西域番国志 (Pinyin: ''Xi Yu Fan Guo Zhi'' or ''Hsi-yü fan-kuo chih''; literally "A Record of the Barbarian Countries in the Western Region.") was a report submitted by

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

envoy

Chen Cheng Chen Cheng (; ; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965) was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main commanders of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After moving ...

(陈诚) to the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

about the eighteen countries and territories he traveled through during 1414-1415 as a member of an embassy contingency, to the kingdom of

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire o ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

''Xi Yu Fan Guo Zhi'' consists of 18 chapters: *

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Saf ...

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top: Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zi ...

* Andkud *

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

Termez Termez ( uz, Termiz/Термиз; fa, ترمذ ''Termez, Tirmiz''; ar, ترمذ ''Tirmidh''; russian: Термез; Ancient Greek: ''Tàrmita'', ''Thàrmis'', ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is ...

* Shahrokhia * Sayram *

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

Kesh Kesh may refer to: Places * Kesh (Sumer), an ancient Sumerian city and religious center * Kesh, the former name of Shahrisabz, a city in Uzbekistan * Keş, Azerbaijan, a village * Kesh, County Fermanagh, a small village in Northern Ireland Other ...

* Yanghikend * Bishbalik *

Turpan Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the c ...

* Ya Er * Yamshi *

Khocho Khocho (russian: Хочо; sah, Хочо, ''Xoço'') is a rural locality (a '' selo''), the only inhabited locality, and the administrative center of Nakharinsky 2-y Rural Okrug of Megino-Kangalassky District in the Sakha Republic, Russia, lo ...

* Lukchun *

Kumul Hami (Kumul) is a prefecture-level city in Eastern Xinjiang, China. It is well known as the home of sweet Hami melons. In early 2016, the former Hami county-level city was merged with Hami Prefecture to form the Hami prefecture-level city with t ...

English translation

There is no complete translation of the ''Xi Yu Fan Guo Zhi'', however, there is an English translation of the first chapter: *Morris Rossabi: "A Translation of Ch'en Ch'eng's Hsi-Yü Fan-Kuo Chih", ''Ming Studies'', 17 (1983): 49–59.

Contents

English translation

See also