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, half
1,1 Q MALIBAK. 91
Perak coast.
10) Identified by Gerini, Kesearches, 629, with Kwala Terong, or Trong, probably on tbe
11) The mention of a sea-trade in rhubarb at this period is very interesting. Heyd, Hist,
du Commerce, II, 667 had suspected its existence. Hirth, J. N. C. B. R. A. S. XXII, 108.
5 12) Huang-lien is the rhizoma of the Coptis teeta, Wall. Bretschneider, Materia medica,
68, 70. Pepper is not mentioned in this chapter as a product of Malabar, but in a note in a
subsequent chapter (Pt. II, Ch. XXVII) this omission is repaired, not by the author, I think, but
by the first editor.
13) The phrase in quotation marks is taken from the Ling-wai-tai-ta, 2,18 with the change
10 of «Kuang(-ch6u) ships, to «Ts'uan(-ch6u) shipx. Considering the great importance of the port
of Quilon in the sea-trade between China and the West, it is surprising that both Ch6u K'a-fei
and Chau Ju-kua have so very little to say concerning it. On Quilon, see Yule, Marco Polo,
II, 363—365. Cordier, Voyage d'Odoric, 106 et seqq.
14) Polo (II, 364) mentions the wine of Ku-lin (Coilum) which he says was made from
15 (palm) sugar, and acapital drink it is, and very speedily it makes a man drunk». The Kambojians
had a drink which the Chinese called mi-t'ang tsiu (^ ^ yg), to prepare which they used
honey and half water, adding a ferment. See Chon-la-fong-tu-ki as quoted by Pel Hot,
B. E. F. E. 0. II, 170, and infra, Pt. II. Ch. XXIII.
15) Quotation from Ling-wai-tai-ta, 2,is. In another passage of the same work (see supra,
20 p. 63, n. 1) the courage and impetuosity of the Ku-lin people is referred to as second only to those
of the San-fo-ts'i men.
16) On Kien-pi, see supra, pp. 71—72. Ki-t'o may transcribe an original Karta. From its
association in this passage with Palembang and Kampar, it may be looked for in Sumatra. Gerini,
Kesearches, 628 says Ki-t'o «is Kat-to = Telok Kruit, West Suiliatra?» The name does not
25 occur elsewhere, neither does that of Ki-Io. Pelliot, B. E. F. E. 0. IV, 852, n. 5 suggested
for Ki-t"o Kedah on the Malay Peninsula, but Gerini, J. K. A. S. 1905, 495—496 says there
is not a vestige of evidence to show that the name of Kedah existed before the end of the
15'ii century. The Ling-wai-tai-ta, 2,i3 says: wEvery year Kien-pi takes elephants and cattle,
and the Arabs (Ta-shi) take horses to trade in this country (of Ku-lin)»; This passage appears
30 to be the basis for Chau Ju-kua's remarks, he has only added the names of San-fo-ts'i and
Ea-t'o, presumably because they were adjacent to Kien-pi and in Sumatra. It seems just possible
that Ki-t'o may be the same as the pilgrim I-tsing's Kie-ch'a {^^ ^), which was on the
extreme N. E. coast of Sumatra, and the last port-of-call (at least in the seventh century, but
very probably also in later days) for ships going from San-fo-ts'i to India. Chavannes, Relig.
35 6minents, 105.
17) Quotation from the Ling-wai-tai-ta, 2,i3, which adds: «The king of the country
worships Heaven. He who kills an ox forfeits his life. Chinese traders with big ships who wish to
go to the country of the Arabs, must tranship at Ku-lin to smaller boats before proceeding
farther. Although they may get (to their destination) in one month with a southerly wind, it may
40 be two years before they can get back (to China)». The text goes on to state that «the people of
Ku-lin are black, they wrap their bodies in white cotton cloth, wear their beards and all their
hair loose and uncovered. They wear red leather shoes, so they look when walking as if they had
the painted feet of a lo-han The king wraps his body in cotton-cloth, when he goes out he is
carried in a litter (juan-tou) of cotton cloth, or else he rides on an elephant. The inhabitants are
45 devout Buddhista. On this last remark, see supra, p. 90, n. 5. The remark about the people smearing
their bodies with turmeric occurs twice in the Ling-wai-tai-ta, first in connection with Ku-lin, and
secondly as a custom of NS,n-ni-hua-lo.
W-Jcin is produced by a plant which remains indetermined; it is a native of the south of
China, and,is most probably a species of Curcuma. Hanbury, Science Papers, 254. This seems
50 to be borne out by the probable etymology of the word, which is pronounced wat-lcam in Cantonese
(old sound described by K'ang-hi's authorities as ^ Ml ^ = Jiat and Mm, gold), and
may thus represent Persian »y harham and Hebrew Dsns TcarMm, Arabic ^^Jcurlcnm,