Ling-wai tai-ta

Lingwai Daida (Chinese: 嶺外代答; pinyin: Lĭngwài Dàidā; Wade–Giles: Lingwai Taita), variously translated as Representative Answers from the Region beyond the Mountains, Notes Answering [Curious Questions] from the land beyond the Pass or other similar titles, is a 12th century geographical treatise written by Zhou Qufei (Chinese: 周去非; pinyin: Zhōu Qùfēi; Wade–Giles: Chou Ch'ü-fei). It contains information on the geography, history, social custom and economy of territories of southern China, Guangxi in particular. It also includes descriptions of oversea states as far away as Africa and southern Spain.

The book was written in 1178 by Zhou Qufei, who had worked as an assistant sub-prefect in Guilin, Guangxi. In Guilin, Zhou served for a time under Fan Chengda who wrote a book on the southern region of China, Guihai yuheng zhi (桂海虞衡志, "Well-balanced Records of Guihai"). Although Zhou received Fan's book late after he had already started revising his own book to finish it, he quoted extensively from Fan's work. The book also includes quotes from works by the Tang dynasty geographer Jia Dan. Zhou also worked as an Educational Commissioner in Qinzhou, a port in Guangxi, where he had the opportunity to question traders, sailors as well as interpreters for foreign merchants, and he added the information he had gathered there in the book.

The original book is lost, and the current version was recompiled from entries in the Yongle Encyclopedia. A German translation, Das Ling-wai-tai-ta von Chou Ch'ü-fei: Eine Landeskunde Südchinas aus dem 12. Jahrhundert, by Almut Netolitzky was published in 1977.

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