mountain
River

Shan
Chiang

In
Vietnam
Vung
Mui
Hon,
Culao
Nui
Song

Thai
Ao
Hlaem, etc.
Koh, etc.

Peninsular
Malay
Telok
Tanjong
Pulau

Khao, etc.
Maenam

Gunong
Sungei

Arahic
Ghubbat
Ras
Gezira,
J azirat, etc.
Jabal, Gebel
Nahr

China Sea Pilot, vol. III (2nd ed., London, 1954), pp. xv-xvi.
See China Sea Pilot, vol. I (2nd ed., London, 195 I), pp. ix-xii; Red Sea and Gulf
of Aden Pilot (loth ed., London, 1955), pp. ix-xii.
I

xviii

Editorial notes
Chinese territorial designations l

Fu. Prefecture. The largest division of a province.

T'ing. Sub-prefecture. A sub-division of a prefecture".
Chou. Department. A division ranking below a sub-prefecture and above
a district.
Hsien. District. The lowest sub-division of a province.
Wei. Military district (5,600 men).
So. Military station (r,12o men).
Chinese terms having no true English equivalent
Chiang chen aromatic. Laka-wood, the scented wood of Dalbergia parviflora Roxb. 2
Ko bean. An edible bean, Pachyrhi{us Thunbergianus. 3
Lung yen fruit. Longan, Nephelium longana Camb. 4
Po-ho weight. Bahar, a weight of about 400 pounds avoirdupois, but

varying at different times, in different places, and for different commodities. 5

Su lign-aloes. A fragrant wood yielded by several species of the genus
Aquilaria. 6
I G. M. H. Playfair, The Cities and Towns of China (Shanghai, 1910), pp. viii-x;
E. O. Reischauer and J. K. Fairbank, East Asia: The Great Tradition (London, 1961),
P3 01 .
Z P. Wheatley, 'Geographical Notes on some Commodities involved in Sung
Maritime Trade', Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol.
XXXII, pt. 2 (1959), p. 119.
3 Pelliot, 'Voyages', p. 391.
4 Pelliot, 'Voyages', p. 434.
5 C. R. Boxer, South China in the Sixteenth Century (London, 1953), p. 128, n. I .
6 Wheatley, 'Commodities', pp. 69, 71.

XIX

MA HUAN'S FOREWORD OF 1416 1

....
FOREWORDZ

I once looked at [a book called] A Record ofthe Islands and their Baroarians,3
which recorded variations of season and of climate, and differences in
topography and in peoples. I was surprised and said' How can there be such
dissimilarities in the world?'
In the eleventh year of the Yung-Io Iperiod],4 [the cyclic year] kuei-ssu,s
The Grand Exemplar The Cultured Emperor6 issued an imperial order that
the principal envoy the grand eunuch Cheng Ho should take general
command of the treasure-ships7 and go to the various foreign 8 countries in the
Western Ocean9 to read out the imperial commands and to bestow rewards.
I too was sent in a subordinate capacity as a translator of foreign documents. IO I followed the [mission] wherever it went,Il over vast expanses of
huge waves for I do not know how many millions of Ii; I passed through the
various countries, with their [different] seasons, climates, topography, and
This title does not appear in Feng's book.
Literally, 'Notice'. A rendering of this Foreword was published by Rockhill,
Part II, p. 72. The Foreword is wanting in both the Paris example of S and in the
Peking National Library example of K; Feng introduced some readings from his
example of S and from an anonymous MS called 'San pao cheng -i chi',' Collected
[Accounts] of San pao's Conquests of the Barbarians', now known only through a
notice; see Pelliot, 'Encore', p. 2II.
3 Tao-i chih; that is, the Tao-i chih-lueh, 'A Synoptical Account of the Islands and
their Barbarians' (1350) of Wang Ta-yiian; many extracts from this book were published by Rockhill, Part II, p. 61.
4 The' reign-title' or 'year-period' of the emperor whose' temple-name' T'ai-tsung
was changed to Ch'eng-tsu in 1)38.
.
5 1413.
6 T'ai-tsung Wen Huang-ti, the Yung-lo emperor's posthumous title conferred on
2 October 1424; Ma Huan must have amended this Foreword which he originally
wrote in 1416 (Pelliot, 'Voyages', p. 257).
7 A technical term for the ships of the imperial fleets despatched by the Yung-lo and
Hsiian-te emperors '(for fetching) precious stones from the western ocean' (Pelliot,
'Voyages', p. 255, n. 1; Duyvendak, 'Dates', p. 388).
8 Ma Huan uses 'foreign' in three senses, (a) as here, non-Chinese, (b) pertaining to
the country which he is describing, (c) pertaining to countries other than that which he
is describing; but the context allows the sense to be understood without difficulty.
9 Here a vague description for what the Chinese then regarded as 'The West' in
general, that is, the part of the world west of the South China Sea (Pao Tsen-peng,
pp. 32-3).
10 Presumably Ma Huan had a knowledge of the Arabic script.
II Thus Ma Huan's first voyage was made with Cheng Ho's fourth expedition of
14 13- 15.
1