16 continental south asia and the islands
Rockhill^43 observe that all figures connected with Chu-lien in Chinese
accounts are inexclicably exaggerated. They propose that Chu-lien
stands for the Chola Dominion or Coromandel Coast.^44
Wu-ch’a or Wu-ch’ang or Wu-tu: According to T’ung-tien 188:72a,
it was situated in central India. According to T’ang hui-yao 99:23b
andWen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 332:16a; 338:51b, it was situated in southern
India. According to Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6740, it was situated west of
the Arabs.
Na-chieh: According to Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 338:51b, it was a depend-
ency of central India.
Ni-p’o-lo: This is Nepal.
Ts’eng-t’an: According to Sung shih 490:21b, it was situated in the
southern ocean. According to Sung shih 490:21b and Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao
332:20a, the envoys of 1071 had travelled to Canton via San-fo-ch’i
for 160 days. Hirth and Rockhill^45 surmise that this might be Zanzibar
in Africa and that it is practically the same country as Chao Ju-kua’s
Ts’eng-pa.
Of these 44 countries, I conclude that only about half can be
identified with any degree of confidence (maps 1 and 2). As might be
expected, most of these were situated on the continent, in Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and India. The Chinese historians knew
less about the islands. While the sea captains understood how to navi-
gate the oceans to and from their destinations, the written records
are vague or contradictory. We can only be certain about the states
on eastern Sumatra, Java, Ceylon, and perhaps Borneo, i.e. those on
the largest islands.
Let us now see what can be learned from China’s relations with the
foreign countries in continental South Asia and on the islands.
Chiao-chih
This territory in northern Vietnam, rich in agriculture and before the
Sung an important transit point for overseas trade, had been a colonial
part of the Chinese empire since 214 B.C. Its name derived from that
of a Chinese commandery, situated in Chiao Province (Chiao chou).
(^43) Chao Ju-kua, p.99 note 2.
(^44) Op.cit., pp.93 and 272.
(^45) Op.cit., p.127 note 4, and p.283.