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New Thoughts on the Use of Chinese Documents in the Reconstruction of Early Swahili History*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

John Shen
John Shen*
Affiliation:
UCLA
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Extract

For a long time, scholars have known that the ancient Sino-East Africantrade relationship produced valuable accounts of East Africa in the Chinese imperial archives. Particularly, the historical documents compiled during the T'ang, Sung, and Ming dynasties contain several insightful snapshots of East Africa over the span of 800 years. Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of translating ancient Chinese texts, scholars have not been able to utilize these documents fully. In other cases, scholars have misused the translations to derive conclusions that may not be supported by the original text. In this essay I propose to re-examine the original Chinese sources and the way these sources have been used by subsequent scholars. Furthermore, I shall explore the real or potential contribution of these texts to our understanding of East African coastal history.

The primary source of Chinese knowledge about East Africa during the T'ang dynasty (618-907) comes from Ching–hsing Chi (“Record of Travels”) and Yu–yang Tsa–tsu (“Assorted Dishes from Yu–yang”). During the Sung dynasty (960-1279), most of the information is recorded in Chu-fan-chih (“Gazetteer of Foreigners”) and Ling–wai Tai–ta (“Information from Beyond the Mountains”). Finally, the record of the Ming (1368-1644) naval expedition into the western Indian Ocean is preserved in Wu–pei–chih (“Notes on Military Preparedness”), Hsing–ch'a Sheng–lan (“Triumphant Vision of the Starry Raft”), and Ming Shih (“History of the Ming Dynasty”).

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 22 , January 1995 , pp. 349 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1995

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Footnotes

*

I would like to dedicate this research finding to Dr. Edward Alpers whose encouragement and guidance made this paper possible. Furthermore, I would like to thank Dr. Randy L. Pouwels, Dr. Richard Von Glahn, Dr. Benjamin Elman, Hong Cheng, and Grace Chang for editing my paper. Finally, thanks to Karen Nelson, a great friend who has always been an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual support for me.

It is normal practice in Sinological articles to include Chinese characters for all names, but it proved logistically impossible to do that here. Anyone interested in these is urged to consult the author, 1088 Hyde Ave., San Jose, CA 95129. Ed.

References

Bibliography of Chinese Documents

Tuan, Ch'eng-shih, d. 863. Yu-yang Tasa-tsu (“Assorted Dishes from Yu-yang”), in Ying yin Wen yuan ko Ssu k'u ch'uan shu, vol. 1047, Chuan 4. Taipei, 1983.Google Scholar
Chou, Ch'u-fei, 1163. Ling-wai Tai-ta (“Information From Beyond the Mountains”), in Ying yin Wen yuan ko Ssu k'u ch'uan shu, Vol. 589, Chuan 3. Taipei, 1983.Google Scholar
Chao, Ju-Ju-Kua, 13th century. Chu Fan Chih, (“Gazetteer of Foreigners”). New York, 1966.Google Scholar
Ou-yang, Hsiu, 1007-1072. Hsin T'ang-Shu (“New T'ang History”), in Ying yin Wen yuan ko Ssu k'u ch'uan shu, Vol. 276, Chuan 221. Taipei, 1983.Google Scholar
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