CHAP. HI.] CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE CHINESE. 



Like the Greek geographers, the earliest Chinese 

 authorities grossly exaggerated the size of Ceylon : they 

 represented it as lying " cross-wise in the Indian 

 Ocean *, and extending in width from east to west one 

 third more than in depth from north to south. 2 They 

 were struck by the altitude of its hills, and, above all, 

 by the lofty crest of Adam's Peak, which served as the 

 land-mark for ships approaching the island. They 

 speak reverentially of the sacred foot-mark 3 impressed 



His Life and 

 Travels, A.D. 645, French transl., by 

 Stanislas Julien. Paris, 1853. 

 Nan-she, " History of the Southern 

 Empire," A.D. 317 589, by LE-YEN- 

 snow, A.D. G50. Tuny-teen, "Cyclo- 

 pedia of History," by Too- YEW, A.D. 

 740. KE-NEE"* si-ylh hing-Ching, 

 " Itinerary of KE-NEE'S Travels in the 

 "Western 'Regions," from A.D. 964 

 QlQ.Tae-ping yu-lan, "The Tae- 

 ping Digest of History," compiled by 

 Imperial Command, A.D. 983. 

 Tslh-foo yucn-Kicei, " Great De- 

 pository of the National Archives," 

 compiled by Imperial Command, A.D. 

 1012.- Sin-Tang-shoo, " A New His- 

 tory of the Tang Dynasty," A.D. 618 

 906, by Gow- YANG-SEW and Snro- 

 K, A.D. 1060. Tung-die, "National 

 Annals," by CHING-TSEAOTJ, A.D. 

 1150. W tin-keen tung-kaau, "Anti- 

 quarian Researches," by MA-TWAX- 

 rrs, A.D. 1319. Of this remarkable 

 work there is an admirable analysis 

 by Klaproth in the Asiatic Journal for 

 1832, vol. xxxv. p. 110, and one still 

 more complete in the Journal Asia- 

 tique, vol. xxi. p. 3. The portion 

 relating to Ceylon has been trans- 

 lated into French by M. Pauthier 

 in the Journal Asiatique for April, 

 1836, and again bv M. Stanislas 

 Juli6n in the same Journal for July, 

 1836, t. xxix. p. 36. Yiih-hae, 

 " The Ocean of Gems," by WAXG- 

 TANG-LrN, A.D. 1338. Taou-e che- 

 leo, "A General Account of Island 

 Foreigners," by WAXG-TA-YOTTEX, 

 A.D. 1350. Tsih-ke, "Miscellaneous 

 Record ; " written at the end of the 

 Yuen dynasty, about the close of the 



fourteenth century. Po-wuh yaou- 

 lan, " Philosophical Examiner; " writ- 

 ten during the Ming dynasty, about 

 the beginning of the fifteenth century. 

 Se-yih-kefoo-choo, " A Description 

 of Western Countries," A.D. 1450. 

 This is the important work of which 

 M. Stanislas Julien has recently pub- 

 lished the first volume of his trench 

 translation, Memoires des Contrees 

 Occitlentales, Paris, 1857 ; and of 

 which he has been so obliging as to 

 send me those sheets of the second 

 volume, now preparing for the press, 

 which contain the notices of Ceylon 

 by HIOUEX-THSANG. They, how- 

 ever, add very little to the infor- 

 mation already given in the Life and 

 Travels of Hiouen-Thsang. Woo- 

 heo-j)een, " Records of the Ming Dy- 

 nasty," by CHING-HEAOTJ, A.D. 1522. 

 Suh-ioan-heen tung-kaou, " Supple- 

 ment to the Antiquarian Researches," 

 by WAXG-KE, A.D. lGQ3.Sufi-Hnnf/ 

 keen-luh, " Supplement to the History 

 of the Middle Ages," by SHAOTT- 

 YUEX-PIXG, A.D. 1706. Ming-she, 

 " History of the Ming Dvnasty," A.D. 

 16381643, by CHANG-TIXG-YUIT, 

 A.D. 1739. Ta-tsing yih-tung, "A 

 Topographical Account of the Man- 

 choo Dynasty," of which there is a 

 copy in the British Museum. 



1 Taou-e che-leo, quoted in the Hae- 

 kico-too che, "Foreign Geography," 

 b. xviii. p. 15. 



2 Ijeang-shoo, b. liv. p. 10 ; Nan- 

 she, b. Ixxiii. p. 13; Twig-teen, b. 

 clxxxviii. p. 17. 



3 The Chinese books repeat the 

 popular belief that the hollow of the 

 sacred footstep contains water "which 



