Dōngxī yáng kǎo 東西洋考
Treatise on the Eastern and Western Oceans by 張燮 (Zhāng Xiè, 1574–1640) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 12-juan late-Míng monograph on the Eastern and Western Oceans (i.e. the maritime world east and west of the SòngYuánMíng Tōngshāng yáng dividing line at Brunei), completed by Zhāng Xiè 張燮 (1574–1640; zì Shàohé 紹和, hào Hǎibīn yìshǐ 海濱逸史; native of Lóngxī 龍溪 in Zhāngzhōu, Fújiàn) in Wànlì 45 dīngsì (1617), in the Zhūfān zhì tradition of Zhào Rǔshì KR2k0139 but treating only those countries actually engaged in mutual trade with Míng China. Zhāng was a private scholar (bùyī, “in cotton clothes”) commissioned by Lóngxī’s prefectural-level officials to produce the work as a documentary basis for the regulation of the Yuègǎng 月港 (Hǎichéng 海澄) maritime trade, which had been formally re-opened in 1567.
The work is divided as follows:
- Juan 1–4: Xīyáng kǎo — 15 countries west of Borneo (Cochinchina, Champa, Cambodia, Siam, Pahang, Patani, Lugor, Brunei, Macao, Mindanao [Sūlù], Java [Xiàgǎng], Bidor, Lampung, Sumatra [Yāqí], Champa-port [Sūjídān]) plus 4 appended.
- Juan 5: Dōngyáng kǎo — 7 countries east of Borneo (Luzon, Sulu, Brunei, Míluòjū / Maluku, Wénlái / Borneo, Mālǐwù / Mariveles, Sūlú / Jolo) plus 12 appended.
- Juan 6: Wàijì kǎo — Japan and the Hóngmáo fān (Dutch / “Red-Hairs”), neither of which had formal tribute relations.
- Juan 7: Shuìxiǎng kǎo — shuǐbiān (water-side products) + lùbiān (land products) + offices and yamens (4 sub-categories) — the customs-and-tariff regulations for the Yuègǎng port.
- Juan 8: Zhōushī kǎo — nèigǎng shuǐchéng (inland-port routes), èryáng zhēnlù (compass-bearing routes for the two oceans), jìsì (ritual offerings), zhānyàn (omens), shuǐxǐng and shuǐjì (currents), dìngrì èfēng (dangerous winds), cháoxī (tides) — the navigational handbook section.
- Juan 9: Shuìdāng kǎo — the detailed chronology of the Shénzōng era eunuch tax-collector Gāo Cǎi 高寀 and his predations.
- Juan 10–11: Yìwén kǎo — collected literary writings on the maritime world.
- Juan 12: Yìshì kǎo — miscellaneous lost matters.
The Zhōushī kǎo (juan 8) is the most important pre-modern Chinese-language navigational manual, with detailed zhēnlù (compass-bearing routes) for over a hundred sea-routes between Yuègǎng and the various Eastern-and-Western-Ocean ports. The Shuìxiǎng kǎo (juan 7) is the principal source for late-Míng maritime customs administration. The Shuìdāng kǎo (juan 9) is a substantial documentary record of late-Wàn-lì eunuch maladministration in Fújiàn.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: the Dōngxī yáng kǎo in 12 juan is by Zhāng Xiè of Míng. Xiè, zì Shàohé, native of Lóngxī; signed himself Hǎibīn yìshǐ — presumably a bùyī. This work was completed in Wànlì dīngsì (1617); modelled on the example of Sòng Zhào Rǔshì’s Zhūfān zhì KR2k0139, recording only the maritime states with mutual-trade relations. First the Xīyáng kǎo — 15 countries plus 4 appended; next the Dōngyáng kǎo — 7 countries plus 12 appended; next the Wàijì kǎo — for Japan and Hóngmáo fān, who do not pass tribute-emissaries, hence separately treated; next the Shuìxiǎng kǎo — divided into water-side, land-side, officials-and-offices, four sub-categories; next the Zhōushī kǎo — divided into inland-port water-routes, two-ocean compass routes, ritual sacrifices, omens, water-currents, dangerous winds, tides — seven sub-categories; next the Shuìdāng kǎo — recording the Shénzōng era inner-eunuch Gāo Cǎi’s depredations of the country, theft from officials, and harassment of the people, beginning to end most detailed; next the Yìwén kǎo, next the Yìshì kǎo.
The format: for Jiāozhǐ, Zhānchéng, Xiānluó, Pénghēng, Lǚsòng, Sūlù — names that are the same as antiquity — it still uses the ancient names. Others such as: Guāwā is Xiàgǎng; Dōngbùsài is Zhēnlà; Dàní is Bóní (Brunei); Jiùgǎng is Sānfúqí; Máliùjiǎ is Mǎnlàjiā; Yāqí is Sūméndālà; Sījígǎng is Sūjídān; Chímèn is Jílǐdìmèn; Wénlái is Póluó; Māolǐwù is Hélǐlǐ — these all follow the contemporary names, for general reading and easy checking.
