The Diaoyu Islands is an inherent territory of China. This indisputable fact is backed by the photocopy of Shun Feng Xiang Song (Voyage with a Tail Wind), the earliest historical record of the Diaoyu Islands, which is on display at the London Book Fair.
Shun Feng Xiang Song, likely written during the Ming dynasty, contains 127 sailing directions related to capturing weather conditions, topographic features in different parts of the country and voyages to different destinations.
The book is published by Zhonghua Book Company under China Publishing Group Corp (CPG) and debuts along with another book, Zhi Nan Zheng Fa (Compass Directions), both from Oxford University.
Specifically, "From Fujian to Ryukyu" chapter records the voyage from Fujian to Ryukyu, with names of "Diaoyu Yu" (Diaoyu Islands) and "Chikan Yu" (Chiwei Yu) appearing for the first time in written history.
This writing section is the most persuasive historical evidence that the Chinese people were the first to discover, name and utilize these islands. Zhi Nan Zheng Fa was probably written in late Ming and early Qing and records facts about the Diaoyu Islands too.
These two ancient books were discovered and transcribed by Chinese historian Xiang Da when he was sent by Peking Library to work at Bodleian Libraries between 1935 and 1936 on an exchange program.
