The 11th May 19th China Tourism Day traces the footsteps of Yuan Dynasty traveler Wang Dayuan
The journey of Marco Polo and his sea legends in the East that should not be forgotten
◎Qin Zhilong
In Chinese history, he was a great and mysterious traveler before Xu Xiake.
He is called "Eastern Marco Polo" by Western scholars, but people still don't know anything about him before the age of 19 and after the age of 30.
Let us hide his name for the time being, and first list a series of his world-recognized pioneering work-
◎He is the first person to record the customs in coastal countries and regions such as the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea as a personal witness.
He travels far away on the waves in a cloth-clothed body, and truly shows the world a map of the vast world.
◎He is the Chinese who has traveled the most by sea among civilians. He has traveled all over the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the east coast of Africa, etc., and he has traveled almost half of the earth.
In the preface to his book, the editor-in-chief of "Quanzhou Chronicles" Wu Jian of the Yuan Dynasty said: "Being less unlucky, for Sima Zi's long journey, he will have almost half of the world. Gu Yi's overseas customs and national history have not yet fully realized , Because they had been in the sea for a few years and then returned." "Cihai" asserts: "As far as the Chinese navigator who had a known name before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Wang family should be at the forefront of his travels."
◎He was the most direct pioneer of Zheng He's voyages, and he had a great influence on Zheng He's voyages.
Ma Huan, an important member of Zheng He's team, has the highest evaluation of all nautical works.
◎As a civil observer, he objectively presented the history of the Chinese nation's peaceful exchanges with the outside world.
He said: Indonesians expect Chinese merchant ships to go to their places every year; Filipinos say that after the Chinese have negotiated prices, they will always keep their promises and never break their appointments; Brunei people love the Chinese most and get drunk. The Chinese businessman will help him back and so on.
Although a few words, from the perspective of ordinary people, we can see the international image of Chinese as a kind and friendly country.
◎He truly recorded that Taiwan and Penghu were the sacred territories of our country. At that time, Taiwan belonged to Penghu, Penghu belonged to Jinjiang County, Quanzhou, and Jinjiang County was responsible for salt and taxes.
This is the most detailed historical record of China on Taiwan Island before the 17th century.
◎He clearly recorded that Singapore is located at the throat of the Strait of Malacca, and has been a colony of overseas Chinese since ancient times. This is an important historical record of Singapore.
◎He recorded the terroir and products of Australia in detail, and was the earliest written record of Australia.
At that time, it was generally believed that Australia was the last island on the earth, and it was called the "absolute island".
Nearly 200 years after he arrived in Australia, Europeans knew that there was still this continent in the world.
◎For the first time, he classified the climate characteristics of foreign countries according to cold, warm, hot, cool, and temperature, and recorded the seasons, rainfall, soil, trees, crops, and technology of various places. Among them, there are 25 kinds of plants, 21 kinds of animals and 27 kinds of commodities have become rare and precious historical materials.
◎He was the first person to propose the concept of a "continental shelf" with modern maritime legal rights.
At that time, in his monograph "Island Yi Zhilue", he used the concept of "earth veins", "the land overseas is connected with the earth veins of the Central Plains".
The "United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea" stipulates that the continental shelf of coastal countries includes all natural extensions of land territories, and its scope extends to the seabed area at the edge of the continent.
...
Today, in Wang Dayuan Square in Qingyunpu District of Nanchang City, there is a bronze statue of Wang Dayuan, a great traveler from the Yuan Dynasty. His eyes are like torches, staring into the distance, bringing us into history once again.
Nanchang Wangjialong’s powerful, violent and exciting schedule chant "Nanchang has many stories in the south" echoes in people’s ears:
"There are many stories in the south of Nanchang city, and the general ferry is a lot of waves, hey!
The scenery on the source of the Xianghu Lake is good, ho!
Shi Jiayao is going to row a dragon boat, hey!
The Prime Minister Wang is here to greet you, ho!
The daughter of Xiangfu sits in the flower house, hey!
Wang Jialong lives a navigator, ho!
Cross the ocean to Yizhou, hey!
"
dream
Less disappointed, beyond Sima Qian's vision
Wang Dayuan, the word Huanzhang, this "character" comes from "The Analects": "Huanqi has articles".
It can be seen that Wang Dayuan's parents have great expectations for their son.
The smart and eager to learn Wang Dayuan clearly defined his life direction when he was a teenager, "Being less distracted, and traveling for Sima Zi".
In particular, after reading Zhou Qufei's "Ling Wai Dai Da" and Zhao Rushi's "Zhu Fan Zhi", he became particularly obsessed with these two geography works that record foreign customs.
"Because the two seniors cannot travel in person because of their official positions, they can gather and compile such masterpieces through interviews during their tenure. I stay out of the matter and have no concerns. Why not visit overseas countries in person and have personally heard about them. What about his works?" Wang Dayuan asked himself in his heart.
