Roderich Ptak

Notes on the Word Shanhu and Chinese Coral Imports from

Maritime Asia c.1250-1600
In: Archipel. Volume 39, 1990. pp. 65-80.

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Ptak Roderich. Notes on the Word Shanhu and Chinese Coral Imports from Maritime Asia c.1250-1600. In: Archipel. Volume 39,
1990. pp. 65-80.
doi : 10.3406/arch.1990.2621
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_1990_num_39_1_2621

ETUDES

Roderick PTAK

Notes on the Word Shanhu and

Chinese Coral Imports from Maritime Asia
c.

1250-1600

1. Shanhu : A Problem of Definition

The Chinese expression for coral, shanhu (read ** sn-g'o in early Han
times and san-go in the Sino-Japanese form) perhaps derives from the
ancient Iranian word (a) sanga, designating both stone and coral W.
The earliest reference to the compound shanhu may be found in a poem
of the Han scholar Sima Xiangru (B.C. 179-177) (2). From the Han period
onwards the term frequently occurs in Chinese geographical descriptions
of foreign countries, for example in Yu Huan's account of Daqin (Rome)
in the Wei lue (3rd or 4th century), quoted in Sanguo zhi (c. 290). Some
later sources such as the Xin Tang shu (1061), the Nanzhou yiwu zhi (3rd
or early 4th century) or the Wenxian tongkao (finished 1308) include brief
descriptions of the way in which coral was thought to grow and of the fi
shing methods. The first reads (3) :
The fishermen sit in large boats and let iron wire nets into the water down
to the corals. When the corals first grow from the rocks they are white like mush
rooms; after a year they turn yellow; after three years they turn red. Then the
branches begin to intertwine, having grown to a height of about three or four

66
chi (1.1 to 1.4 meters). The iron being cast, the coral roots get entan
gledin the net, when the men on board have to turn around in order
to take them out. If they miss their time in fishing for it, the coral will
be found to have decayed.
Several scholars concluded from this and similar descriptions that the
shanhu of antiquity referred to red coral found in the Mediterranean and
some parts of the Atlantic (4). This species, often called corallium nobile
(corallium hereafter c.) in the West, was obviously imported to China from
the Near East via the overland route from the Han period onwards. Its
wide circulation and appreciation as a precious or semi-precious substance
may be gathered from the fact that several scholars praised its beauty and
uniqueness. A collection of such literary references to shanhu is included,
for example, in the famous encyclopedia Gujin tushu jicheng (1726) (5).
This work also contains a brief chapter on langgan, a substance descri
bed
as either blue/green (qing) or red and often said to be identical with
or similar to shanhu (6X Chinese sources are not very clear about the ori
gin and nature of langgan which in some cases is ascribed to Xinjiang pro
vince,
particularly the Kunlun mountain range, while in others it is equa
tedwith a tree growing under water. H.T. Chang and E. Schafer, lar
gely following the explanations in the Bencao gangmu (1596), the great phar
macopeia
of the Ming period, have attempted to disentangle these contra
dictions (7). The first relates red langgan to a number of substances, inclu
ding ruby spinal from Badakhshan, and blue/green langgan (mostly ment
ioned
in later works) to coral. Schafer's views differ in that he believes
all langgan to be coral. He does in fact consider langgan and shanhu as
virtual synonyms which implies, of course, that the term langgan was
perhaps also applied to c. nobile from Europe (8). There are other explanat
ions,
however. According to Su Gong, who is quoted in the Bencao gangmu,
blue/green langgan was some kind of glass. According to others it was jade
or malachite. Schafer, perhaps contradicting himself, also concedes that
it was related to a dark blue or green stone, called bigan and used to make
miniature mountains (9).
The question of species and terminology becomes even more complex
if it is taken into account that the Chinese word shanhu was not exclusi
vely
reserved for the Mediterranean c. nobile or c. rubrum. Thus, accor
dingto a comment in the Bencao gangmu, also quoted, for example, in the
illustrated Ming encyclopaedia Sancai tuhui (prefaces 1607, 1609), a kind
of red shanhu with a sheen like jade and, in some cases, with larger or smal
lerpores on the surface, was found at the Guangdong coast (10); the Siyi
kao (preface 1606) refers to the production of another shanhu in Japan 0-1);
Schafer quotes an early text which ascribes shanhu to Nam- Viet (12); the

67
Zhufan zhi (between c. 1225-1258) reports that both, shanhu and blue/green
langgan, came from Polillo in the Philippines (13). The Guangdong xinyu
(c. 1690), an early Qing work based on older, sources, is even more elabo
rate: it lists langgan, white shanhu, blue/green shanhu and black shanhu
along with a red or pink variety. The branches of langgan are said to resemb
le
those of shanhu. Red shanhu is linked to Nam-Viet - the text obviously
follows the same source quoted by Schafer - and black shanhu to
Annam (14).
It should be stressed that none of these Asian places produced the same
type of red coral found in the Mediterranean. Hence it is clear, that the
expressions shanhu and, perhaps to a lesser extent, langgan, if unspecif
ied
as to colour or other attributes, did not always apply to one and the
same species but to a multitude of different substances. The fact that dif
ferent
types of shanhu and different types of langgan are sometimes but
not always mentioned together, suggests that both were apparently di
stinguished
from each other by some scholars such as Qu Dajun, compiler
of Guangdong xinyu, while others were not all aware about the existence
of more than one type of coral <15).
In view of this confusion, it is necessary to take a look at the basic geo
graphical
distribution and zoological classification of those substances to
which the Chinese might have referred to under the name of shanhu (or
langgan; however, I shall concentrate on the first, which occurs far more
frequently and is more important). According to Ferdinand Pax (16), the
expression c. nobile (precious coral, jeweller's coral, Edelkoralle, curalle
vere, corail des bijoutiers in European languages) applies to about twenty
different types of anthozoa (class), usually red (hence c.rubrum, red coral,
etc), but sometimes also white, pink or black in colour. The white forms
of c. nobile (weifie Edelkoralle, etc,) have to be distinguished from a second
group of anthozoa, belonging to the order madreporaria which are usually
white as well and are often called c. album or stone corals. The black forms
of c. nobile (schwarze Edelkoralle) differ from a third group of anthozoa,
simply called black corals (order antipatharia; Drnchenkorallen, coralli
neri, c. nigrum, corail noir, etc.). The latter and the various types of c. nobile
are often taken together as ornamental corals, owing to the fact that both
can be manufactured into different objects. Aside from the anthozoa there
are the hydrozoa, usually red, blue or purple in colour, the blue variety also
being called blue coral.
Different types of c. nobile chiefly grow in the Mediterranean, in the
Atlantic Ocean, around Japan, Hawai and in Southeast Asia (the Japanese
fisheries do not need to concern us here - this paper chiefly deals with
Chinese imports from South and Southeast Asia) (17). Southeast Asia with the exclusion of the Vietnamese coast and the Sumatra-Malaysia region

