馬歡是隨鄭和出使西洋的阿拉伯文翻譯官，他是回教徒，先後於1412年、1421年和1431年三次出使西洋，他將其親眼目睹和聽聞的西洋各國國情寫成瀛涯勝覽一書，記錄了他所訪問的二十個西洋國家，有助於增加我們對這些國家在十五世紀的國情的瞭解。鄭和下西洋官方檔案均已銷毀不存，故該書成為瞭解鄭和下西洋歷程之重要文獻之一。Ma Huan was an Arabic translator who accompanied Zheng He on his missions to the West Ocean. He was a Muslim, and he went to the West Ocean three times in 1412, 1421, and 1431. He wrote the book Yingya Shenglan (The Magnificent Scenery in Far Ocean Countries), which records the twenty Western countries he visited. It will help to increase our understanding of the national conditions of these countries in the fifteenth century. The official archives of Zheng He's voyages have been destroyed, so this book has become one of the important documents to understand Zheng He's voyages.
諸蕃志是一本第十三世紀中國人看世界各國國情及風土人情的書，作者趙汝适以其海關官員工作之便利，得以知悉各國之國情，一一加以記錄並參考中國古籍完成此書。該書是周去非在1178年所寫的嶺外代答之後介紹外國的第二本中文書籍，而且更為詳細，具有其歷史地位和重要性。筆者將之譯為白話文以及英文，俾使之流傳中外。Zhu-Fan-Zhi is a book about the national conditions and customs of various countries in the world for Chinese in the 13th century. The author Zhao Ru-gua took advantage of the convenience of his work as a customs officer to know the national conditions of various countries, recorded them one by one, and completed this book with reference to ancient Chinese books. This book is the second book in Chinese to introduce foreign countries after Zhou Qufei's Lingwai Daida (On Behalf Reply Outside the Ridges) in 1178. It is more detailed and has its historical status and importance. The author translated it into vernacular and English to circulate it at home and abroad.
張燮是第十六世紀末葉的福建學者，其附近的漳州、泉州和廈門是跟東南亞有密切商貿往來的地區，因此他從小應該對於海外事情有所見聞，也可能接觸不少來自海外的船人和商家，這些資訊給了他寫作上不少的題材。張燮在寫作該書時，中國剛好面臨日本倭寇的入侵以及西洋勢力對中國沿海之覬覦，所以他的著作正好反映了那個時代的知識份子的世界觀。本書涵蓋的範圍東到日本，西到馬來半島和蘇門答臘，並沒有包括南印度。他對於該一地區的國家、民情風俗、航運和市場交易，有更為貼近現實的描述，這是其他著作欠缺的，因此該書對於瞭解東亞地區之海洋交通航運史具有重要參考價值。Chang Xie was a Fujian scholar in the late 16th century. The nearby Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen are areas with close business ties with Southeast Asia. Therefore, he should have learned about overseas affairs since he was a child, and he may have come into contact with many ships from overseas. People and businesses, this information gave him a lot of materials for writing. When Chang Xie was writing this book, China was facing the invasion of Japanese pirates and the coveting of China's coastal areas by Western forces, so his work just reflected the worldview of intellectuals of that era. The scope covered in this book extends from Japan in the east to the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra in the west, and South India is not i
《島夷志略中英文對照本》出版簡介： 元朝航海家汪大淵先後於1330年和1337年兩次從泉州出海遊歷，1349年將其遊歷所見所聞出版《島夷志略》一書，該書記錄了他個人從泉州到澎湖、北臺灣到東非甚至地中海的航海經歷，堪稱是一部航海史上的重要著作。這本書對沿途經過東南亞各國，因為是旅遊所記，對各國家及港口的地理位置、物產、風土民情，加上當地怪誕的傳說，都加以記錄，對沿途的奇風異俗之探究是很好的參考用書。該書具眾多各國海洋史參考資料，至今尚無英文翻譯。陳鴻瑜教授將該書譯成英文，俾有助於東亞史及東西方文化研究與交流。Wang Da-yuan, a navigator of the Yuan Dynasty, traveled from Quanzhou twice in 1330 and 1337 respectively. In 1349, he published what he saw and heard during his travels in a book called the Dao-yi Chi-lue, which records his personal journey from Quanzhou to Penghu, northern Taiwan to East Africa, and even sailing experience in the Mediterranean Sea can be regarded as an important work in the history of navigation. Because it is a travel record, what he observed is the geographical location, products, customs, and people’s life of the country and port, and sometimes local weird legends are added to attract readers' interest in strange foreign customs. The book has important reference value in marine history, and ther
