Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s1.29

v1.c5.s1.29

Wang Dayuan was another person from the period of the Yuan dynasty, which followed the Song dynasty, who recorded the products to be found in India. In addition to this, Wang Dayuan paid much attention to the economy and trade, and he wrote descriptions of agriculture, harvest, markets, revenues and currencies of the places mentioned. In his work, *Daoyi zhilüe* (A brief account of the island peoples), which was based on his travels, he listed the products of Bengal. He wrote that it was rich in jute cloth, byssus cloth, tula-cotton, and peacock feathers. He noted that among the items traded with China were “south and north silk”, “five-coloured raw silk”, cloves, amomum kravanh, bluish white vases and white tassels. His work too would have been an important source of trade information for Chinese merchants and the government.