Title: Records of Marvels from the Star Raft

Author: Fei Xin (Ming Dynasty)

Annotator: Feng Chengjun

Publisher: Sino - Culture Press

Edition: 1st Edition, January 2019

Format: Hardcover, 16 - mo

Printed Sheets: 15

Word Count: 147,000 words

ISBN: 9787507550290

Price: 48.00 CNY

Records of Marvels from the Star Raft mainly describes more than forty Asian and African countries and regions, especially African countries, which were passed through during the third voyage of Zheng He's fleet in the 7th year of Yongle (1409 AD) and the seventh voyage in the 6th year of Xuande (1431 AD). It details their geographical locations, landscapes, social life, commercial trade, religious beliefs, natural resources, etc. Records of Marvels from the Star Raft, Records of Western Barbarian Countries, and Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores are listed as the three historical materials documenting Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas. It serves as evidence of China's overseas communications, especially the communications between the Ming Dynasty and the Western regions during Zheng He's voyages, and thus has extremely important historical value.

Annotations to Records of Marvels from the Star Raft is the work in which Mr. Feng Chengjun took Luo Yizhi's annotated version as the base text, collated it with the versions in Guochao Diangu and in the Tianyi Pavilion, and then made corrections and annotations to the original Records of Marvels from the Star Raft by referring to the annotated version by Fujita Toyohachi.

Fei Xin, with the courtesy name Gongxiao, was from Kunshan. At the age of 22, he was selected to go on voyages to the Western Seas. From the 7th year of Yongle (1409 AD) to the 8th year of Xuande (1433 AD), he made four voyages to the Western Seas. Among them, he accompanied Zheng He on two of these voyages, namely the third and the seventh. In the 1st year of Zhengtong (1436 AD), he completed the book Records of Marvels from the Star Raft, recording various situations of the overseas countries and regions passed through by Zheng He's fleet.

Feng Chengjun (1887 - 1946), with the courtesy name Ziheng, was from Xiakou, Hubei (now Hankou). In 1911, he obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Sorbonne. Later, he studied under the sinologist Paul Pelliot at the Collège de France. After returning to China, he successively served as a professor in the History Department of Peking University and Beijing Normal University. He was proficient in French, English, Belgian, Sanskrit, Mongolian, Arabic, Persian, as well as ancient Uyghur, Tocharian, and Phags - pa script. He was also well - versed in Chinese historical records and had profound attainments in history, historical geography, historical linguistics, and archaeology. He dedicated his life to the study of the history of Sino - foreign communications and borderlands, with numerous works and translations to his credit. He was an important historian of Sino - foreign communications during the Republic of China.

Volume I of Records of Marvels from the Star Raft

Table of Contents of Volume I of Records of Marvels from the Star Raft / 001

The State of Champa / 005

The State of Bintan / 011

Ling Shan / 013

Kunlun Mountain / 015

Pulau Tioman / 017

The Kingdom of Siam / 019

The Kingdom of Java / 023

Palembang / 029

The Kingdom of Malacca / 031

Nine - Continent Mountain / 033

The Kingdom of Samudra / 035

The Flower - Faced State / 039

Langkasuka / 041

Longyan Island / 043

The Cuilan Islands / 045

The Kingdom of Ceylon / 047

The State of Small Kublai / 051

The Kingdom of Cochin / 053

The Kingdom of Calicut / 055

The Kingdom of Hormuz / 057

The State of Lasah / 059

The Kingdom of Bengal / 061

Volume II of Records of Marvels from the Star Raft

Table of Contents of Volume II of Records of Marvels from the Star Raft / 067

The Kingdom of Zhenla / 069

East and West Zhu / 071

Tanyang / 073

The Dragon's Teeth Gate / 075

Longyashanti / 077

Gilimanuk / 079

The Kingdom of Pahang / 081

The Ryukyu Kingdom / 083

The Three Islands / 085

The State of Ma'it / 087

The State of Karimata / 089

Deli / 091

The Kingdom of Brunei / 093

The Kingdom of Sulu / 095

The State of Great Kublai / 097

The Kingdom of Aden / 099

The Kingdom of Dhofar / 101

The State of Juba / 103

The Kingdom of Mogadishu / 105

The State of Maldives / 107

The State of Brava / 109

The Kingdom of Mecca / 111

The State of Alu / 113

Appendix I: Biography of Fei Xin / 115

Appendix II: Inscription by Gui Youguang / 117

Appendix III: Postscript by Luo Yizhi / 119

Appendix IV: Zheng He's Navigation Chart / 121