Ricerc@Sapienza

The work Lingwai daida (Notes from the Land Beyond the Passes), written by Zhou Qufei
in 1178, is one of the most important Song works dealing with China’s maritime contacts
with foreign countries and may thus be regarded as an important milestone in the field of
geography. This article focuses on the historico-linguistic analysis of two toponyms used by
the author in this work: Bosiguo and Kunlun Cengqiguo. Compared to the other toponyms
mentioned in Lingwai Daida, these two are characterized by some special features. Although,
according to Zhou’s description, they were located within the same sea, the Xinanhai (Southwestern
Sea), their characteristics are quite different, and so the exact identification of these
two toponyms is still under discussion. Through the translation and the analysis of their
description, this paper aims to underline the influence of the Arab geographical concept of
the world on Zhou Qufei’s work, in order to add a fruitful contribution to the research on
historical contacts between the Chinese and the Arabs, in particular regarding the sharing of
a concept of geography, which doubtless took place along the Maritime Silk Road over many
centuries.