Illustrated Gazetteer of the Maritime Kingdoms, Scroll 5: Southeast Oceans, General Overview

By the expertise of astronomers and mathematicians, knowledge has been broadly expanded throughout the Middle Kingdom China.. Having gained a vast and distant perspective, those details already fully recorded in the Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Great Qing Empire The Da Qing Yitong Zhi, the official geographical record of the Qing Dynasty's territories. shall not be repeated here. Instead, a general summary of the entire continent is briefly recorded to the left.

The Collected Complete Maps of World Geography states: Of the four great continents of the world, Asia transliterated as Yaqiya is the largest. It is 24,000 li A traditional Chinese unit of distance; at this time, roughly 500 meters. in length and 12,300 li in width. In terms of latitude Literally "the height of the North Pole above the Earth.", it spans from 2 degrees to 78 degrees North. Measured from the English prime meridian Greenwich.—which is offset to the east—it lies between 26 and 190 degrees.

To the south, it reaches the Indian Ocean, containing Tonkin original: "東京" (Dongjing). In this context, it refers to northern Vietnam, not the capital of Japan. and Siam Thailand. at its southwestern maritime corner. To the north, it reaches the Arctic Ocean literally "the North Ice Sea.". To the east is the Pacific Ocean and its coastal margins. To the west, it connects to the continent of Europe transliterated as Ouluoba and the Mediterranean Sea. There is a small neck of land The Isthmus of Suez. connecting it to the continent of Africa transliterated as Yafeilijia, and it also borders the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Within this great continent, the various kingdoms of the south are known as the Malay states original: "蕪來由" (Wulaiyou). A 19th-century transliteration of "Melayu.", along with the various nations of Siam, Annam Vietnam., and Lao...