XXXIII. 1436 A.D. FEI HSIN

A. Ceylon

This country (Hsi-lan shan) can be reached from Su-men-ta-la with a fair wind in twelve days. The territory of this state is extensive, the population dense. The riches they have amassed equal those of Chao-wa (Java). In the interior there is a high mountain which reaches to the sky. On the summit of the mountain are found blue mei-lan stones, yellow ya-ku stones, blue and red precious stones; they are washed down in the sands after heavy rains and picked up. In the sea near the coast there is a pearl shoal; here they are in the habit of going and gathering oysters with nets. These they pour into a pond, and when they have rotted, they wash them in a sieve and get the pearls.

On the sea-coast there is a flat stone on which is the impress of a foot over three feet long, and in it there is water which never evaporates. They say that in ages gone by Śākyā Buddha, when going to the Tsui-lan islands (the Nicobar islands) went up this mountain and left this footprint. Down to the present day it is worshipped. Below it there is a temple called (the place of) the nirvāṇa of Śākyā Buddha. His true body (i.e., the lifelike representation) lying on its side is in this temple. There are also relics (Śārīra) in his resting place.

The climate is constantly hot; the people are usually well-to-do, and rice is plentiful.

The products of the soil are precious stones, pearls, ambergris, frankincense. The goods used (by the Chinese in trading) are gold and copper coins, blue and white porcelain-ware, coloured satins, coloured silk gauzes.

Men and women bind their heads and wear a long shirt, wrapping around their middle a piece of cotton stuff.

In the 7th year of Yung-lo (1409) Cheng Ho and others presented to this temple in the name of the Emperor gold and silver altar vases and a coloured pennant embroidered in gold. They also put up a stone tablet with an inscription, and bestowed imperial gifts on the king of the country and his chiefs.

The King A-lieh-k’u-na-erh¹ showed himself ungrateful, and formed a plot to injure (the mission). The admiral, the eunuch Cheng Ho, secretly made his preparations, and having previously issued orders, his messengers advanced rapidly and silently (lit., “gag in mouth”). In the middle of the night the guns were fired; they dashed in and captured the king alive.

In the ninth year of Yung-lo (A.D. 1411) the king came to Court and made his submission, and sought the imperial favour. He was forgiven, and the kingdom was restored to what it had been originally. From that time the barbarians of the four quarters have all been filled with fear, and have taken absolutely to cherishing virtue.

—Hsing ch’a sheng lan. 26 Hsi-lan shan, tr. Rockhill, T’oung Pao xvi pp. 381-383.

B. Cochin

This locality is on a headland facing Hsi-lan (Ceylon). To the interior it confines on Ku-li (Calicut). The climate is constantly hot, the soil is poor, the crops sparse. The villages are on the sea-shore. The usages and customs are honest.

Men and women do their hair in a knot and wear a short shirt and a piece of cotton stuff wrapper around them.

There is a caste of people called Mu-kua (Mukuva); they have no dwellings but live in caves, or nests in the trees. They make their living by fishing in the sea. Both sexes go with the body naked and with a girdle of leaves or grass hanging before and behind. If one of them meets someone, he must crouch down and hide himself by the way-side, where he must wait until he has passed by.

The natural product is a great abundance of pepper. Wealthy people put up broad godowns in which to store it. In their trading transactions they use a small gold coin called panan (fanam). The goods used in trading are coloured satins, white silk, blue and white porcelain-ware, gold and silver.

Its ruler in grateful recognition of the imperial bounty constantly sends presents to our Court.

—Hsing ch’a sheng lan, 30. Ko-chih, tr. Rockhill, T’oung Pao, xvi p. 452.

C. Calicut

It can be reached from Hsi-lan (Ceylon) with a favourable wind in ten days. It is an important islet, and together with adjacent Seng-kia(la) (Ceylon), is the trade centre for the countries of the Western Ocean. The place is extensive and the soil barren, but wheat is in quite sufficient quantity.

In their customs they are very honest. Those walking along make way for each other; they will not pick up anything on the road. They have not the bastinado as a punishment, they draw a circle with lime on the ground which (the culprit) is forbidden (to pass beyond).

Their ruler and people live far off in the hills. The place for all the business is on the sea-coast.

The men wear a long shirt, around their heads they wrap white cotton stuff. The women wear a short shirt and wrap around them coloured cloth. Strings of gold pendants hang from their ears. On the tops of their heads they wear pearls, jewels, and coral, forming a fringe; on their wrists and ankles are gold and silver bracelets, on their fingers and toes are gold and silver rings set with precious stones. They do up their hair in a knot behind the head. Their faces are white, their hair is black.

There is a caste among them which goes naked; they are called Mu-kua, the same as in Ko-chih (Cochin).

The country produces pepper equal to that of Hsia-li (Hilis). They have godowns to store it while waiting to be sold. They have oil of roses, po-lo-mi (jack-fruit), cutch, flowered chintzes, coral, pearls, frankincense, putchuk, amber, but all of them are imported there from other countries. The fine horses found there come from the West. They are worth hundreds or thousands of gold coins.

The goods used in trading (by the Chinese) are gold, silver, coloured satins, blue and white porcelain, beads, musk, quicksilver, and camphor.

The ruler, touched by the imperial bounty, constantly sends missions to Court with memorials on leaves of gold, and he presents articles of tribute.

—Hsing ch’a sheng lan. 31. Ku-li, tr. Rockhill, T’oung Pao xvi, pp. 461-462.