"Furthermore, people like Sima Qian and Xuanzang mainly traveled on land, and no one has traveled around the world on the waves and floating in the sea. Okay, let's start with me!"
As a result, the seeds of stepping out to sea and traveling the world were deeply rooted in the heart of this young man, and the dream was born.
It is human nature to love to play.
Wang Dayuan's play is quite special. In addition to his love of reading, he especially likes traveling.
At that time, the place he most wanted to go was Quanzhou—"the people from Shijingshizhou, the businessmen from all over the world". This place known as the world's largest port always attracts this young man.
Finally one day, Wang Dayuan bid farewell to his family and traveled up the Ganjiang River to Quanzhou, his long-awaited destination.
It was a whole new world. People of all colors from all corners of the world were standing next to each other, speaking various languages, and there was a dazzling array of Chinese and foreign products, piled up like a mountain.
The harbor is moored with large and small ships from all over the world, which is magnificent.
As a result, Quanzhou became a turning point for Wang Dayuan to change his destiny, and became his starting point for entering the blue sea-he would set off from here to travel far and wide.
Go to sea
The "Sea Poet" has traveled to 220 countries and regions in eight years
Because he could read and read, Wang Dayuan quickly found a job in a fleet.
The owner of the ship is mainly engaged in the resale business of silk and porcelain. He learned that Wang Dayuan not only likes traveling, but also writes poems. He said happily that there is a "sea poet" in his fleet, so he arranged for Wang Dayuan to check the goods The work of registering is considered a special consideration for him.
The exciting time has come. One day in 1330, Quanzhou Port is still busy and prosperous, and the blue sea in the distance is peaceful and quiet.
Wang Dayuan, who is only 20 years old, is going to sea!
In order to go to sea this time, he has completed all preparations ahead of time.
As the first ray of morning light passed over the sea, he had already stood on the deck of the big ship, welcoming the rising sun.
He looked calm, like the sea in front of him, but his heart was already churning with huge waves, like the depths of the sea.
Set off, with a longing for a long distance.
This walk is five years.
In five years, Wang Dayuan followed the fleet through Hainan Island, Champa, Malacca, Java, Sumatra, Myanmar, India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and then crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Morocco in Northwest Africa before returning to Egypt and going out of the Red Sea. Somalia, turn south to Mozambique; then cross the Indian Ocean back to Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Java, and Australia; then from Australia to Kalimantan, pass through the Philippine Islands, and finally return to Quanzhou.
More than a year later, Wang Dayuan and his fleet prepared goods and goods and set off again from Quanzhou.
This time they visited the South Sea Islands, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Mozambique and all parts of Australia in the west of the Indian Ocean.
Return to Quanzhou two years later.
He went to sea twice for a total of eight years. He traveled to 220 countries and regions in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, and comprehensively inspected the business and social conditions there.
What a vast range of travel, and how many hardships and risks he has endured!
Some scholars have drawn a map of shipwrecks in the South China Sea since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Research has found that there are more than 2,000 shipwrecks in the South China Sea alone.
More than 2,000 ships, how many people were buried on the bottom of the sea?
This is a number that I dare not think deeply about.
In the "Nanhai No. 1" shipwreck, 180,000 pieces of cultural relics were unearthed...
recording
The Great Thousand Worlds in "Oriental Marco Polo"
Since my parents named me "Huanzhang", let's write about it, and write "Wang Yang Dayuan" that I have traveled as "Huanli's article."
From the moment he went to sea, Wang Dayuan had a plan in his mind: like ancient sages, write down his travels and experiences.
Now that people are back, this is the most important thing right now.
Thus, Wang Dayuan began to write the monograph "Dao Yi Zhi".
At that time, the Quanzhou government was also compiling local chronicles. Wu Jian, the person in charge of local chronicles, took into account that Quanzhou has customs, shipping, and foreign trade functions, and in accordance with the principle of "everything spreads, cannot be ignorant", he put the "Dao Yi Zhi" into account. "Included in "Quanzhou Road Qingyuan Continued Records" as an appendix.
Later, Wang Dayuan returned to his hometown of Nanchang, and excerpted "Tao Yi Zhi Lue" into "Dao Yi Zhi Lue" and printed it in Nanchang.
Later, due to the war, most of the book "Dao Yi Zhi" was lost. After the Ming Dynasty, it was finally lost. Only the version of "Dao Yi Zhi Lue" was circulated. This has become the only direct historical data about Wang Dayuan himself today.
Therefore, Wang Dayuan also became a mysterious figure.
What happened to him before he was 19 years old?
do not know!
What is his life after the age of 30?
do not know either!
Even if the information from the age of 19 to 30 is only from a few words in his works, it is also a blind spot.
Undoubtedly, after two eight-year long journeys, this special crew member on a merchant ship successfully portrayed himself as an outstanding socio-geographic observer, and was among the world's travellers in one fell swoop.
