Ma Huan MA 马欢 (1380-1460) and His Yingya Shenglan 瀛涯 胜览

Abstract

Very little is known about Ma Huan’s life. We know that his styled name was Zongdao宗道, also Ruqing 汝钦, and his self-appellation as “vulgar woodman of Kuaiji” (Kuaiji shanqiao会稽山樵). Kuaiji 会稽 is an old name for modern Shaoxing绍兴 in Zhejiang province. He was born in 1380 CE to a traditional Muslim family. At about six or seven years of age, he most probably started education in one of the mosques near to his native town. Later, he excelled, in addition to his Chinese proficiency, in Arabic and Persian languages. He was employed by the Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) as his translator (tongshi通事). Among the crews of Zheng He’s expeditions4 from 1405 to 1433, Ma Huan was one of the few civilian personnel, who played roles as propagandists (jiaoyu 教谕) of the Chinese Emperor’s promulgations and Chinese cultures, as well as an imam for Muslim crews.