68
- mainly produces black c. nobile. Black antipatharia grow in Southeast
Asia as well, however; their distribution also extends to the coasts of Sumat
ra
and Indochina; this, of course, includes the areas around the old com
mercial
centres of Palembang (Sri Vijaya), Lambri, Malacca, Karimata
Island, Tongking, Pahang, etc. The prevalent species in Malaysia are anti
patharia
ternatensis and cirripathes (18\ Other fishing areas of black coral
are found around Sri Lanka and in the Red Sea. The latter produces mostly
antipatharia arborea and isidis plecamus. White madreporaria are found
in various regions of the tropics, practically all across South Asia.
Of all coral the red Mediterranean type of c. nobile constitutes one of
the hardest substances. It is therefore apt to be manufactured into beads,
bracelets, rings and even small figurines. China obviously imported various
of these products and even the raw material. Beads and small pieces of
red coral were also used to embellish garments, hats or the surfaces of pre
cious objects. Other coral products were hairpins, combs, snuff bottles (some
imported from Japan very early?), pen racks and the like. Coral was even
used in fortune telling and for medical purposes. It was generally conside
red
as an emblem of longevity and official promotion, and as a powder it
was added to the paste or ink employed in stamping with seals. It also played
an important role in Central Asian Buddhism (19).
While the usage of red coral (all c. nobile from the Mediterranean?) in
old China is relatively well known, the sinologists have looked at the other
types imported from Southeast Asia or elsewhere. Pieces of black antipa
tharia were used, for example, to ornament knives in the South Seas and
to manufacture ceremonial objects, bracelets, earrings, beads and the like,
the same taking places perhaps in China. They were also in demand as
charms. Moreover, black coral powder was added to medicinal substances
employed by Chinese oculists (2).
Certain types of stony corals, such as millepora, were used in construc
tion
work, even in modern times. In the Moluccas, for example, old Euro
pean accounts relate that coral was used to build houses. In China c. album
serves medical purposes (21).
The hydrozoa, according to Pax, are of little commercial value, except
for the fact that they were sometimes made into beads in Africa (22\
2. The Importation of shanhu from South and Southeast Asia
Although the above is rather sketchy and although we do not know
when the Chinese began to introduce the different usages of various coral
substances into their own cultural sphere, it is clear that the word shanhu
might have been applied to a multitude of species at any time in Chinese

69
history, particularly to different type of c. nobile, madreporaria and antipatharia. Part 2 of this paper therefore attempts to summarize informat
ion
on shanhu produced in foreign countries or brought from these to China
via the sea route during the period c. 1250-1600 (late Song to late Ming).
This information is drawn from a representative set of Chinese geographic
al
sources. Where possible, I have tried to specify the type of coral listed
(i.e. according to groups, c. nobile, antipatharia, etc.).
The famous Lingwai daida (preface 1178), the first book to be conside
red
here, does not mention shanhu at all. Instead it lists two mysterious
treelike products which, it claims, grew under water. Whether there is any
connection between these substances, called shibo and shimei, and pro
per coral cannot be said with certainty although their description in the
Guihai yu heng zhi (dated 1175) suggests such a relation (23\
Zhao Rugua's Zhufan zhi (c. 1225-1258) which contains detailed info
rmation on foreign products, has more on coral. According to Zhao, shanhu
was primarily taken from Persia to China (whether overland or by sea, is
not stated). Some (of this red c. nobile or black coral?) also went to Sri Vijaya
in Indonesia, then the most important state in the Sumatra-Malaysia region,
whence, we may add, it was further distributed to the East (the latter is
confirmed through the Song shi [1345] and the Wenxian tongkao, as we
shall see). Zhao also lists coral as a native product of the Coromandel Coast
(i.e. Chola or Zhulian) and of Mosul (Wusili). The first must have stood for
black coral - unless c. nobile was imported to there - the second should
be understood to refer to some sort of imported coral. Coral was also found
off the Maghreb coast and in Daqin, the Rome of Han times, these last two
sites certainly referring to red c. nobile. Quite surprisingly, Zhao reports
of yet another production area, Polillo in the Philippines, where blue/green
langgan and shanhu could be collected (also see above), although, as he con
cedes,
they are difficult to get [there]. This is the earliest Chinese refe
rence to corals in the Philippines. Most likely some kind of black coral or
hydrozoa was meant. There is also a description of the fishing methods of
red coral in the second part of Chao's book; it is, however, almost identical
with the passge quoted from the Xin Tang shu (above) and can be omitted
here (24>.
The Fangguo zazhi, an anonymous semi-historical source, whose origi
nal
version certainly dates from the Song, reports the occurrence of coral
in the Maghreb area and gives a brief description of the fishing methods
(again similar to the one already quoted) but adds no new information to
the above (25\
The Wenxian tongkao, finished in 1308 and printed in 1339, mentions
shanhu in connection with the following places : Persia and India (coral as
an article of trade, perhaps c. nobile, perhaps black coral, or both), the Coro-