For each country, first the yángé (administrative-historical changes); the events mostly come in-and-out of the dynastic histories — for instance: Zhānchéng is ancient Línyì — the Wǔdài shǐ makes it “from antiquity not in contact” — also rather corrected. The general drift is similar to the Míng yītǒng zhì, with slight supplementation from various works; for instance, Mǐnbù shū’s erroneous record of yànwō cài (edible bird’s-nest), or XiǎoGéluó erroneously called Jílándān — all are appended-and-clarified.
Then the maritime-ship trade procedure — all collected from the maritime-master and merchants’ speech, what the histories had not detailed. The Shuìdāng essay speaks of the gains-and-evils most thoroughly; the Zhōushī essay’s shuǐchéng zhēnlù sections are especially close to practical use. Only the Míng dynasty’s control of foreign powers was utterly without method — at peace, schemed by hundreds to fish for profit; at trouble, twisted-and-bent for hasty appeasement; everything to serve as cautionary mirrors. But the closing essays bend the brush in praise. Yet the general text-body is finely arranged and clearly thought out — among Míng-period various works on these matters, this can be called a fine recension. Respectfully proof-read.
Abstract
The Dōngxī yáng kǎo is the most important late-Míng documentary monograph on the South China Sea and on the Yuègǎng (Hǎichéng) maritime trade, by the late-Míng polymath and Lóngxī private scholar Zhāng Xiè 張燮 (1574–1640; CBDB 439144; zì Shàohé 紹和, hào Hǎibīn yìshǐ 海濱逸史, also Xīyuán 西園; native of Lóngxī 龍溪 in Zhāngzhōu, Fújiàn). Zhāng was Wànlì 22 jǔrén (1594) but never took the jìnshì exam, devoting himself to private scholarship and compilation. He was commissioned by Lóngxī’s prefectural-level officials to compile a documentary synthesis of the maritime world serviced by the Yuègǎng port — the principal late-Míng port for legal Chinese maritime trade with Southeast Asia after the 1567 reopening of the hǎijìn — completing the work in Wànlì 45 (1617).
The work is in 12 juan covering: the Western Ocean countries (juan 1–4), the Eastern Ocean countries (juan 5), the Wàijì / outer countries (Japan and the Dutch, juan 6), maritime customs and tariffs (juan 7), the navigational manual (juan 8 — Zhōushī kǎo, the most important pre-modern Chinese sailing-route compendium), the eunuch tax-collector Gāo Cǎi’s predations (juan 9), and yìwén and yìshì (juan 10–12). The Zhōushī kǎo in particular contains over 100 zhēnlù (compass-bearing route) descriptions and is foundational for the historical reconstruction of late-Míng maritime navigation; it has been the principal source for modern studies of late-imperial Chinese seafaring (Joseph Needham, Cao Yanjing, Roderich Ptak, Anthony Reid, etc.).
The work is preserved in Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 594.7).
Translations and research
- Roderich Ptak, “Dongxiyang kao: An Important Source for the Study of Chinese Maritime History in the Early 17th Century,” in Asia Maritima (Wiesbaden, 1994); Ptak’s many subsequent papers on individual chapters of the work.
- Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680, 2 vols. (Yale, 1988–1993). Uses Dōng-xī yáng kǎo extensively.
- John E. Wills, China and Maritime Europe, 1500–1800 (Cambridge, 2010).
- Chen Ching-Ho 陳荊和, Shíqī shìjì zhī Mǎ-liù-jiǎ 十七世紀之馬六甲, comparative.
- Standard Chinese editions: Xiè Fāng 謝方 ed., Dōng-xī yáng kǎo (Beijing: Zhōnghuá, 1981; the standard modern critical edition with extensive apparatus).
- Sūn Quán 孫光圻, Zhōngguó gǔ-dài háng-hǎi shǐ 中國古代航海史 — uses Zhōu-shī kǎo extensively.
- Wilkinson §73.5, §50.5.
Other points of interest
The Zhōushī kǎo (juan 8) is the most extensive surviving pre-modern Chinese sailing-route manual, with quantitative zhēnlù compass-bearing data, gēng (watch) distance-measurements, and harbour descriptions for routes spanning from Yuègǎng to the Persian Gulf. It is one of the principal documentary sources for the historical reconstruction of late-Ming-period Chinese seafaring technology.
Links
- Wikidata: not yet linked
- Xiè Fāng, Dōngxī yáng kǎo (Zhōnghuá, 1981)
- Wilkinson §73.5