This volume, in continuation of volume 23 of the series Maritime Asia, contains eight more studies on the late Ming novel Sanbao taijian Xiyang ji tongsu yanyi (short title Xiyang ji) which narrates Zheng He’s adventures in the “Western Ocean”. Xiyang ji is the earliest and best-known Zheng He narrative. Its macro-structure resembles that of Xiyou ji and is equally complex as the text draws on many different sources. Besides looking at Xiyang ji from a sanjiao guiyi (三教归一) perspective or as a novel of quest, one can also make use of it for historical research, sociological inquiries, and above all, within the general framework of “Maritime Studies”.
Four of the articles in the present collection are in Chinese; these parts were written by Zhou Yunzhong 周运中, Shi Ping 时平, Zhou Ruyan 周茹燕, and Huang Huizhen 黄慧珍. The other articles, in German, are by Katrin Götzinger, Katrin Weiß, Cai Jiehua, and Barbara Witt. Taken together, they deal with the author, views of the non-Chinese world, the portrayal of Wang Jinghong (vice-admiral under Zheng He), various spirits and gods in the novel (Lishan laomu, etc.), the Li Hai episode, and certain dimensions that make it possible to compare Xiyang ji to another novel, Fengshen yanyi.