A careful perusal of the geographical literature of the ancient Chinese has shown that they have not gained their knowledge of south-eastern Asia by bold voyages of discovery; slowly and cautiously they have crept along its shores, probably not venturing to a country before they had become acquainted with it by others. The proofs for this assertion lie partly beyond the scope of our present task, but even in the following notes sufficient evidence will be found of what we advanced just now. When the Chinese turned themselves towards the south, the first country they visited was, of course, the northern part of what we call Annam now ; pushing on along its coast they arrived at Cambodja, and next turned into the gulf of Siam. Here they were detained a considerable time, for in Chinese history we find abundant information about these countries, long before it knows anything of those further south, and it would seem that they did not go on in the original direction, before they had got to the coast of the Malay peninsula, which gradually showed them their way to Sumatra and Java. This process must have taken many centuries, before it was accomplished so far : a hundred years before Christ the Chinese were in northern Annam, but during the first centuries of our era, though Chinese history was then already thoroughly established and written according to a reliable system, we find a complete absence of information about the countries which form the object of our present research. It would be difficult to explain this by saying, that during these times China was often divided under different rulers and generally more or less in a disturbed state, so that the adventures of the merchants and mariners of the southern provinces, Fukian and Kwangtung, who then, as now, had the monopoly of foreign trade, might have remained unknown to hose who collected materials for history in other parts of the country ; by this argument the loss of much information might be accounted for, but it would remain improbable that everything had

disappeared, without leaving any trace. And though the following extracts, extremely scanty and defective, especially in the beginning, do not tell us directly at what time the Chinese began to navigate and to establish themselves in these parts, we have a valuable indication in the travels of the Buddhist pilgrim, Fahien, who visited Java in 413. He had travelled overland to India and arrived from Ceylon in an Indian vessel. He found no Chinese in Java, and returned to China in an Indian ship again. We shall revert more amply to this traveller when treating of Java, but here already we may say that the Chinese, in his time at least, had not yet penetrated to that country. On the other hand, we have numerous reasons to believe that the Indians and Persians went to China by sea at a very early date ; we see it in the itinerary of Fahien, mentioned just now, we see it on many other pages of the geographical literature of the time, and, lastly, all this is fully confirmed by indications derived from other sources. The knowledge of Rome and Roman products were brought to China in this way, if not by Romans themselves, at least by Roman subjects. We may therefore feel sure not to be far from the truth, when we say that the Indians and Persians reached China a little before the commencement of our era, that the Chinese began to trade towards the south about that time also, but that they arrived in the Malay archipelago certainly not before the fifth century, probably even later, for their first notices of these countries look as if they had been obtained from hearsay, rather than from personal knowledge. There are still many subjects which might find a place amongst these preliminary observations, but we prefer the plan of reserving them until they naturally present themselves in the course of the following pages, when they may be treated in explanatory notes as the case requires. We only add two passages from the Chinese Dynastic Histories, which, though not giving any details about the parts we are considering, still are the first mentioning them at all. They will also he found to tell something of that earliest intercourse, about which we have ventured to express an opinion just now.

History of the first Sung Dynasty (420—478). Book 91, p, 1. “The southern and south-western barbarians live, generally speaking, to the south and south-west of the land of the Giau-chi,*

and also inhabit the islands in the great ocean : the distance is about 3 to 5 thousand li* for those that are nearer, and 20 to 30 thousand li for those that are farther away. When sailing in a vessel it is difficult to compute the length of the road, and therefore we must recollect that the number of //, given with respect to the barbarians of the outer countries, must not be taken as exact.”

History of the Liang Dynasty (502—556). Book 54, p. 1. “The countries of the southern ocean are, generally speaking, situated at the south-west of the land of the Giau-chi, and on the islands of the ocean. The nearest are away from 3 to 5 thousand //, and the most remote from 20 to 30 thousand li ; their western parts join the countries at the west of China. “In the period Yuan-ting of the Han dynasty (116—no b.c.), admiral Lu-po-tehf was sent to open the south ; he founded the district Jih-nanJ and since that time the countries beyond its borders have all come to court and presented tribute. “Afterwards, during the reign of the emperor Hsiian of the Han dynasty (73—49 b.c.), the Romans and Indians § have sent envoys and presented tribute through the same way. “ In the time of Sun-ch’iian, of the house ofWu (222—251), two functionaries, called Chu-ying and K’ang-tai, || were ordered to go to the south • they went to, or heard from, a hundred and more countries, and made an account of them. “During the Chin dynasty (265—419) those who came to China were very few, and therefore they were not mentioned in the history of that dynasty. In the Sung (420—477) and Ch’i (479—501) dynasties, more than ten countries made their appearance, and for the first time a notice of them is given. Since the accession of the Liang dynasty (502—-556), they have come over the sea every year for getting an almanac and acquitting themselves of the duty of tribute, in greater number than in any former time.” It will be observed that the second extract speaks of an embassy, or expedition, sent to foreign countries between 222 and 251. What countries these were is not stated, but we may believe that