70
mandel Coast and Kashmir (Jibin; both are said to be producers which can
only be true for the first), and Sri Vijaya (which sent coral as a tribute item
to China - imported c. nobile or black corak?). Central Asian places such
as Khotan are also listed among the countries which submitted shanhu as
a tribute. Most likely blue/green langgan is meant here, for, according to
earlier sources and a note by Su Gong in the Bencao gangmu, Khotan had
large amounts of langgan (whatever this may have stood for) (26).
The Song shi, dating from the Yuan, but referring to the Song reports,
that Sri Vijaya submitted shanhu in 971 and lists the Coromandel Coast
as a producer of this commodity. In another section of the Song shi it is
said that Persia, Guluo (Atcheh?), Java, Champa, Borneo, Mayi (i.e. Mindoro or Billiton Island) and Sri Vijaya traded various goods, among which
coral is listed as one item. Whether this means that each of these places
sent coral to China, is doubtful (27). Champa, Borneo and the northwest
coast of Sumatra are only mentioned in later works as coral exporters.
Of the few extant Yuan works on maritime trade, Wang Dayuan's
famous Daoyi zhilue (around 1350) is clearly the most reliable and valua
ble
account. It states that coral trees and langgan were produced in Lijiata
(perhaps at the southern shore of the Arab Peninsula; hence these terms
did not refer to c. nobile but rather to antipatharia arborea or isidis plecamus), and it lists Calicut in Southwest India and Karimata Island off Bor
neo as trade centres for corals and beads, respectively. Mahasili - in all
probability another form for Mosul - is said to have traded in blue/green
langgan (the same langgan which went to Khotan and from there to
China?) (28). These pieces of information suggest a number of possible chan
gesin the pattern of coral transportation : between 1350 and the middle
of the 15th century (the appearance of the Da Ming yitong zhi [first ed.
1461]; see below) coral is no longer mentioned in connection with Sri Vijaya
(Wang has a paragraph on this country!). If brought to China, coral now
obviously was shipped from other Southeast Asian places such as Karimata
Island and, as we shall see in connection with early Ming works, from Lambri and the Malacca area. This observation coincides with early Ming works,
from Lambri and the Malacca area. This observation coincides with the fact
that Sri Vijaya' s power had declined in those days and that Southeast Asian
merchants had turned to other ports to trade. Furthermore - and this is
also important - we find Calicut mentioned for the first time in Chinese
sources as a trade centre in the coral business, while the Coromandel Coast
no longer appears in this context. This reflects the general shift of com
mercial
activities from the East of India to the Malabar Coast which took
place at around the same time. Finally, coral now also is reported as a pro
duct of the Aden region (provided, the identification of Lijiata is correct).

71
Again, this perfectly matches the reports from the Ming dynasty.
Zhou Zhizhong's Yiyu zhi, perhaps written as early as 1365 but only
brought into its final version at around 1400, is similar to the Fangguo zazhi
or the chapters on foreign barbarians in the Sancai tuhui. It lists shanhu
as a product of the Maghreb (the description there clearly resembles that
in the Fangguo zazhi), of Daqin, Calicut and the Malabar Coast, thereby
partly following the observations made by Wang Dayuan (29).
Chinese maritime activities reached the peak at the beginning of the
15th century when Zheng He's fleets sailed to India and Africa. There are
several sources from this period which can be regarded as first hand
accounts. Of these Ma Huan's Yingyai shenglan (preface 1416), Gong Zhen's
Xiyang fanguo zhi (preface 1434) and Fei Xin' s Xingcha shenglan (preface
1436) contain information on shanhu. Taken together, they report the fo
llowing
: Aden traded coral trees (black coral, most likely antipatharia arborea; the Yingyai shenglan even states that Chinese merchants bought coral
there); Mecca produced coral (imported should be correct); Hormuz sold
coral beads, stems, branches and precious goods made thereof, perhaps even
akabahar rings made out of drripathia, or else, it simply had coral
trees (3); Calicut, Cochin and Quilon (called Xiao Junan in Xingcha shengl
an),all in Southwest India, traded with coral and coral products. The refe
rences
to Calicut and Cochin in the Yingyai shenglan are particularly
interesting (31)
... the Chetty broker and the men of wealth... come bringing precious stones,
pearls, coral, and other such things, so that they may be examined and the pri
ces discussed; [this] cannot be settled in a day; [if done] quickly, [it takes] one
moon; [if done] slowly, [it takes] two or three moons. (Calicut)
The Chetty brokers mostly purchase all kinds of precious stones and pearls, and
they manufacture coral beads and other such things. (Calicut)
[In the case] of coral-stems, the Chetty brokers reckon the weight in jin when
they purchase them; they hire craftsmen who cut up [the stems] into pieces,
and on a lathe fashion them into beads, which are washed and polished until
they are bright and clean; they, too, are bought [according to] their weight in
fen and Hang. (Cochin).
Whether these quotations refer to imported red c. nobile from Europe
or to black coral from the Read Sea brought by Arab sailors or to products
of Sri Lanka and the immediate vicinity, is hard to tell. With some cer
tainty
they do not refer to c. album found, for example, in the Maldives.
Prices and quantities of this Sino-Indian trade, of course, remain un
known.
We may only conclude that the Chinese bought coral and coral pro
ducts at different places, just as they may have done during the Song and
Yuan periods. Perhaps a larger proportion of their coral imports now con
sisted
of black coral products originating not only from the Near East and

