Yiyuzhi 異域志

Yiyuzhi 異域志 "Report from alien regions" is a short book on foreign states written by a Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) master called Zhou Zhizhong 周致中 (dates unknown). It it kown that he was a supervisor of an academy (zhiyuan 知院) and was six times sent abroad on diplomatic missions.

The original title of the book of 2 juan was Luochonglu 臝蟲錄 "Records of the unclad worms", which is a very derogatory appellation of non-Chinese peoples. In the books, 210 peoples and states are shortly mentioned and described concerning their customs and habits, the size of their country, and the local products. The text covers "ethnic minorities" as well as larger states. The geographic frame reaches from Korea to the East African coast.

The book is described in the Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要, part Cunmu 存目, but not included in the corpus of the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 series. It is found in the series Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘.

In 1981 the Zhonghua Book Company 中華書局 published a modern edition, annotated by Lu Junling 陸峻嶺.