Crossroads 11 (April 2015) An Introduction to Siyi guangji 四夷廣記 Elke PAPELITZKY Introduction During the Ming 明 Dynasty (1368–1644), many geographical works describ- ing foreign countries were written. One of them was Siyi guangji (Extensive Records of All Barbarians) by Shen Maoshang 慎懋賞. It only survived in one handwritten version, currently in the possession of the Central Library in Tai- bei 國家書. The text is not divided into juan 卷 and the manuscript has no preface or colophon providing additional information on the circumstances of its creation. The only information on the author is that found at the begin- ning of some subdivisions: 明吳人慎懋賞輯。 Written by Shen Maoshang, a person of Wu from the Ming Dynasty. The present manuscript describes 94 countries in about 900 Chinese double- pages. 1 In the first chapter on Korea, there are several short notes, attributed to Qingchang Daoren 清常人. This was a style ( hao ) of Zhao Qimei 趙琦美 (1563–1624), a scholar and book collector living in Changshu 常熟, a place near present-day Shanghai 上海. Zhao Qimei apparently wrote these notes after receiving the manuscript from Shen Maoshang. 2 The latest date found in the manuscript is 1609, a date given by Zhao Qimei in his notes. The latest date referred to by Shen Maoshang himself by contrast, is found at the end of the chapter on the Northern barbarians, namely the 22nd day in the 8th month of the 31st year of the Wanli 萬曆 reign (1573–1619), i. e. Sept. 26, 1603, 3 show- 1 In Xuanlantang congshu xuji 玄覽堂叢書續集, a collectaneum of facsimile editions first published 1947 in Nanjing, the facsimile of Siyi guangji is devided into 16 fascicles (ce 冊, no. 87–102). Because the original manuscript does not include any contiuous page numbering, and the editors of the congshu only added them for some pages, in this article primarily the ce number of the facsimile edition is given, sometimes added by the page number. 2 In one of his notes dated 5th day in the 7th month of Wanli 37 (August 4th, 1609), Zhao Qimei states that Shen Maoshang gave him “extensive records” (guangzhi 廣志), a term which probably refers to Siyi guangji (Cf. Siyi guangji , ce 90, p. 204). 3 Siyi guangji , ce 97.