Table Of ContentMapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds
Long before Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope en route
to India, the peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia engaged in
vigorous cross-cultural exchanges across the Indian Ocean. This book
focuses on the years 700 to 1500, a period when powerful dynasties
governed both the Islamic and Chinese regions, to document the rela-
tionship between the two worlds before the arrival of the Europeans.
Through a close analysis of the maps, geographic accounts, and trav-
elogues compiled by both Chinese and Islamic writers, the book traces
the development of major contacts between people in China and the
Islamic world and explores their interactions on matters as varied as
diplomacy, commerce, mutual understanding, world geography, nav-
igation, shipbuilding, and scientii c exploration. When the Mongols
ruled both China and Iran in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
their geographic understanding of each other’s society increased mark-
edly. This rich, engaging, and pioneering study offers glimpses into the
worlds of Asian geographers and mapmakers, whose accumulated wis-
dom underpinned the celebrated voyages of European explorers like
Vasco da Gama.
Hyunhee Park is an assistant professor of history at CUNY John
Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, where she teaches
Chinese history, global history, and justice in the non-Western tradi-
tion. She currently serves as an assistant editor of the academic journal
Crossroads – Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East
Asian World .
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For my parents
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Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds
Cross-Cultural Exchange in
Pre-modern Asia
HYUNHEE PARK
City University of New York
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© H yunhee Park 2 012
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2012
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data
Park, Hyunhee, 1972–
Mapping the Chinese and Islamic worlds : cross-cultural exchange in
pre-modern Asia / Hyunhee Park.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-107-01868-6 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. China – Civilization – 960–1644. 2. Islamic
Empire – Civilization. 3. China – Relations – Islamic Empire. 4. Islamic
Empire – Relations – China. 5. Discoveries in geography – History – To
1500. 6. Cartography – History – To 1500. I. Title.
DS750.72.P37 2012
303.48′251017670902–dc23 2012015544
ISBN 978-1-107-01868-6 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs
for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not
guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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Contents
List of Maps and Illustrations page vi
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xiii
Timeline xvii
Glossary of Chinese Characters xix
Note on Transliteration xxv
Introduction 1
1. F rom Imperial Encounter to Maritime Trade: Chinese
Understanding of the Islamic World, 750–1260 20
2. T he Representation of China and the World: Islamic
Knowledge about China, 750–1260 56
3. I nterpreting the Mongol World: Chinese Understanding of
the Islamic World, 1260–1368 91
4. B eyond Marco Polo: Islamic Knowledge about China,
1260–1368 124
5. L egacy from Half the Globe before 1492: Chinese
Understanding of the Islamic World and Islamic Knowledge
about China, 1368–1500 161
Conclusion: Lessons from Pre-modern Sino-Islamic Contact 191
Notes 2 03
Works Cited 243
Index 2 69
v
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Maps and Illustrations
Maps
1 . China and the Islamic World, circa 800 page xxvi
2 . China and the Islamic World, circa 1340 x xvii
3 . China and the Islamic World, circa 1420 xxviii
Figures
0.1. A l-Idrı s ı ’ s map of the world (1154) 3
0.2. T he Map of Integrated Regions and Terrains and of
Historical Countries and Capitals (1402) 4
1.1. A rchaeological sites containing Chinese ceramics dated
8th–10th centuries 3 0
1.2. T he route from Guangzhou to foreign countries as
envisioned by Jia Dan (circa 800) 3 1
1.3. I nk-line sketch of T he Tracks of Yu (top) and
The Map of Chinese and Non-Chinese Territories
(bottom) (1136) 36
1.4. T he “Map of the States in the Western Regions in the
Han Dynasty” (top) and the “Map of the Five Indian
States in the West” (bottom) (circa 1270) 3 9
1.5. T he “Geographic Map of the Land of China to the
East” (circa 1270) 42
1.6. T he i ve great seas described by Zhou Qufei (1178) 4 9
2.1. T he seven seas described by al-Masʿ ū d ı (circa 947) 7 2
2.2. Al-Is t akhr ı ’ s world map (10th century) 74
2.3. Al-Bı ru ̄ nı ’s sketch of the distribution of
land and sea (1029) 7 9
vi
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Maps and Illustrations vii
2.4. Al-Idrı s ı ’ s map of the world with place-names (top),
and the sectional maps put together (bottom) (1154) 8 5
3.1. F our Khanates of the Mongol Empire (top); a
geographical map from T he Encyclopedia of Yuan
Dynasty Institutions (circa 1330) 101
3.2. T he Kangnido (1402) with place-names 1 04
3.3. C omparing depictions of the Mountains of the Moon
Al-Khwa rizmı ’s picture of the Nile (left); a depiction in
al-Idr ı s ı ’ s world map (top, right); and a depiction in the
Kangnido (bottom, right) 106
3.4. “ Map of the World’s Regions” (1360) 108
4.1. A l-Qazw ı n ı ’s sketch of the distribution of land and sea
(late 13th century) 130
4.2. C omparison of H a md Alla h Mustawfı al-Qazw ı n ı ’s
map of the Iranian-Turkestan area (circa 1330) and
the geographical map from T he Encyclopedia of Yuan
Dynasty Institutions (circa 1330) 143
4.3. H a md Alla h Mustawf ı ’ s world map (circa 1330) 145
4 .4. The world map of Caliph al-Maʾ mu ̄ n from Ibn Fad l alla h
al-ʿ Umarı (1301–1349) 149
5.1. T he Comprehensive Map of the Great Ming Empire
(14–15th centuries) 164
5.2. T he “Map of Foreign Lands in Southeast Sea” (right)
and the “Map of Foreign Lands in Southwest Sea”
(left) (1541) 166
5.3. R econstructed sea charts of Zheng He’s maritime route
in Mao Yuanyi, The Treatise of Military Preparation
(circa 1621) 173
5.4. S tar charts from the Zheng He sea charts. The i rst page
(right) and the fourth page (left) 175
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Acknowledgments
This book covers a wide scope of time and space, and it utilizes special-
ized knowledge of geography that could never have been studied without
the generous support of numerous people. My deepest gratitude goes i rst
to Valerie Hansen of Yale University, who inspired and guided me through
my PhD dissertation, the initial study from which this book stemmed.
Beatrice Gruendler has provided unfailing advice and encouragement
throughout the journey of learning Arabic and Islamic scholarship. I was
also fortunate to receive guidance from Jonathan Spence, whose valuable
suggestions, insights, and warm encouragement throughout my years at
Yale have enriched my thoughts and motivated my passion for studying
history as a guide for life. Morris Rossabi of CUNY Queens College has
been an equally inspiring mentor for my study of this challenging topic,
the Mongol empire, and provided me with exceptional advice and sup-
port for turning the dissertation into a book.
Several colleagues read my manuscript closely and gave me valuable
feedback on specii c details, including those in Persian sources that I was
not yet able to read in the original. These include Morris Rossabi, Ralph
Kauz of Universitä t Bonn, Muhammad B. Vosoughi of Tehran University,
Peter Bol of Harvard University, and Qiu Yihao of Peking University. I
also thank the two anonymous readers for the Press, whose suggestions,
corrections, and bibliographic help saved me from many embarrassing
mistakes. The responsibility for any remaining gaffes and blunders is
entirely my own.
I would also like to thank many other scholars who read parts of
my book or dissertation manuscript and gave me important advice and
comments; special mention is due for their generous support and sharing
ix
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