Long before Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope en route to India, the peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia engaged in vigorous cross-cultural exchanges across the Indian Ocean. This book focuses on the years 700 to 1500, a period when powerful dynasties governed both regions, to document the relationship between the Islamic and Chinese worlds before the arrival of the Europeans. Through a close analysis of the maps, geographic accounts, and travelogues compiled by both Chinese and Islamic writers, the book traces the development of major contacts between people in China and the Islamic world and explores their interactions on matters as varied as diplomacy, commerce, mutual understanding, world geography, navigation, shipbuilding, and scientific exploration. When the Mongols ruled both China and Iran in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, their geographic understanding of each other's society increased markedly. This rich, engaging, and pioneering study offers glimpses into the worlds of Asian geographers and mapmakers, whose accumulated wisdom underpinned the celebrated voyages of European explorers like Vasco da Gama.
• Fascinating study of Asian maritime history before the arrival of Europeans focusing on the relationship between Islamic and Chinese communities • Based on primary sources, the book explores how these cultures intersected and exchanged geographic and navigational information • A book for scholars and students of Chinese and Islamic history, world history and geography
Contents
1. From imperial encounter to maritime trade: Chinese understanding of the Islamic world, 750–1260; 2. The representation of China and the world: Islamic knowledge about China, 750–1260; 3. Interpreting the Mongol world: Chinese understanding of the Islamic world, 1260–1368; 4. Beyond Marco Polo: Islamic knowledge about China, 1260–1368; 5. Legacy from half the globe before 1492: Chinese understanding of the Islamic world and Islamic knowledge about China, 1368–1500; Conclusion: lessons from pre-modern Sino-Islamic contact.
Reviews
'In this valuable book, Professor Hyunhee Park confirms the significance of Sino-Islamic contacts and knowledge of each other's societies through the unique means of detailed studies of traditional as well as recently discovered Chinese and Islamic maps. A large number of maps and illustrations are a splendid bonus for the reader.' Morris Rossabi, Distinguished Professor of History, City University of New York
'A number of studies focus on the interactions between Western and Eastern Asia before European imperial and colonial enterprises (re-)discovered these regions. However, none of them provides the broad, in-depth view of the whole period that this book provides, from the venture of Islam to the emergence of European powers in the region. It is indispensable for any student or scholar who wants to understand the interdependencies of Asian history during this period.' Ralph Kauz, University of Bonn
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