Title: Records of Foreign Nations in the Western Ocean

Author: Gong Zhen (Ming Dynasty)

Annotator: Xiang Da

Publisher: Sino-Culture Press

Edition: 1st Edition, August 2017

Format: 16 - mo Binding: Soft - hardcover

Number of Printed Sheets: 12 Word Count: 120,000 characters

ISBN: 9787507547276

Price: 38.00 CNY

Records of Foreign Nations in the Western Ocean mainly describes the local customs and various aspects of social life in twenty Western foreign countries that Zheng He's fleet passed through during its seventh voyage to the Western Seas in 1433 (the 8th year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty). These countries include Champa, Java, Palembang, Siam, Malacca, Sumatra, Yalu, Lambri, Cochin, Quilon, Calicut, Aden, Bengal, Hormuz, and Mecca. The book is also attached with an author's preface, three imperial edicts issued in 1420, 1421 (the 18th and 19th years of the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty) and 1430 (the 5th year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty), as well as other stone inscriptions and documentary historical materials related to Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas. Records of Western Foreign Countries, together with The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores and A Comprehensive Survey of the Star Raft, are among the first three historical records of Zheng He's voyages to the "Western Seas". It serves as evidence of China's overseas communication, especially the communication between the Ming Dynasty and the Western regions during Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas, and thus has extremely important historical value.

The birth and death years of Gong Zhen are unknown, and his given name is also unrecorded. According to his preface, his literary name is Yangsusheng. He was from Nanjing, starting as a soldier and later promoted to a staff member. Other details about him are scarce. From 1431 (the 6th year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty) to 1433 (the 8th year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty), Gong Zhen, who was promoted to be a staff member of the general command, accompanied Zheng He on his voyages to the Western Seas. In 1434 (the 9th year of the Xuande reign of the Ming Dynasty), he wrote Records of Western Foreign Countries, documenting the local customs of the twenty countries that Zheng He's fleet had passed through.

Xiang Da (1900 - 1966) was from Xupu, Hunan Province. His courtesy name was Jueming, and his pen names were Fang Hui and Buddhayashas. He was of Tujia ethnicity. In 1919, he was admitted to Nanjing Higher Normal School. After 1924, he served as a compiler at the Commercial Press, a member of the Compilation Committee of the Peiping Library, and a lecturer at Peking University. In the autumn of 1935, he went to work at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University. In 1937, he went to Germany to inspect the murals and scrolls looted from China. After returning to China in 1938, he served as a professor at Zhejiang University and the National Southwestern Associated University. After the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, he became a professor in the History Department of Peking University. During his lifetime, he wrote more than twenty books, such as Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty and Western Regions' Civilization, Introduction to Historical Source Bibliography, A Catalog of Dunhuang Manuscripts Seen in London, Descriptions of Ancient Geographical Books of Western Regions and South China Sea Countries between the Han and Tang Dynasties, and Several Materials on the Voyages of the Three - Jeweled Eunuch to the Western Seas. He also published over a hundred papers, making significant contributions to the research on Zheng He and the history of border regions.