Sulu in a Late Ch’ing Novel-A Brief Note on a Rare Boo

Ptak, Roderich

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archīum.ATENEO (Ateneo de Manila Univ.)

Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints Volume 32 Number 3 Article 5 6-7-2012 Sulu in a Late Ch’ing Novel- A Brief Note on a Rare Book Roderich Ptak Follow this and additional works at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/phstudies Recommended Citation Ptak, Roderich (2012) "Sulu in a Late Ch’ing Novel- A Brief Note on a Rare Book," Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints: Vol. 32: No. 3, Article 5. Available at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/phstudies/vol32/iss3/5 This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by the Ateneo Journals at Archīum Ateneo. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints by an authorized editor of Archīum Ateneo. philippine studiesAteneo de Manila University • Loyola Heights, Quezon City • 1108 PhilippinesSulu in a Late Ch’ing Novel-A Brief Note on a Rare BookRoderich PtakPhilippine Studies vol. 32, no. 3 (1984) 322–324Copyright © Ateneo de Manila UniversityPhilippine Studies is published by the Ateneo de Manila University. Contents may not be copied or sent via email or other  means to multiple sites and posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s written permission. Users may download and print articles for individual, noncom-mercial use only. However, unless prior permission has been obtained, you may not download an entire issue of a journal, or download multiple copies of articles.Please contact the publisher for any further use of this work at philstudies@admu.edu.ph.http://www.philippinestudies.netFri June 27 13:30:20 2008Phlippine Studies 32 (1984) : 322-24 Texts and Documents Sulu in a Late Ch'ing Novel-A Brief Note on a Rare Book R O D E R I C H  PTAK In 1959 Hsu Yun-ch'iao prepared an annotated edition of a rare novel which is based on Cheng Ho's famous expeditions to the Indian Ocean.' This book, which has escaped the attention of most scholars, is called San-pao t'ai-chien hsia Hsi-yang or The Eunuch Sun-pao travels t o  the Western Ocean. Its author is a certain P'eng Ho-ling of whom we have no biographical information. P'eng's novel is divided into ten chapters. It first appeared in 1909. The original publisher was the Chiao ch'iin hsiao-shuo she or "The Novel Club dedicated to awaken the Masses." Hsu is con- vinced that this book was written for the purpose of promoting patriotic ideas. He points out that "The Novel Club" edited seve- ral other works of similar ~ha rac t e r .~  Perhaps it should be stated here that P'eng's novel does by no means comply with real history. It has to be regarded as an imaginative account, partially based on geographical and other records, partially on i n ~ e n t i o n . ~  The novel tells how Cheng Ho became a eunuch leader and how the imperial fleet sailed from one country to  another. Among the places visited are Sumatra, Java, Malacca, Cochin, Calicut, Aden, the Sulu Archipelago, Dhufar, the Maldives, Borneo, the Nicobar Islands, Bengal, Ceylon, Medina and Panduranga. Sur- 1. ~ s i i  Yun-ch'iao, Son-pao t hi-chien hsin Hsi-yang (Kuala Lumpur: Hsing-chou shih-chieh shu-chu, 1959). 2. Ibid., pp. 1-2. 3. In chapter 1 of his novel P'eng claims to have seen a Cheng Heplay. Perhaps this play was a Peking opera For more information on the latter, see Tao  Chun-ch'i, ~hing-chii chii-mu ch'u-thn (Peking: Chung-kuo hsi-ch'u ch'u-pan-she, 1963), pp. 314-15. SULU IN A c H ' I ~ G  NOVEL 323 prisingly, Cheng Ho also travels through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea, and he returns to China via Turfan in Hsin- chiang. Although we do not know why the author chose this arrangement of events - on purpose or out of ignorance? - it is obvious that he intended to describe China's glorious past when it was the Chinese and not the "western barbarians" who controlled the oceans. These points, however, do not need to be discussed in the context of this brief note. I shall now turn to the transla- tion of the passages on Sulu. The description of the Sulu Islands is contained in chapter 5 of P'eng's novel. The translation follows. The people [of Sulu] seldom eat grain, they [rather] eat fish, shrimps, univalves and bivalves [when they are hungry]. The inhabitants cut their hair short and wrap [their heads] with black turbans. They boil sea-water to  obtain salt, ferment sugar-cane to produce liquor and weave bamboo- fibre into cloths for their occupation! In the beginning of the Hung-wu pe- riod (1368-98), the eastern king, the western king and the divisional king of this country, each accompanied by his wife and children, came