72
India but also from Lambri. As to the latter, the Yingyai shenglan and the
Xiyang fanguo zhi contain similar accounts <32) :
In shallow water, about two zhang deep, at the side of the mountain there
grows a marine tree; the people there recover it, and sell it as a valuable com
modity;
this is coral; [andl the largest trees are two or three chi in height. At
the top of the roots, there is a single large root as big as [one's] thumb; it is
deep black like ink, and has a soft sheen like jade-stone; a little higher it forks
out into attractive fluttering branches; and the large piece at the top of the roots
can be cut into hat-buttons [and other such] articles.
Another new place to obtain coral was Bengal. The Xingcha shenglan
claims that Bengal produced coral; however, a better picture is gained from
the Yingyai shenglan (33) :
As to the itinerant musicians... round the shoulders and neck they set a fringe
made of beads of every colour interspersed with coral beads threaded together;
also, on both arms they wear bracelets made of blue and red beads fused
together....
Surprisingly, the information on the producers and exporters of coral
given in the three sources above differs from the description given in the
Ming shilu. According to the Index by Watanabe, coral was submitted as
a tribute to China by only three South and Southeast Asian countries,
namely Java (tribute mission in 1406), Malacca (missions in 1419 and 1459)
and Ceylon (1459) (34). The first three of these delegations arrived in China
during the days of Zheng He. At that time Malacca had risen to commerc
ial
power. Java (Majapahit) was of equal importance. It is therefore beyond
doubt that both places participated in the coral business. Malacca may have
sent black coral or imported c. nobile and Java native c. nobile, perhaps
also other varieties. Both places have to be included in the list of coral expor
tersderived from the Yingyai shenglan, Xingcha shenglan and Xiyang fan
guo zhi.
Sri Lanka's tribute mission arrived in China at a much later time (1459),
when Chinese maritime power had been declining. Interestingly, Ceylon
is nowhere mentioned in Chinese sources as a producer or seller of coral
prior to this date.
The Da Ming yitong zhi (1461) and some geographical works of the 16th
century such as the Xiyang chaogong dianlu (preface 1520), Da Ming huidian (1503 and 1587), Huang Ming siyi kao (preface 1564) and Shuyu zhou
zi lu (preface 1574), often following earlier works, do not only reflect the
trade situation and conditions at the time when they were written but also
of earlier periods. The first lists coral as a product of Mecca, Sri Vijaya
and Annam (35); the second resembles the Yingyai shenglan, Xiyang fan
guo zhi and Xingcha shenglan in that it links coral or coral products to Aden,

73
Hormuz, Cochin, Calicut, Bengal and Lambri (certainly mostly black coral);
however, it also lists Siam and Sri Lanka as exporters (black coral
again?) (36); the third reports that coral was submitted as a tribute by Camb
odia, Siam, Calicut, Ceylon and Malacca (the latter sent both, beads and
trees; most likely black coral), by a number of Central Asian places (inclu
dingSamarkand) and several Buddhist sites in the Sino-Tibetan border
region (the latter case perhaps red c. nobile imported via the Near East
and India from Europe and usually submitted every three years (37)); the
fourth mentions coral as a product of Siam, Annam, Lambri, Sri Vijaya,
Khotan, Mecca and Halie, and it repeats the information about coral being
used as a decoration (see the Yingyai shenglan, quoted above (38)); the fifth
adds Borneo and Champa to the list of producers (black coral, c. nobile only
in Borneo), which already includes Annam, Bengal, Sri Vijaya, Khotan,
Halie, Samarkand (as producers; the last three being traders, of course),
Java, Malacca, Chola, Calicut, Siam, Turfan (as tribute bearers) and Hor
muz (there, coral was used for decorative purposes (39)).
Geographical works of the late Ming period - for example the Siyi kao
(preface 1606; contained in the Wu bei zhi of 1644), Sancai tuhui (prefaces
1607, 1609), Huang Ming xiangxu lu (preface 1629) or Ming shan zang (prin
tedsome time after 1632) - more or less list the same maritime countries
in connection with shanhu as the 16th century sources quoted above (4).
This is also true for the celebrated Dongxiyang kao by Zhang Xie (prefaces
1617, 1618) which mentions coral in connection with Tongking (producer),
Siam (tribute bearer according to the Da Ming yitong zhi), and Palembang
(tribute bearer or producer in Song times (41)). The chapters on foreign
countries in the Ming shi (begun 1646, printed 1739) which, like most late
Ming works on strange barbarians, are based on earlier records - some
ultimately going back to the Zheng He period - report the following : Siam,
Malacca, Balaxi (unidentified) and Ceylon sent coral as a tribute; Calicut
had coral beads; in Lambri, there grew coral trees (black coral, see above)
in shallow water; and in Aden the Chinese bought coral trees (42\
Coral is also mentioned in two literary works of the Ming dynasty which
deal with Zheng He's journeys : in the anonymous ]Aa.yFeng tianming Sanbao xia Xiyang (perhaps late 15th century) and in the famous novel Sanbao taijian Xiyang ji tongsu yanyi (preface by Luo Maodeng of 1597 (43)).
Sixteenth and seventeenth century Chinese sources may be complement
ed
through early European accounts which are, however, equally imprec
ise
as far as the types of corals are concerned. Albuquerque, for example,
found Chinese merchants buying coral in Malacca (in 1511) but does not
give any detailed description about this merchandise (44). Pires, referring
to roughly the same time, says that galeasses from Venice brought coral
and other products to Cairo whence they were taken by Egyptian (?) ves-

