Zhao Rukuo (; 1170–1231), also read as Zhao Rugua, or misread as Zhao Rushi, was a Chinese historian and politician during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

. He wrote a two-volume book titled ''

Zhu Fan Zhi ''Zhu Fan Zhi'' (), variously translated as '' A Description of Barbarian Nations'', ''Records of Foreign People'', or other similar titles, is a 13th-century Song Dynasty work by Zhao Rukuo. The work is a collection of descriptions of countri ...

''. The book deals with the world known to the Chinese in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; the first volume is a list of foreign places with descriptions of each place and the customs of its local people. The second volume is a catalog of trade goods.

Biography

Zhao was a member of the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

imperial clan, an eighth-generation descendant of Emperor Taizong in the lineage through the younger brother of

Emperor Zhenzong Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was change ...

. He was born in

Tiantai County Tiantai County ( Tai-chow dialect: T'in-t'e yön; ) is located in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. Residents mainly speak the Tiantai dialect. The county is noted for its scenic Mount Tiantai, which is also an important ...

Taizhou, Zhejiang Tāizhōu (pronunciation in PRC Standard Mandarin: , Taizhou dialect: Thecieu), alternately known as Taichow, is a city located at the middle of the East China Sea coast of Zhejiang province. It is located south of Shanghai and southeast o ...

in 1170. He began his career as a bureaucrat in 1190, and rose through the rank. In 1224, he was appointed the supervisor of maritime trade (市舶司, ) in

Quanzhou Quanzhou, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metropolitan region, with an area of and a popul ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

province. He also held the posts of prefect for Quanzhou as well the southern administrator. He died in 1231 and was buried in

Linhai Linhai (; Tai-chow dialect: Lin-he) is a county-level city in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province situated on the banks of the Lin River in Eastern China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,114,146 inhabitants even though its built-up (''or m ...

County in Zhejiang.

''Zhu Fan Zhi''

While working in Fujian, Zhao noted the commodities from various countries, and he had the opportunity to meet foreign merchants from whom he gathered information on various countries around the world. He also studied maps, and with the information that he collected, he wrote the book, which he finished around 1225. Many entries of ''Zhu Fan Zhi'' take information from an older work from 1178, '' Lingwai Daida'' by another geographer, Zhou Qufei (). However, a significant part of the book came from what he gathered from foreign and Chinese traders. Although Zhao had not travelled outside of China, the book contained valuable information on various countries in the 13th century for modern scholars. The countries ranged from those nearby such as

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, to the various kingdoms in South East Asia, such as

Srivijaya Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th ...

and

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...

, places in India, to the Islamic heartland of Arabia and

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

, as well as countries in Africa, and as far as southern Spain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Rukuo 1170 births 1231 deaths 13th-century Chinese historians Historians from Zhejiang History of Kerala Politicians from Taizhou, Zhejiang Song dynasty historians Song dynasty politicians from Zhejiang Writers from Taizhou, Zhejiang

Biography

''Zhu Fan Zhi''

See also

References