the Malay islands were not amongst them, otherwise their name would have appeared at that time already in the annals of China. With the exception of this single instance, the historian only speaks of distant nations who came to China, not of Chinese going to them. This brings us also to the tribute, which is said to have been presented by those foreign countries, a matter with which we shall have much to do yet, and which may well be discussed at once. From the beginning of Chinese history up to the present day, their annals record numerous instances of foreign princes doing homage to the emperor of China in this manner. Some people have tried to dispose of this question with the assistance of the well-known conceitedness of the Chinese, and charged them on this score with boastful misrepresentation or even deliberate falsehood, but such an explanation can only have its ground in total ignorance of the facts, and surely the most sceptic reader will not be satisfied with it after perusal of the following pages. Fortunately it is possible to take a more natural view of the case. In the first place we know, by our own experience, that the princes of the smaller states in Asia were often engaged in trade on their own account, and when they extended their operations to China, it was but natural that they sought to propitiate the ruler of that country by a few presents, which they soon saw were so acceptable there. This example was often followed by private traders, who, in order to gain facilities for their commerce, or perhaps to get access to the capital, a paying mart for their merchandise, assumed the character of envoys from a distant country, and set apart a few articles of their stock to be presented as tribute, knowing at the same time that even these would not be lost, but probably reciprocated above their value. And lastly, it cannot be denied that China formerly occupied a very exalted place in the estimation of the greater part of Asia ; its higher civilisation, the splendour of its court, the richness and extent of its territory, easily account for this feeling of veneration. Compared with China all other countries were petty and insignificant, and it would seem that the different princes thought it an honour to have relations with it, just as once, on the other side of the old world, it was a point of national pride to be an ally of Rome. On different occasions, especially on their accession to the throne of their country, these princes sent envoys with presents as a homage to the emperor of China, and, besides costly gifts, they received in return letters, seals, royal insignia or other tokens of investiture, which seem generally to have been highly prized. At the same time this sending of envoys and presents could hardly be called a burden : the presents were requited in the most liberal way, the envoys lived at the expense of China, and, above all, it offered an

occasion for trading in places which were not accessible otherwise. The introduction of the Islam, and the arrival of Europeans, have put an end to these relations for the greater part ; in Siam they have been broken off under the latter influence not many years ago, and they only continue to exist in Annam, Corea, Birma and a few smaller countries of the interior, a last remnant of what was general once. On the other hand we need not wonder that the Chinese attached so much importance to these embassies, and were prepared to go to all the expenses which they necessarily entailed. The supremacy of China over all other countries is, and has always been, a national dogma, more deeply rooted in the Chinese mind than any other conviction. Their emperor is appointed by Heaven to be the ruler of the whole earth, but only Heaven’s chosen people, the Chinese, are directly governed by him, and he controls the outside barbarians not more than is necessary for the interests of this favoured nation, which must be the chief object of his care. All however owe him allegiance, and if they come forward showing their sense of this duty by presenting tribute, be it ever so little, they must be graciously received and assisted according to their wants. The civilized rule of China is not fit for these benighted barbarians, therefore they are suffered to arrange their government as they like best, and even if they fail to recognize the superiority of China, and abstain from doing homage to the emperor, it is not necessary to compel them : China has nothing to gain from intercourse with them, whilst for them it is an occasion, not only of profiting by the munificence of the imperial presents, but also of coming within the enlightening and renovating influence of Chinese civilization. Many Chinese emperors however were not so wholly indifferent to these tokens of respect from distant countries, which seem to have gratified their pride ; they went to considerable expense in order to encourage them, and gradually it became the custom, on the accession of a new dynasty, to send envoys to the different countries which were in the habit of presenting tribute, informing them of the change that had taken place and inviting them to continue their allegiance. If we recollect that the Chinese mind has always been deeply imbued with these ideas, it is not necessary to tax them with wilful misrepresentation, even when they have construed the most ordinary attempts at commercial intercourse into an acknowledgment of their superiority ; at the same time the more enlightened among their historians, though never doubting that it was the duty of other countries to bring tribute to China, do not deny that the sense of this obligation was often very little developed, and that with many the motive was rather to gain the material benefits attached to it.

We may now proceed to give the notices on the countries mentioned in our title, which have been compiled from Chinese sources, and will be arranged as follows :

Java,

Sumatra,

Borneo,

The Islands to the East of these, and

The Malay Peninsula,

whilst under each head of this division those smaller islands will be dealt with, which may be looked upon as natural dependencies of the others.