74
sels to Malacca and from there to China (45\ This trade, as Meilink-Roelofsz
pointed out, was carried on via Aden and various Gujarati ports in South
westIndia <46). Accordingly, Castanheda, writing aroung 1561, mentions
the occurrence of coral in Calicut and Paleacate. The latter also says that
coral was traded profitably in Northern Sumatra whose ports competed
with Malacca (most probably, c. nobile of any kind and origin as well as
locally produced antipatharia were meant (47)).
Early European sources do not yield any coherent set of date on prices
and quantities of coral sent to China during the 15th and 16th centuries (48).
Quantities may have been large however; Zheng Junbin noticed, for examp
le,
that according to Gujin tushujicheng 24 800 coral beads (nobile ?) were
requested for a Chinese marriage on one occasion (49). A cargo list of much
later time reveals that 1384 little red coral bells (European nobilet) which
sold for more than 3000 taels were shipped from Macao to Japan in
1637 (50).
Perhaps a further investigation of 17th century documents would help
to complete our picture of the Ming coral trade. Yet, there will always
remain something mysterious about the shanhu which had such a strong
influence on Chinese imagination that it is worthwile to look at a quatrain
of the Tang poet Wei Yingwu who, in Schafer's words, has this to say in
praise of coral (51) :
A crimson tree, lacking flowers and leaves
Neither stone nor yet a gem-mineral;
In what place may the men of our age find it?
For it grows on the summit of Penglai.

NOTES
1.

2.
3.

For the origins of this word, see, for example, Janusz Chmielewski, Two Early LoanWords in Chinese, Rocznik OrientaMstyczny 24.2 (1986), pp. 83-86. The expression shanhu
shu (coral tree) should not be confused with the following : shanhu shu (a plant : vibu
rnumodoratissimum), shanhu hua (another name for shuoti or shuotiao : sambucus javanica), and shanhu cai (phellopterus littoralis).
See Sima Qian, Shiji (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1975), ch. 117, p. 3026; Erwin von Zach, Die
chinesische Anthologie. Ubersetzungen aus dem Wen-hsuan, 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass. :
Harvard Univ. pr., 1958), I, p. 111.
Chen Shou, Sanguo zhi (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1964), ch. 30, p. 861; Ouyang Xiu, Song Qi,
Xin Tang shu (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1975), ch. 221, p. 6261; Ma Duanlin, Wenxian tongkao
(Shi tong d., 7), ch. 330, p. 2585. For the translation, see Friedrich Hirth, China and

75

the Roman Orient. Researches into their Ancient and Medieval Relations as Represen
ted
in Old Chinese Records (reprint Chicago : Ares Publ. Inc., 1975), pp. 59-60. Also see
pp. 41, 44, 73, 246 there. See further Paul Wheatley, Geographical Notes on Some Comm
odities
Involved in Sung Maritime Trade, Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society 30.2 (1959), pp. 78-79; Berthold Laufer, Sino-Iranica. Chinese Contribut
ions
to the History of Cultivated Plants and Products (reprint Taipei : Ch'eng Wen, 1967),
pp. 523-25 (transi, by H.T. Chang in Memoirs of the Geological Survey of China (Dizhi
zhuanbao), ser. B, n 3 (1925), pp. 87-92); Edward H. Schafer, The Golden Peaches ofSamark
and.A Study of Tang Exotics (Berkeley : Univ. of California Pr., 1963), pp. 246-47; F.
de Mly, Les lapidaires de l'antiquit et du moyen-ge. Tome I : Les lapidaires chinois
(Paris : E. Leroux, 1896), pp. 54-56, 253. For other Chinese sources, see, for example,
Li Fang et al., Taiping yulan (originally 983; Taibei : Xinxing, 1959), ch. 807, pp.
3518d-3519c; E. Bretschneider, Medieval Research from Eastern Asiatic Sources, 2 vols.
(London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trbner, 1910), I, p. 151 (transi, of Xi shiji (1263).
4. For example, Wheatley in Geographical Notes, pp. 78-80. It should be emphasized, howev
er,that some of the biological/zoological observations in these descriptions do not neces
sarily point at red c. nobile.
5. Chen Menglei et al., Gujin tushujicheng (Taibei : Wenxing, 1964), vol, 87 (shihuo dian),
ch. 333, pp. 546a-548c.
6. ibid., ch. 333, pp. 544a-545c. On langgan also see Schafer, Golden Peaches, pp. 246-47;
the same, Tu Wan's Stone Catalogue of Cloudy Forest (Berkeley : Univ. of California Pr.,
1961), pp. 94-95; the same, The Vermilion Bird. T'ang Images of the South (Berkeley :
Univ. of California Pr., 1967), p. 159; Helmut Bending, Dos Yiin-lin shih-p'u. Eing Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte derSung-Zeit (Bonn, 1952; unpubl. diss.), pp. 91-92. The oldest
Chinese reference to langgan appears to be in Shu jing; see James Legge, The Chinese
Classics, 5 vols, (reprint Hong Kong : Hong Kong Univ. Pr., 1960), III, p. 127. In rare
cases langgan is said to be white; see, for example, Qiongzhou fuzhi (Zhongguo fangzhi
congshu d., 47), ch. 5, 70b.
7. For this and the following, see Schafer, Tu Wan's Stone^ Catalogue, p. 95; H.T. Chang,
Shi ya (Lapidarum Sinicum. A Study of the Rocks, Fossils and Metals as Known in Chi
nese Literature), Memoirs of the Geological Survey of China, ser. B, n 2 (rev. ed. Decemb
er
1927), pp. 26-34; de Mly, Les lapidaires, pp. 55-56, 181-82, 253. Bending, Dos Ynlin shih-p'u, p. 92, n. 470, referring to Kuangwu xue da ddian (Shanghai : Comm. Pr.,
1930), p. 588, remarks that the modem definition of langgan as blaSroter Edler Spinell
(balas rubin) is not applicable to old Chinese sources.
8. See particularly Schafer, Tu Wan's Stone Catalogue, p. 95. De Mly, Les lapidaires, pp.
181-82, quoting the Bencao gangmu (see next note), calls blue/green langgan a species
of madreporaria.
9. See sources in notes 7 and 8, particularly Schafer, Golden Peaches, pp. 230, 246. Also see
Li Shizhen, Bencao gangmu (Beijing : Renmin weisheng, 1975), ch. 8, p. 502. Su Gong
(Su Jing) lived around 657. The Bencao gangmu is also quoted in Gujin tushujicheng (see
notes 5 and 6). For the identification with malachite, see, for example, B.E. Read, C.
Pak, A Compendium of Minerals and Stones used in Chinese Medicine, from the Pnts'ao kang-mu of Li Shih-chen, A.D. 1597, Bulletin of the Peking Society ofNatural His
tory 3.2 (1928), quoted after Bending, Dos Yiin-lin shih-p'u, p. 92, n. 470. De Mly, Les
lapidaires, p. 55, thinks that blue/green shanhu is perhaps identical with langgan. In his
list of identifications, p. 258 there, he gives different explanations.
10. Bencao gangmu, ch. 8, p. 503; Wang Qi, Sancai tuhui (Taipei : Ch'eng Wen, 1970), sect.
zhenbao, ch. 1, p. 1999cd.
11. Ye Xianggao, Siyi kao (Zhonghua wenshi congshu d., ser. 3, n 18), ch. 1, p. 544.
12. Schafer, Vermilion Bird, p. 159, and Golden Peaches, p. 337, n. 259 : the Zhao Tuo story,
found, for example, in Duan Chengshi, Youyang zazu (9th cent.; Congshu jicheng d.,

