Chinese ships added as illustration only


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Jia Dan Hainei Huayi tu (Map of Chinese &
Barbarian Lands within the four seas) (801)
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The Hua Yi Tu (華夷圖, Map of China and the Barbarian Countries) is a map engraved as a stone stele in 7th year of Fuchang era (1136 CE). It is the earliest surviving map of China that relates China with other foreign states. The map of China is surrounded by blocks of texts, which references back to the map of Jia Dan (scholar and cartographer) called Hainei Huayi Tu (Map of China and the Barbarian Countries within the Seas) presented to Emperor Dezong of Tang in 801.

 

Taken from: Philip Snow: The Star Raft.

                    Zhang Jun-yan, Relations between China and the Arabs in early times

                    Journal of Oman Studies

                   A History of Overseas Chinese in Africa To 1911 by Li Anshan

This information is preserved in the Xin Tang Shu (New History of the Tang)

There is a description of  the sea route from Canton (Guangzhou) to Baghdad, via Singapore and the Malacca straits, the Nicobar islands
and the Indian Ocean, Ceylon and India, and finally the Arabian sea and the Euphrates at which point the journey was completed by land. 
He also wrote about a sailing route which could be taken to the Persian Gulf from a place called Sanlan in the extreme south-west of Arabia,
twenty days voyage from the nearest settlements to the north.
As he gives 90 days for the journey from Canton to Arabia, this place "Sanlan" must be very remote and on the East African coast. Newer
translations give Aden or Zeila as Samran. Also often Dar es Salaam is mentioned (Salaam = Sanlan). But it only existed as a village before western colonization and nothing archaeological was found.

We traveled two hundred miles through Guangzhou Southeast Sea and arrived at Tun Men Shang. We then sailed westbound …………  After travelling westwards for a day, we arrived at the Wuci (1) Kingdom where the Folici River (2) of the Dashi (3) Kingdom entered the sea where it heads south. We then took small boats upstream, and in two days reached Moluoguo (13), an important city of the Dashi. Further north-west by land we travelled a thousand li (14) and reached Fudacheng (5), the city which King Maomen (4) made his capital. Entering from the south of Poluomen (Brahman) (6), between the Meilai (7) Kingdom and the Wuci (1) Kingdom, we traveled along the east side of the sea. The area up to the west of the west coast all belonged to the Dashi (3) Kingdom. Its southwest tip was called the Sanlang (8) Kingdom. Traveling northbound from the Sanlang Kingdom for twenty days, passing through over ten small kingdoms, we arrived at the She (9) Kingdom. We then travelled another ten days, passing through six or seven small kingdoms and arrived at the Sayiquheje (10) Kingdom, which was on the west side of the sea. Traveling westbound for six or seven more days, passing through six or seven small kingdoms, we arrived at the Meizhuan (11) Kingdom. Traveling northwest for ten days, passing through over ten small kingdoms, we arrived at the Balihemounan (12) Kingdom. Traveling another day, we arrived back at the Wuci (1) Kingdom and met the east coast route from which we originated.


(1) Kingdom of Wula (Wuci) [al-Ubulla, near Basra]

(2) Fulila (Folici) River [Arabic: Furat, now the Euphrates]

(3) Dashi Kingdom : Arab kingdom

(4) Amir al-Mu’minin

(5) Fuda [Baghdad]

(6) in India somewhere.

(7) Meilai refers to the coastal region of Malabar, particularly around Quilon.

(8) Sanlang: maybe on the East Coast of Africa.

(9) She refers to Schihr of the southern part of Yemen today.

(10) Sayiquhejie is near Muskat, belonging to Oman today.

(11) Moxun refers to present-day Sohar, in the northeastern Oman; “Mezoen” is its Persian name.

(12) Balihemonan probably refers to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, or probably present-day Makaran

region of Iran (the old name of this region is “Bahr Mokarm”).

(13) Kingdom of Moluo [now Basra]

(14) Li: a Chinese mile, now standardised at 500m. (Has historically fluctuated between 323m and 645m)