Daoyizhilüe, Zufanzhi, and Yingyashenglan are the representative Chinese text materials through which it is possible to understand the circumstances of the South Sea region since the 13th century; however, there are considerable deviations of content...
Daoyizhilüe, Zufanzhi, and Yingyashenglan are the representative Chinese text materials through which it is possible to understand the circumstances of the South Sea region since the 13th century; however, there are considerable deviations of contents according to the period and narrator in spite of the same region. While Zufanzhi and Yingyashenglan focused on describing its relationship with China, such as paying a tribute to China and distance, Daoyizhilüe focused on describing the relationship between its natural terrain and maritime trade.
It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that Dayuan Wang described Champa’s geopolitical characteristics and its aspects as a maritime trade partner as ‘Haichong(a strategic sea port).’ Champa was named because vessels had to reach here to trade as an intermediate anchorage in which the ships departing from China or the merchant ships entering East Asia via Java through the Indian Ocean had to anchor and get supplied with daily necessities such as water and firewoods, Since Marco Polo described prosperous Champa as ‘one independent world,’ Yuan Empire’s domination of trade route in South Sea began from the conquest of Champa. Yuan Empire was able to dominate maritime trade route in South Sea from Quanzhou through Champa and Java to India and accumulate enormous economic wealth, and the aspect of the Yuan Dynasty as a global empire in the 13th and 14th centuries was realized also in the seas as it was.