The Indonesian Word 'Kapur'(果布) in the Chinese Texts Shiji(史記) and Hanshu(漢書)

概要

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As early as the 2nd century BCE, the name of kapur barus (camphor), a product of the tropical rainforest of insular Southeast Asia, had become established as a rare international trading item and was being mentioned in Chinese texts in its Chinese transliteration of guobu. We can also assert with confidence that, by the early years of the 1st century CE, the island of Pisang, an important navigational point on the sea-route through the strategic Malacca Strait, was being referred to in Chinese texts in its Chinese rendering of pizong. The fact that the earliest Indonesian words to be mentioned in Chinese texts are kapur and pisang is no mere coincidence. Rather, it illustrates the crucial role played by the Malacca Strait region - or, to put it differently, the Indonesia-Malaysia region - in East-West oceanic trading and transportation. As well as furnishing the products that would feature as the trading commodities of East-West exchange, this region also played an essential role in providing the route that made such trading activities possible. An examination of the Indonesian word kapur barus has revealed that the Malacca Strait region had already begun to play such a dual role in East-West oceanic trade by at least the 2nd century BCE.
2010-12-24