76

13.

14.
15.
16.

17.

18.
19.

20.
21.

22.
23.

24.

276-78), ch. 10, p. 73, and quoted in many later sources such as the Guangdong xinyu
(see n. 14) or Sancai tuhui (see n. 10).
Friedrich Hirth, W.W. Rockhill (ed. and transi.), ChauJu-kua :His Work on the Chinese
and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, entitled Chu-fan chi (reprint
Taibei : Ch'eng Wen, 1970), p. 162. Also cf. n. 24 below (shanhu in connection with other
countries in the Zhufan zhi).
Qu Dajun, Guangdong xinyu (Hong Kong : Zhonghua, 1975), ch. 15, pp. 416-17.
Needless to say that no single Chinese author knew about the true nature of corals; coral
was considered as a stone or gem (also see poem at the end of this paper) and grouped
with other precious stones or jade.
Ferdinand Pax (d.), Meeresprodukte. Ein Handwrterbuch der maritimen Rohstoffe (Berl
in: Gebrder Borntraeger, 1962), pp. 9-10, 67-75, 127-28, 172-75, 334-36, 376-78; the
same, Korallen, in F. Pax and W. Arndt (eds.), Die Rohstoffe des Tierreichs, vol. 2 (Berlin :
Gebrder Borntraeger, 1945), pp. 37-104. 1 also used some other handbooks, for examp
le,Bernhard Grzimek (d.), Grzimeks Tierleben, Enzyklopdie des Tierreiches, vol. 1
(Zurich : Kindler, 1971), pp. 250 et seq.
Famous Japanese c. nobile are, for example, c. japonicum Kish., c. secundum Dana, c.
elatus Ridl., c. konojoi Kish. Others are known under the names Toso, Moro, Boke, etc.
For some older notes on Japanese corals, see, for example, de Mly, Les lapidaires, pp.
180-82.
See, for example, Isaac Henry Burkill (d.), A Dictionary of the Economic Products of
the Malay Peninsula, 2 vols, (reprint Kuala Lumpur : Ministry of Agriculture and Co
operatives,
1966), I, pp. 665-66.
For the usages of red coral in China, see, for example, Guangdong xinyu, ch. 15. pp. 416-17;
Bencao gangmu, ch. 8, pp. 503-04; C.A.S. Williams, Encyclopedia of Chinese Symbolism
and Art Motives (New York : The Julian Pr., 1960), p. 86; Fang Xuanling et al., Jin shu
(Beijing : Zhonghua, 1974), ch. 25, p. 766; Alide and Wolfram Eberhard, Die Mode der
Han- und Chin-Zeit (Antwerpen : De Sikkel, 1946), p. 47; Zhou Xibao, Zhongguo gudai
fushi shi (Beijing : Zhongguo xiju, 1984), p. 414; Gerald M. Born, Chinese Jade : An Annot
ated Bibliography (Chicago : Celadon Pr., 1982), pp. 48, 226; F. Davis, Late Chinese
Carvings in Coral and Soapstone, Illustrated London News 102 (1938), p. 1168; Minneap
olis
Institute of Arts, A Carved Coral Figurine, Bulletin of the Minneapolis Institute
of Arts 22 (1933), pp. 66-67; the same, A Chinese Deity in Coral, in same Bulletin 23
(1934), pp. 74-75; Pax, Meeresprodukte, pp. 73-75.
Pax, Meeresprodukte, pp. 335-36; Burkill, Dictionary, I, pp. 665-66.
See, for example, Bartolom Leonardo de Argensola, Conquista de las Islas Malucas (Zaragoza : Imprenta del Hospicio Provincial, 1891), p. 55; Hubert Th.M. Jacobs, S.J., A Treat
iseon the Moluccas (c. 15UU), Probably the preliminry Version ofAntonio Galvao's lost
Historia das Molucas (Rome : Jesuit Historical Institute, 1971), pp. 39-41; Pax, Meerespordukte, pp. 377-78.
See, for example, Pax, Meeresprodukte, p. 9; Richard Hakluyt (d.), The Principal Navig
ations,
Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation.., 12 vols. (Glasgow :
James Maclehose, 1903-1905), VI, p. 252.
See Almut Netolitzky, Das 'Ling-wai tai-ta' von Chou Ch'-fei. Eine Landeskunde Siidchinas aus dem 12. Jahrhundert (Weisbaden : Franz Steiner, 1977), p. 134-35 and note
there; Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. Ill (Cambridge : At the
Univ. Pr., 1959), p. 613; Shen Yue, Song shu (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1974), ch. 29, p. 873;
Fan Chengda, Guihai yu heng zhi (Baibu congshujicheng d., han 9.1) sect, jinjin shi, 7ab.
Hirth/Rockhill, ChauJu-kua, pp. 16, 19, 61, 96, 103, 140, 154, 162, 226. It is surprising
that few books on Indian Ocean trade acknowledge the importation of coral to China during
the Song period. An exception is C.G.F. Simkin, The Traditional Trade of Asia (London
:Oxford Univ. Pr., 1968), p. 98.

