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Setting out from the Lei-chou Peninsula, passing
North Bay (part of the South China Sea), following the coast of
south China, heading out into the "Chang Sea," and then passing
through the Strait of Malacca, is the South China Sea sailing route
to India. Historians call it the "Shu-Wen, Her Pu, Xe Nan Route."
This route had already been opened up when the Emperor Han Wu-ti
defeated Vietnam. The opening of this route not only created a route
through the South China Sea from China, it also connected the Pacific
Ocean and Indian Ocean. It proved to be of great value to Chinese
merchants, and encouraged more Chinese to sail on the South China
Sea.
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