to [the Chinese] court [to pay tributes]. Among the three kings the eastern ruler is considered to be the most important one, the western mler and the divi- sional ruler follow in rank.' On the way back [to Sulu] the eastern king died in Te-chou. An officer was commissioned [by imperial decree] to manage the funeral and [the king's] wife and concubines were left behind to guard the grave. Three years later when the order expired, they returned home.6 [It was also decided that a Chinese] ambassador would be sent to 4. These lines appear in most descriptions.of Sulu. They can be traced back to very early sources See, for example, Wang Ta-yuan, Tae i  chih-lueh chiaechu in ed. and comm. Fujita Toyohashi (np.: Shang-yu Leshih, 1915; Hsiieh-thng ts'ung-k'o), 54a. Translation in W.W. Rockhill, "Notes on the Relations and Trade of China with the Eastern Archipelago and the Coasts of the Indian Ocean during the Fourteenth Century," T'oung Pao 16 ( 1  9 15): 270-7 1, and E.Z. Mulder, "The Philippine Islands in the Chinese World Map of 1674," Oriens Extremus 25 No. 2 (1978): 226. Also cf. my article, "Sulu in Ming Drama" Philippine Studies 31 (1983): 232-37. 5. The names of these rulers are usually given as Pa-tu-ko Pa-ta-(or: ha-) la (the eastern king), Pa-tu-ko Pa-su-li (the western king) and Pa-tu-ko Pa-la-pu (the divisional king). The usual transcription is Paduka Pahala, - Pasuli and - Prabu. ~ s i i  Yiin-ch'iao, Sun-pao, p. 19, note 4, uses the transcription "Peduka Putera, - Persuri and - Peradu." In some sources the names differ. See, for example, Chang Ting-yu, et. al. Ming Shih (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1974), p. 2264; Ming shih-lu, ed. Chung-yang yen-chiu- yiian li-shih y;i-yen yen-chu-so (Nankang, 1966), voL 13, pp. 2021, 2023,2025, voL 14, pp. 2224, 2264; Ho Ch'iao-yuan Ming shun tsang (Taipei: Ch'eng-wen ch'u-pan-she, 1971), vol. 20, p. 6187; Hsu Hsueh-chu Kuo-chho tien-hui (Taipei: T'ai-wan Hsueh- sheng shi-chu, 1965; Chung-kuoshih-hsuehts'ung-shu, 6), voL 4, p. 1959. For translations see Mulder, "The Philippine Islands," p. 228, and W. P. Groeneveld, Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca Compiled from Chinese Sources (Batavia: W .  Bruining, 1876), p. 104. 6. The king's death is mentioned in most sources The longest account is in Yen 324 PHILIPPINE STUDIES appoint [the ruler's] eldest son as the [new] king of ~ulu.' When the time had come, Cheng Ho acted as the appointing officer. Moreover, he had to confirm [the positions of] the western king and the divisional king by an imperial order.8 Upon his arrival in their country, the [new] king went to the suburbs one hundred miles away [from his residence] to receive [Cheng Ho with full honours]. [For this occasion the king] wrapped his head with a white turban and tied beautiful silken cloths around his waist. With bare feet he rode on a yellow calf, and protected by the swords and shields [of his guards] to the front and back, he presented himself with pomp and ceremony.9 1 The climate of [this] country is warm, the five kinds of grain are always ripe,' O and the people live happily. When Cheng Ho first arrived there, he proclaimed the [emperor's] gracious orders and presented the divisional ruler and the western ruler with a silver seal each. After the two kings had bowed and expressed their gratefulness, each of them commissioned im- portant officials to accompany [Cheng Ho on his return voyage] and to pay tribute [to the Chinese court]. Then Cheng Ho left Sulu. & ~ A H t i f k * U % 4 E ~ $ % # t o E W @ S  meH*3R&~@*aRs@**fl*s% 0s S @ # m s E . a E . M E * & * # ~ R m o ~  UREB#*~~MLE&~OB&@M**E** a . a ~ w s * ~ s ~ m ~ ~ 9 + + = w m * a ~  wssesanmx o ~ & * m a w ~ w w a  @ i % @ l 3 l $ 3  O m.*sm * 32r&E&* * EiBS m * R3iMR * %E%?Xt?! * R~l&fl@BS * @ct 8% 0 rn+&#ZE * Zi%%??A * EPGm O &S * Bm@.F.4D * *-k.$xjm.I-$fl * -k?WZ * -  $2mz o s E # M 9  * *@3f~P.fhC$Ak O SUY#jEf@ * - A page of P'eng's novel Ts'ung-chien Shu-yi chou tzu lu (Peking: Ku-kung pewu-kuan t'u-shu-kuan, 1930), vol. 3, ch. 9, 4a-5b. 7. The name of the eldest son is usually given as Tu-ma-han (or-ho), 8. It is highly unlikely that the real Cheng Ho was involved in this mission See my article in Philippine Studies p. 238, note 37. "Hsi" ("to grant,'' etc.) here is "to confirm." 9. "I-chang" also refers to the insignia of a monarch. 10. Similar statements also occur in most other descriptions of Sulu. "The fwe kinds of grain" comprise hemp, two types of millet, wheat, barley, etc. 

Sulu in a Late Ch’ing Novel- A Brief Note on a Rare Book

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Sulu in a Late Ch’ing Novel- A Brief Note on a Rare Book

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