(Mis)reading Chinese Texts in Southeast Asian History: "Moliu", Duoluomo and the Lure of "Srivijayan" Conquests

The present text challenges two assumptions by Gabriel Ferrand (1864-1935) and George Coedes (1886-1969), the founders of "Srivijaya" history in Southeast Asian studies, concerning Chinese source material. While Ferrand reconstructed a new reading and understanding of a geographical term, Coedes was instrumental in inserting mention of a Javanese polity into Chinese records. Both intentionally changed the records in their quest to prove, firstly, that "Srivijaya" was a historical entity that could be documented via Chinese texts, and secondly, that the assumed state of "Srivijaya" pursued an expansive policy in the late seventh century towards their western neighbour Malayu in Sumatra, and their eastern neighbour Taruma in western Java. Neither Ferrand's nor Coedes' textual interventions, however, can be maintained upon closer inspection of the sources, and therefore the "Srivijayan" irredentism they sought to base on Chinese sources should be discarded.