Chinese language sources on the late history of Champa

Abstract

In his early work, of essential scientific importance, Georges Maspero covered the history of Champa until 1471, the fall of the Cham capital Vijaya. This event constituted a real turning-point in relations between the Chams and the Vietnamese Đại Việt state but in fact – as it emerges from the Chinese and Vietnamese historical sources – the major Vietnamese military success did not result in the end of the Cham polity. The subsequent period is one of the lesser-known, lesser-investigated stages of the history of Champa, which has been the subject of hardly any detailed scholarly research. In the absence of Cham epigraphy, the historical reconstruction of this late period depends entirely on Chinese and Vietnamese chronicles and geographical works. In the current study I shall attempt to elaborate the Chinese and Vietnamese texts which offer significant information on the major historical events in order to provide a better understanding of Cham history after the fall of Vijaya.