What did Ibn Battuta see in China?
Ibn Battuta reached China in 1345 — an astonishing journey for a man from Tangier. His description of the port of Zaytūn, the Muslim quarter, and the Chinese state is a rare first-person window into Yuan-era China.
10 passages from 4 books in the library
Ibn Battuta reached China in 1345, an astonishing journey for a man from Tangier, and the page presents his account as a rare first-person window onto Yuan-era China. The cited passages mention the great ports through which merchants from China, Java, Ceylon, the Maldives, Yemen and Persia gathered, the renowned pottery for which a Chinese city was known, and the large ocean-going ships built only in particular Chinese cities. His descriptions of the harbours, trade, and the lands bordering China give a vivid sense of its commerce and reach.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 4 books by Ibn Battuta and Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"pronounced with an open K, which is the China of China. This city is known for its pottery"
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"These ships are only built in the city of Zhetan in China, or in Qilan, China, which"
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"It is one of the great ports in the land of Malabar, visited by people from China, Java, Ceylon, the Maldives, Yemen, and Persia, where merchants from all over gather."
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"Its harbor is among the finest, its water sweet, and it contains abundant arika which is shipped to India and China."
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"It so happened that Tenghis sent merchants with goods from China and Khitai, including silk clothes and other items, to the town of Otrar,"
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"Later, I heard from India that when he reached the city of Malacca, the last land of Transoxiana and the first of China, he stayed there."
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"He gained control over his country, grew strong, and expanded his influence, conquering the kingdoms of Khitai and then China."
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"He planned to travel with me to India, but when a group from his town decided to go to China, he chose to journey with them."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"the heart itself. There is a story that illustrates this difference. People from China and Rome"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"If we knew of such a person, even in the farthest reaches of China, we would hasten to them"
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