Some remarks on Chinese historical sources on Southeast Asia, with particular consideration of the Ming period, 1368-1644.

Abstract

The importance of Chinese sources for the study of the history of Southeast Asia is well known. Such works as the Chu-fan-chih by Chao Ju-kua of 1225 on the trade and trade routes between China and Arabia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, translated by Hirth and Rockhill

into English, the Nan-chao yeh-shih by an unknown author of the sixteenth century on the Tibeto-Burmese kingdom of Nan-chao flourishing between the 7th and 10th century in the present southwestern China and northern Burma, translated into French by Camille Sainson," the Chen-la fen-t'u-chi by Chou Ta-kuan of 1297 on the ancient Khmer Kingdom and its capital Angkor, translated into French by Paul Pelliot, or the reports on the great Chinese maritime expeditions of the early 15th century, Hsing-ch'a-sheng-lan of 1436 by Fei Hsin and Ying-yai sheng-lan of 1451 by Ma Huan interpreted

by Groeneveldt, Rockhill, Duyvendak, and Pelliot," are standrad sources for the subjects in question.