Record of a Mission to Ryukyu
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in the history of China's foreign relations and the investiture system
- Readers who enjoy ancient travel records and maritime observations
- Readers interested in maritime transport history and the East Asian maritime world
- General readers seeking source clues on Ming-dynasty foreign relations
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting a modern travel guide or light travelogue
- Beginners needing detailed modern annotation and maps for comparison
- Readers impatient with classical Chinese travel records who want only stories
Reading tips
- First understand the basic background of the Ming investiture of Ryukyu and the general course of the route, then enter the original itinerary.
- Mark place names and sea-route nodes as you read, and compare them with maps or geographical reference works to form a spatial impression.
- Take separate notes on ceremony, local customs, and sea route for easier review and comparison later.
- Read alongside selected passages from other Ming travel records, noting how different authors select different observations of the same maritime region.
About the publisher
Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 自序
- 〔诏敕〕
- 谕祭文
- 谕祭祈海神文
- 谕祭报海神文
- 历朝使琉球姓氏考
- 琉球过海图
- 使琉球录卷上
- 使琉球录卷下
FAQ
What does *Records of a Mission to Ryukyu* mainly record?
What background should I know before reading this book?
Is this book suitable to read as a travelogue?
Comments
Find this book
This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Xia Ziyang's life and official career are very sparsely documented in publicly available sources; today readers chiefly know this author through his work Record of a Mission to Ryukyu (Shi Liuqiu Lu). The book belongs to the genre of mission records, recounting the Ming dynasty investiture envoys' sea voyage to Ryukyu, the investiture ceremony, and their observations of local customs along the way; it combines a travel account with notes on things seen and heard. In common classification it is placed under folk literature, indicating that it preserves many legends, customs, and orally transmitted local tales. Its style is plain, and its narrative emphasizes concrete observations rather than institutional or textual scholarship. Such documents are valuable for understanding ancient Sino-Ryukyuan exchanges, maritime navigation, and cultural interaction in East Asia, and they offer material for later studies of folk literature and customs. Because background information about Xia Ziyang himself, such as his native place, official posts, and circle of associates, remains unavailable, only his surviving work can be described here; further details of his life await research.