77
25. See Fangguo lei (Fangguo zazhi), 4b, attached to the Shilin guangji by Chen Yuanjing
(Peking : Zhonghua, 1963).
26. Wenxian tongkao, ch. 332, pp. 2610, 2611; ch. 337, pp. 2644, 2647; ch. 338, p. 2654; ch.
339, p. 2660. Also seeBencao gangmu, ch. 8, p. 502, and Schafer, Golden Peaches, p. 246.
27. Tuo Tuo et al., Song shi (Shanghai . Zhonghua, 1977), ch. 186, pp. 4558-59; ch. 489, pp.
14088, 14096. Some Central Asian places such as Khotan are also listed in connection
with shanhu; see, for example, ch. 490, p. 14108, there. For an identification of Guluo,
see, for example, Hirth/Rockhill, Chau-Ju-kua, p. 76, 80, 100 n. 11, 124 n.25. The Song
huiyaojigao, compiled by the Qing scholar Xu Song and others (early 19th century), says
that shanhu was sent to China by India, Sri Vijaya, Iran and Central Asia (Khoten). See
last vol. of the ed. in 8 vols. (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1957), pp. 7749, 7756, 7840, 7844, 7850,
7855, 7863, 7867 (I did not check this source thoroughly, it might contain more on coral).
Wang Qinruo et al., Ce fit yuan gui (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1960), vol. 12, ch. 968, p. 11382d,
and ch. 972, p. 11425ab, also mentions tribute missions of earlier periods bringing, among
other things, coral to China. Lin Tianwei (Lin Tien-Wai), Songdai xiangyao maoyi shigao
(Hong Kong : Zhongguo xueshe, 1960), especially p. 172-208, lists tribute missions and
tribute items during the Song.
28. Wang Dayuan (author), Su Jiqing (ed. and comm.), Daoyi zhilue jiaoshi (Beijing : Zhongh
ua,1981), pp. 202, 204, 325, 349, 369. Were the Lijiata trees similar to or identical with
those described by Peter Mundy in 1655? See Sir Richard Carnac Temple, Lavina Mary
Anstey (eds), The Travels of Peter Mundy, in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667, vol. 5 (Lon
don: The Hakluyt Society, 1936), pp. 41-42.
29. See Yel Chucai (author), Xiang Da (comm.), Xi you lu, and Zhou Zhizhong (author), Lu
Junling (com.), Yiyu zhi, both in one vol. (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1981), pp. 23, 39, 43, 45.
30. For these Near Eastern places, see Ma Huan (author), Feng Chengjun (ed. and comm.),
Yingyai shenglan jiaozhu (Taibei : Taiwan shangwu, 1962), pp. 55, 67, 71; Gong Zhen
(author), Xiang Da (ed. and comm.), Xiyang fanguo zhi (Beijin : Zhonghua, 1982), pp. 35,
43, 46; Fei Xin (author), Feng Chengjun (ed. and comm.), Xingcha shenglan jiaozhu (Bei
jing : Zhonghua, 1954), qianji, pp. 36-37.
31. For the Indian places, see Yingyai shenglan jiaozhu, pp. 41, 45, 47; Xiyang fanguo zhi,
pp. 27, 29, 30; Xingcha shenglan jiaozhu, pp. 32, 34-35. Quotations are from J.V.G. Mills
(ed. and transi.), Ma Huan : Ying-Yai Sheng-lan. 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Sho
res' (US3) , (Cambridge : At the Univ. Pr., 1970), pp. 136, 141, 143.
32. Yingyai shenglan jiaozhu, p. 33; Xiyang fanguo zhi, p. 21, Mills, Ma Huan, pp. 123-24.
33. Yingyai shenglan jiaozhu, p. 62; Xiyang fanguo zhi, p. 40; Xingcha shenglan jiaozhu, pp.
41, 43; Mills, Ma Huan, p. 164. For coral in connection with Bengal also see, for examp
le,Temple, The Travels of Peter Mundy, vol. 2 (London, 1914), p. 366.
34. Hiroshi Watanabe, An Index of Embassies and Tribute Missions to Ming China (1368-1644)
as Recorded in the Ming Shih-lu, Classified according to Geographic Area, Memoirs of
the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 33 (1975), pp. 44, 48, 49. Only one Central
Asian state is reported to have submitted shanhu to China; see p. 54 there.
35. Li Xian et al., Da Ming yitong zhi (Taibei : Wenhai, 1965), ch. 90, pp. 5526-27, 5548, 5557.
I did not check the Huanyu tongzhi (1456) which is known to contain almost identical
information.
36. Huang Shengzeng (author), Xie Fang (ed. and comm.), Xiyang chaogong dianlu (Beijing :
Zhonghua, 1982), pp. 60, 72, 84, 86, 89, 99, 101-103, 108, 114.
37. Li Dongyang et al., Da Ming huidian (Taibei : Zhongwen, 1963), ch. 105, p. 1589d; ch.
106, pp. 1597d, 1598b, 1600a; ch. 107, pp. 1609d, 1610a; ch. 108, pp. 1611c, 1612b, 1613a-c,
1614ac.
38. Zheng Xiao, Huang Ming siyi kao (Zhonghua wenshi congshu ed., ser. 3, n 16), ch. shang,
pp. 476, 492, 507; ch. xia, pp. 514, 518, 537, 542, 544.

