Introduction

.. of the six or seven countries more, Arabia is the furthest; and this indeed lies myriads (1) of li (2) from China. Hence it was not till Suan Toh'st (3) reign that intercourse with Arabia begun. This done, their vessels filled with pearls and precious stones, with eagle wood and ambergris, with marvellous beasts and birds, unicorns (giraffe), and lions, halcyons and peacocks, with rarities like the mei-naos gum and essences distilled from roses, and ornaments, such as coral and divers kind of gems, the envoys returned.

The Country of Java

In 1381 the king (of java) sent an address written on leaves of gold, together with tribute, and also 300 black slaves.

The Country of Melaka

…the tribute objects: foreign little slaves (fan xiaosi), rhino horns, ivory,

hawksbill turtles, hornbills, parrots, orang-utan, woolen cloths…

(according to some black slaves from East-Africa or from Brunei)

The Country of Bengal

In the VIth. Year of the Yongle era (4)(1408) the Sultan of the state sent Ghiyath ad-Din (5)(Aiyasiding), a messenger, who came for an audience with the tribute.

In the IXth. Year of the era (1411) a messenger landed in Taicang (Shanghai), traveling court officials (Xingren) were told to go there and supply the exhausted with banquets.

In the XIIth. Year of the era (1414) there was again an embassy under its subject Bayiji (among others) sent to the audience with a giraffe and other objects as a tribute.

In the IIIth. Zhengtong (6) year (1438/39) was the same tribute [Giraffe]. A letter written on gold leaf was used.

The Country of Dhofar (7)

…For smoking the clothing they use eagle wood, sandalwood, ambergris-and aromatic substances (anbaerxiang). They wash hands before performing the rites, they anoint the body, then they cloth with clean garments.

…... There is a lot of dragon's blood (8), aloes, myrrh, frankincense, crushed nuts, lots of mustard and melons.

… There are Amur leopards. There is a bird with a long body and crane neck. The four cubits (9) long legs have two toes. Because his appearance is similar to the camel, he is referred to as Kamelbird (tuoji) and his food are the five grains.

The Country of Hormuz (Hu-lu-mo-ssu)

There is also found the his-ya-kuo-shih and by the natives ya-kuo-shih. It is like a big cat in size, the whole body is like that of a tortoise shell cat. It has black ears. It is gentle and kind, not fierce like the lion and the leopard. When animals see it they prostrate themselves to the ground; it is the king of the animal kingdom. (This he copied from  the Chang -Sheng version of Ma Huans book.)

…In the fifth year of the era of Yongle (4)(1407) a local subject was sent, who led a giraffe and other things with him, and he also was equipped with a document written on gold leaf, he came by sea and returned after delivering the tribute.

The Country of Aden

There are twelve strange things among the articles of merchandise: . . . the 7th is called ch'i-lin (giraffe), the 8th is called shih-tzu (lion), the 9th is called ; hua fu-lu (zebra), the 10th is called chin ch'ien pao (cheetah?), the 11th is called t'o chi (ostrich) 12th white turtle doves. Occur as local produce: Many red Sandel wood poles, Champa-blooms, many Persian dates, almonds, dried white grapes, pistachio nuts, pomegranates and apricots. There is ivory, there are 1000-li camels and nine-tailed rams.

... There are animals there. [Of one] the shape is like a mule, white body, white face, and black stripes The name is called hua fu-lu. [Of another] the legs in front are nine feet high, behind six feet high. The hoofs have three divisions ; flat mouth and long neck It stretches up its head to a height of 16 feet. The fore part is raised, the back low ; there are two fleshy horns, a cow's tail and a deer's body. The name is called ch'i-lin (giraffe). These feet on the five kinds of grain.  One has the shape of the tiger with dark skin, but without drawing, with a large head and wide mouth, his tail is black and long as a puff. His roar similar to thunder. All animals, who pass him bow, and dare not resist, he is called Leo (shizi).

The Country of Mekka (T'ien-fang)

Of local products, there is rose water and ambergris (anbaerxiang). There are leopards, gazelles, lynx, giraffes, lions and antelopes, many dragon horse, and there are ostriches, camels, mules, donkeys, ducks and pigeons.

…In the hsuan-te period (3)(1426-1436) the envoy Cheng-Ho (11) on arriving in the Western Ocean sent an interpreter and seven men on native ships to this country with imperial presents of musk, porcelain, pieces of satin. They got back in a year's time and brought with them rare precious stones of various colors, giraffes, lions, ostriches,.. and also a plan of the great mosque (T'ien-fang means Kaaba) The king of T'ien-fang sent also his minister Sha-wan and others with presents for the Court. 

(1) Myriads: a countless or extremely great number

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

(3) Suan Toh'st reign: = Hsuan-te: reign (1426–36). Also known as Xuande Emperor.

(4) Yongle; Youngle: The Yongle Emperor — personal name Zhu Di, or Chu Ti— was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.

(5) Ghiyath ad-Din (Aiyasiding) : rulers of Bengal at that time: 1. Ghiyas ud-din Azam Shah (1370-1396); 2. Saif-ud-din Hamza Shah (1396-1406); 3. Shams-ud-din (1406-1409).

(6) Zhengtong year: (朱祁鎮; 1427 –1464) was the sixth and eighth Emperor of the Ming dynasty.

(7) Dhofar: province in Oman

(8) dragon's blood: is a bright red resin which is obtained from different species of a number of distinct plant genera: Croton, Dracaena, Daemonorops, Calamus rotang and Pterocarpus. The red resin has been in continuous use since ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense, and dye.

(9) cubits: Distance from fingers to elbow (45cm).

(10) Champa-blooms : Champa flowers are widely used to make perfumes.

(11) Cheng-Ho; Zheng He: see my webpage on Note on Cheng Ho.