Kalinga Ancient Trade Routes

Palembang (Fo-che)

Probable Scholars say

Palembang was the great capital of the Srivijaya sea kingdom in Sumatra. A Chinese monk sailed there on his way to and from India, thirteen hundred years ago.

Palembang was the great capital of Srivijaya, a sea kingdom based in Sumatra. About thirteen hundred years ago, a Chinese Buddhist monk named Yijing sailed there. Old records say he “left the Guang-Zhou region … visited Fo-che, Mo-lo-yu and Sumatra,” then sailed on towards India. On his way home, he stopped at the same port again. [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 27]

For scholars

Only one source was read here. So the tier stops at Probable. Scholars usually match this old name, Fo-che, to Srivijaya’s capital, at modern Palembang. That reading follows a retelling of an old 1894 translation. It is not a direct check of the original Chinese or French text. No source here gives a coordinate. The position given is the modern city of Palembang, read from a map. [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 27]

Facts

Coordinates
-2.98°, 104.78°
[Natural Earth, 1, n.d.]
  1. *Natural Earth, 1:50m Physical and Cultural Vectors*. n.d. public domain
Modern name
Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia
Also known as
Fo-che (Yijing's transliteration), Srivijaya (kingdom)
Region
southeast-asia

Routes through Palembang (Fo-che)

  • Guangzhou to Palembang

    The Chinese monk Yijing sailed from the port of Guangzhou to Palembang on his way to study in India. He wrote down his own journey, stop by stop.

    [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 27]
    1. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint p. 27 ('Yi-Jing, who took the maritime route to India, left the Guang-Zhou region in China and visited Fo-che, Mo-lo-yu and Sumatra ...' Dayalan cites Chavannes's 1894 translation of Yijing's account.)

  • Palembang to Kedah

    After Palembang, the monk Yijing's ship carried him on to Kedah on the Malay Peninsula. From there he waited for the winds to carry him further west.

    [Dayalan, 2019, offprint p. 27]
    1. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint p. 27 ('... visited Fo-che, Mo-lo-yu and Sumatra ... proceeded northwest to Kie-tcha.' Dayalan cites Chavannes's 1894 translation of Yijing's account; Kie-tcha is read as Kedah.)
Scholar notes

Fo-che is the standard identification of Yijing's transliteration with Srivijaya's capital, usually placed at modern Palembang; this entry follows Dayalan's paraphrase of Chavannes's 1894 French translation of Yijing, not a primary reading of the Chinese or French text. Only one source was read, so the tier stops at Probable. No coordinate is given in the source; position is the modern city of Palembang, read from a map.

  1. Duraiswamy Dayalan. *Ancient Seaports on the Eastern Coast of India: The Hub of the Maritime Silk Route Network*. in Acta Via Serica 4. 2019 , offprint p. 27 (Yijing 'left the Guang-Zhou region ... visited Fo-che, Mo-lo-yu and Sumatra ... proceeded northwest to Kie-tcha ... reached the Nicobar Islands ... Tamralipti.' Returning, 'landing again at Kie-tcha and Fo-che.' Citing Chavannes's 1894 translation.)