Wang Dayuan is a diligent person above all.
Judging from the existing "Tao Yi Zhi Lue" with more than 10,000 characters and 100 chapters, Wang Dayuan must be diligent and self-disciplined during the long journey.
Wherever he went, in addition to completing his own work, he would record in detail the life, culture, and properties of the people at that time.
There are as many as 220 country and place names in the book, mountains and rivers, territories, local specialties, and folk customs of more than 90 countries, including South Asia, West Asia, Southeast Asia, and the vast areas of East Africa, as well as overseas Chinese with names and surnames, if not How can timely notes be completed only by memory?
Because they are diligent and timely, they can be more authentic.
Wang Dayuan said: “You can see what you can see with your eyes and ears, and you can’t tell the story.” This is the fundamental writing principle of all travellers in ancient and modern China and abroad for their own writings, such as Fa Xian, Xuanzang, and Mark Bo. Luo, Ibn Battuta, and Xu Xiake are all like this.
At that time, Quanzhou's local official and poet Zhang Zhu said: "Wang Junhuanzhang was the year he was crowned, and he tasted the Eastern and Western Seas of the two ships, and recorded the strangeness of its mountains, rivers, terroirs, and products. It’s suitable for trade. It’s not a book, but you can’t believe it.”
Another important person also proved that Wang Dayuan's travel was personally experienced, that is, the navigator Ma Huan who went to the West with Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty.
Ma Huan said in the preface of "Yingya Shenglan": "Yu Xiguan's "Tales of the Island and Barbarians" conveyed the difference in time, climate, geography, and characters. He sighed with emotion and said: How is the whole world different... …Yu Yi translated the book and added the ambassadors. As they go, the whales are vast, and I don’t know tens of millions of miles. I have traveled to all countries, their weather, climate, geography, and personalities, and witnessed them; The author of "Dao Yi Zhi" is not false."
Due to the age and incomplete information, Wang Dayuan and his "Tao Yi Zhi Lue" did not receive the attention they deserve.
However, it is gold that always shines.
"Dao Yi Zhilue" is not only a rare work in the Yuan Dynasty, but also one of the world's geography masterpieces at that time. Even today, it is also regarded by scholars as an important travel work with unique historical value: "Dao Yi Zhilue" "Not only has it been rated as the 100 books affecting China by modern people, but it has also attracted the attention of Western scholars very early.
Since 1867, the book has been translated into many languages and circulated around the world, and is recognized as a great contribution to world history and geography.
Wang Dayuan himself was therefore called "Eastern Marco Polo" by Western scholars.
hero
"Poetry and Faraway" opened by young travellers
In each era, several great figures who went hand in hand appeared at the same time, becoming a spectacular spectacle and extremely interesting phenomenon in human society.
But to truly understand these heroes, it takes a longer time.
More than 700 years ago, Marco Polo, a traveler who had lived in China for 17 years, set sail from Quanzhou, preparing to return to Italy. It took him four years to come to China. Although the return journey was faster, it still took three years.
One day after Marco Polo left China 38 years ago, 19-year-old Wang Dayuan set off from Quanzhou Port, starting his first five-year world tour in his life.
In the eighth year after Wang Dayuan returned from his second long journey, Ibn Battuta, a great Moroccan traveler, came ashore from Quanzhou and entered China.
This is a very interesting era. Travel has a worldwide significance and has a wonderful connection with China. It can even be said that China is the destination of these great travellers.
At that time, most of the people who started the journey of chasing dreams were young people-Marco Polo set off from Italy to pursue dreams of China when he was 17 years old. Ibn Battuta was 22 years old at the time and Wang Dayuan was only 19 years old. Xu Xiake is 22 years old.
As the so-called "come and not to be indecent", an open China also needs someone to travel far away.
Wang Dayuan came into being. With his own efforts and perseverance, he connected history and connected the world. When reviewing history, later generations would be proud of having young travelers like Wang Dayuan in China.
For everyone with dreams, Wang Dayuan also told posterity that if a person is to live up to this life, he must firmly grasp the youth before old age and the life before death.
Wang Dayuan has written a lot of poems, but he is actually a sea troubadour.
He said: "The places I have passed are often used to write poems to remember the mountains, rivers, customs, scenery, and products." He was so excited to see the precious corals in Sri Lanka. "It can be seen that writing poetry is an important part of his travel life, and it is also a way for him to collect information.
On the blue sea, a young poet expresses his extravagant and romantic style in poetry that exudes rhythm, crushing all the unhappiness on the journey.
It's just a pity that none of his poems have been handed down.
This is a shortcoming of history, but history also compensates.
About 270 years later, the great traveler Xu Xiake was born, not only left a travel notes of 600,000 words, but also more than 30 poems.
It can be said that during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there was Xu Xiake in China and Wang Dayuan outside, which became the two peaks in the history of Chinese tourism. They stand in front of the world today, waiting for people to climb and surpass.