The country Ma-yi - Chao Ju-kua's pre-Spanish description of the Philippines

(There is no direct reference as to the time in which Chao Ju-kua lived, but his name is mentioned in the Imperial Catalogue, whence it appears that he was probably descended from some member of the imperial family of the Sung dynasty, whose real name was Chao.; and that he was born after the beginning of the second half of the twelfth century. He was inspector of the salt gabel in the province of Fo-kien, and his title was probably Shih-po, which means " Superintendent of Sea Trade." As this post existed in Fo-kien only during the years 1277- 1287, it is probable that those dates fix the period of Chao Ju-kua. His work is called the Chu-fan-chih, and the greater part of his notes are copies from older records. His position, however, gave him opportunity to gather information personally from the traders who anchored at his port. At that time more foreign traders frequented Chinese ports than either before or after, and it would be comparatively easy to gather information. The Chu-fan-chih contains more geographical information than do the court records. See F. Hirth's China and the Roman Orient (Leipsic and Munich; and Shanghai and Hong-kong, 1885), pp. 21-25.)