Chapter 28 Section 4. Records of Foreign Travelers

In the era of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, the Italian Marco Polo (1254-1324 AD) came to the Yuan court and served for 17 years (1275-1292 AD).After returning to China, the book "Oriental Experience Records" (that is, "Marco Polo's Travel Notes") compiled by his dictation came out around 1299. When Marco Polo served in the Yuan Dynasty, he was ordered to travel to various places in China, Southeast Asia, India and other places, and he had a wide range of knowledge.From his book, we can also see some of the cultural exchanges between China and India at that time.

The eighty-first chapter of the second volume of "Marco Polo's Travels" talks about Fuzhou: "Many merchant ships sailed to this port. Indian merchants brought various kinds of pearls and gems, and shipped them here for sale, making huge profits. This article Jiang (Minjiang) is not far from Latong (Quanzhou) Port, and the river flows to the sea. Ships from India go up the river and sail all the way to Quanzhou.” From this, we can know that at that time, Indian merchant ships often went to Fuzhou and Quanzhou Later, the goods brought to China by Indian merchants were mainly pearls and precious stones.In Volume Three, Chapter Fourteen, he also mentions the production of various gemstones on the island of Sri Lanka.

From this, we think of Tao Zongyi's record on "Huihui stones" in the Yuan Dynasty ("Nancun Dinggenglu" Volume 7): "Huihui stones have different types and different prices. Dadejian (1297-1307 A.D.) Among the local giants, one piece of red spines was sold to officials, and it weighed one, two or three coins. The estimated value was 140,000 ingots, and it was topped with an inlaid hat. Since then, the emperor has inherited the treasure. Fan Zhengdan and Tianshou Festival are big During the court congratulations, you take it. It is called thorn, which is also dialect. Now I asked the name of its species, which will be recorded later.” Then, he recorded the names of 19 kinds of gemstones in four categories, except for “cat’s eye” In addition, the remaining 18 are all transliterated names.Judging from the names, these gemstones are not only produced in India, but some may be produced in Central Asia, West Asia, especially Sri Lanka.Indian businessmen transferred a large number of gems to China, sold them to Chinese businessmen, and then sold them to Chinese dignitaries, so that Chinese emperors, ministers, businessmen, and even scholars all knew the preciousness of these gems and their uniqueness. Foreign name.This should be said to be an interesting event in the history of Sino-Indian cultural exchanges.

Chapter 82 of the second volume of "Marco Polo's Travels" describes Quanzhou Port, saying that there are piles of goods there, all of which are shipped from foreign countries, including pepper, sandalwood and other medicinal materials.We know that India is a country rich in pepper and sandalwood, and they have been exported to China since ancient times. Naturally, a considerable part of these things in Quanzhou Port come from India. There is no doubt about this.Marco Polo also mentioned an interesting thing here: Many people came to Quanzhou from the interior of India for the purpose of tattooing here.In the twenty-fourth chapter of the third volume, when talking about a port in the Kingdom of Delhi, it is said that "ships from Manzi Province (referring to southern China) only arrive here in the sunny season, and strive to

Within a week, or if possible, within a little less time, ship the goods back". Chapter 25 deals with Malabar, India (the west coast of India), where pepper, ginger, cinnamon Leather and cotton cloth, "ships from the province of Barbarians carried copper as a ballast weight.And also brocades, silks, tulles, gold and silver bullion, and many medicinal materials not produced in Malabar, were loaded with gold thread, and they bartered these goods with the commodity crops of this province". This tells us that there were often Chinese ships went to the west coast of India, mainly bringing silk, silk products, precious metals and medicinal materials, in exchange for local specialties.

Arab traveler Ibn Battuta (AD 1304-1368) entered India via Central Asia in 1333, served as an official in the court of Delhi Sultan Muhammad Shah, and was later appointed as a special envoy to China.He wrote "Travel Notes", commonly known as "Ibn Battuta's Travel Notes", which described in detail his travels in Central Asia, India and China.Although people doubt whether he has actually been to China, many of the conditions he saw along the coast of South India are consistent with the records in "Yuan Shi" and "Dao Yi Zhi Lue".He described the city of Calicut (Calicut, called Guli Buddha in "Daoyi Zhilue", called Guli in the Ming Dynasty, and now called Calicut, on the west coast of India) and said: "China, Java, Ceylon, and Zbey Mahe Le people, as well as Yemeni and Persian people have all come here, and it is really a place where merchants from all walks of life gather." Then he also introduced in detail the size of Chinese ships, the number of sails, sailors, shipbuilding locations (Guangzhou and Quanzhou), shipbuilding methods, and ship interiors. Equipment, etc., reflect the navigation ability of the people in the Yuan Dynasty and their trade with people in South Asia and other places.The knowledge about China in his book is also written vividly, and many places are true and reliable.From this point of view, even if he has not been to China, at least it shows that he has learned a lot about China, and that Indians at that time still had a certain understanding of China.