78
39. ch.
Yang
7, 5b;
Congjian,
ch. 8, 12a,
Shuyu
17b,
zhou
22a,
zi 27a;
lu (Zhonghua
ch.9, 8a; wenshi
ch. 10, congshu
19a; ch. d.,
11, ser.
3b; ch.
3, n
15,12),
8a,ch.
10a,
6, 25b;
13b.
There appeared other Chinese works in the second half of the 16th century which list
shanhu as a foreign product or tribute item, for example the Huangyu kao (earliest pre
face 1557), Tushu bian (compiled between 1562 and 1577), or Xian bin lu (preface 1591).
Zheng Haosheng and Zheng Yijun, Zheng He xia Xiyang ziliao huibian, 3 vols. (Jinan :
Qi Lu shushe), II shang and xia, where much information on foreign countries is collec
ted
and conveniently arranged according to topics, confirm that these sources do not add
anything significantly new to the material discussed above.
40. Mao Yuanyi, Wu bei zhi (Taibei : Huashi, 1984), ch. 236, 8b, 13b; ch. 237, 4b; ch. 238,
10a; Mao Ruizheng, Huang Ming ziangxu lu (Zhonghua wenshi congshu d., ser. 3, n
17), pp. 193, 226, 254, 293, 304, 432; He Qiaoyuan, Ming shan zang (Taibei : Ch'eng Wen,
1971), pp. 6216, 6397, 6401-03. All references to maritime countries only.
41. Zhang Xie, Dongxiyang kao (Baibu congshu jicheng d., han 58.2), ch. 1, 10b; ch. 2, 12b;
ch.3, 16b.
42. Zhang Tingyu et al., Ming shi (Beijing : Zhonghua, 1974), ch. 324, p. 8401; ch. 325, pp.
8419, 8427, 8430; ch. 326, pp. 8441, 8446, 8450.
43. Xu Yunqiao (Hs Yn-ts'iao; comm. and d.), Xia Xiyang zaju (Nanyang xiuzhen congshu,
6; Kuala Lumpur : Xingzhou shijie, 1962), pp. 42-43, 48; Luo Maodeng (author ?), Lu Shulun,
Zhu Shaohua (eds.), Sanbao taijian Xiyang ji tongsu yanyi (Shanghai : Shanghai guji,
1985), hui 45, p. 587; hui 60, p. 779; hui 86, p. 1112 (some references only). For both
works see my Cheng Hos Abenteuer im Drama und Roman der Ming-Zeit (Stuttgart : Franz
Steiner, 1986).
44. See Burkill, Dictionary, I, p. 665.
45. Armando Cortesao, TheSuma Oriental of TomePires... and the Book ofFrancisco Rodrigues..., 2 vols. (London : The Hakluyt Society, 1944), II, p. 269.
46. M.A.P. Meilink-Roelofsz, Asian Trade and European Influence in the Indonesian Archi
pelago between 1500 and about 1630 (The Hague : Nijhoff, 1962), p. 61. More on coral in
the Near Eastern sphere, for example, in Vitorino Magalhaes Godinho, Os descobrimentos e a economia mundial, 4 vols. (Lisbon : Editorial Presena, 1982-1984), I, pp. 234-35.
47.Fernao Lopez de Castanheda, Hist&ria do Descobrimento e Conqvista da India pelos Portvgveses, 9 vols, in 3 (Lisbon : Na Typographia Rollandiana, 1833), I, pp. 44, 353, 356 (liv.
1, cap. 13; liv. 2, cap. Ill, 112). Interestingly, locally produced black (?) coral was ship
ped from Malabar to the Levant at around the same time. See, for example, Hakluyt,
Principal Navigations, VI, p. 25 (on p. 26 there : corallina from the Red Sea).
48. There are some data, however, for the Indian coral market. See, for example, Magalhaes
Godinho, Os descobrimentos, I, pp. 240, 245; Rodrigo Jos de Lima Felner (d.), Subsdios para a histria da India portugueza (Lisbon : Typographia da Academia Real das
Sciencias, 1868), especially Livro dos pesos..., 11, 13, 32, 39; Lembranas..., 39, 41; K.S.
Mathew, Portuguese Trade with India in the Sixteenth Century (New Dehli : Manohar,
1983) pp. 149-56, 176. The Chinese data are very scattered. The Song huiyapjigao, VIII,
pp. 7850 and 7863, reports that some coral stems brought by an envoy of Sri Vijaya were
240 Hang each. The Da Ming huidian, ch. 113, p. 1664c, says that coral branches were
valued at 13 guan per jin, coral beads at 2 guan per jin.
49. Zheng Junbin, Mingdai Guangdong de cai zhu shiye, Mingshi yanjiu zhuankan (Jour
nal
of Ming Studies) ') (1984), p. 97, n. 38; Gujin tushu jicheng, vol. 86, ch. 252, p. 655c.
50. C.R. Boxer, The Great Ship from Amacon. Annals ofMacao and the Old Japan Trade,
1555-1640 (Lisbon : Centro de Estudos Histricos Ultramarinos, 1959), p. 196.
51. Schafer, Golden Peaches, p. 246.

79
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