Boni in Chinese Sources - Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre - iseas

Kurz: Boni in Chinese Sources NSC Working Paper No. 4receiving an official state burial in China. However, the author does not mention anycontacts between Boni and China prior to the Ming dynasty, and is not referring toinformation found in works of Song times. Thus, it is difficult to identify the Boni in HuangShengzeng’s text with that country of the same name in the early Song. Huang does noteven bother to say if the country was located in mainland or insular Southeast Asia. The onlyhint we get as to the place is in the commentary where Huang refers to the “islandbarbarians”, but that is about all the geographical information the text provides. The religionthat Huang refers as Buddhism is a detail from the DYZL, and thus does not necessarilyreflect the actual religion practiced in Boni in the early fifteenth century, though HuangShengzeng definitely thought this to be the case.Boni 渤 泥 in the Record of Places Outside the Known World (Zhifang waiji 職 方 外 紀 )The Zhifang waiji 職 方 外 紀 , a work written by Giulio Aleni (1582‐1649), a Jesuit whoworked in China in the first half of the seventeenth century, clearly specifies Boni 渤 泥 asthe island of Borneo and not as a specific country.The island of Boni is south of the equator (chidao 赤 道 ). It produces camphor whichis very excellent. When it is ignited and thrown into the water, the fire is notextinguished, until it is completely burnt. There is a beast that resembles a goat anda dear which is called Bazaer 把 雜 爾 , in whose stomach grows a stone that can curea hundred illnesses. Western guests (xike 西 客 ) value it very highly, and they pay upto a hundred times (of its basic prize). The king of the country relies on it to makeprofits. 144Based probably more on Western knowledge of the place than Chinese knowledge, Alenicorrectly addresses Boni as an island. For him, this island lies south of the equator which, ifBoni is Borneo, is only partially correct. The phantastic animal that he describes reflectseither Western or Chinese lore about the place. The interesting detail about the stone isthat it was prized more highly than the camphor, even though that is credited to have beenof superior quality. The legendary stone called Bezoar was known in Europe as an antidote144 Ai Rulüe 艾 儒 略 (Giulio Aleni), Zhifang waiji jiaoshi 職 方 外 紀 校 釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2000), rev. andannotated by Xie Fang 謝 方 , 62.47