Three kinds of ship carry the trade of this whole area, and the area's chiefs deal with the ship, not with the court behind it.
Chinese junks from Fujian and Guangdong cross to Brunei, to Luzon and the Visayan coast on the southwest monsoon and return on the northeast; the Zhufan zhi (about 1225) describes their habits at Ma-i, where the captains give white umbrellas to the headmen and goods are carried off to other islands on trust and the debt is honoured on return (as the English Wikipedia page 'Ma-i' gives it). Javanese and Malay boats carry rice, iron, cloth and salt east and bring back cloves, nutmeg, sandalwood and sea products; the Zhufan zhi lists Tanjungpura, Timor, Banggai and Maluku among Java's dependencies (as the English page on Kediri gives it), which shows that Chinese informants of about 1225 thought of these places as Java's sphere, not that Kediri governs them. Bornean, Sulu and Visayan boats make the short legs between.
The Chinese notices name the Pi-sho-ye as raiders of the Fujian coast, and say little about attacks on ships.
Who he is
- Title
- Shipmasters (nakhoda in Malay; the junk captains of the Chinese notices) and the merchants who back them; no individual named
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
The Zhufan zhi (about 1225), the Song shi notices of 977 and 1082, and the later Chinese lists describe the trade without naming a captain. Whoever sails in 1200 is not known.
Overlord
None. Each shipmaster answers to his own backer; the Song court licenses its own subjects' voyages, and Java and the Malay ports take their dues where they touch.
What it holds
- The ships and their cargoes
- Credit: the goods carried off on trust at Ma-i and elsewhere
- The knowledge of the monsoon runs and the stages
How it was acquired
Not applicable: a trade, not a lordship.
Allies and rivals
Each coast's chiefs, whom they flatter and pay; each other, for the cargo of camphor, gold, cloves and sea products.
How things stand that morning
At sea on the monsoon runs. The Pi-sho-ye raids on the Fujian coast (1171 and 1172, and more to the 1180s on Isorena's dating) are the only attack recorded; nothing is dated for 1199 or 1200.
Wealth
Their cargoes; no figures.
Military
Crews and weapons for defence; no numbers.
Threats
- Raiding (Pi-sho-ye on the Fujian side)
- Typhoon season, July to October
- A closure of the Chinese ports to private trade
Where the sources disagree
- Assigned as a lord record by the brief; it holds no ground and has no map part.
Evidence: A Chinese notice written 25 years after 1200 read through Wikipedia; background knowledge of the monsoon trade (Wolters; Hall; Reid), recalled and not re-read in this pass.
On the map: No ground: a trading class, not a lordship.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Ma-i' (read in this pass): Song shi 971 and 982, the Zhufan zhi and Daoyi zhilue notices, the Mindoro and Bay readings
- Wikipedia, 'Zhu Fan Zhi' (read in this pass): the work, its date (about 1225), its debt to Zhou Qufei's Lingwai daida of 1178, the list of countries
- Wikipedia, 'Kediri Kingdom' (read in this pass): the Zhufan zhi list of Java's dependencies (Tan-jung-wu-lo, Ti-wu, Ping-ya-i, Wu-nu-ku and others)
- Wikipedia, 'Pisheya' (read in this pass): Zhao Rukuo's notice, the Visayan and Taiwanese readings, Isorena 2004
- Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua: his work on the Chinese and Arab trade in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (St Petersburg, 1911). Only its table of contents was reachable in this pass (Part I: Borneo, P'o-ni no. 39, p. 155; Ma-i no. 40, p. 159; the Three Islands no. 41, p. 161; Pi-sho-ye no. 43, p. 165); chapter text is recalled, not re-read
- Background knowledge of Southeast Asian history (Wolters; Hall; Bellwood; Scott; Junker; Reid), recalled and not re-read in this pass
- The isa regional brief (ISA_BRIEF.md) and assignment ise.txt
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.