Malays were once referred to as "
Kun-lun people" in various Chinese records.
Kunlun originally referred to a fabled mountain range believed to span parts of
Tibet and
India. It was used by the Chinese in reference to black, wavy-haired barbarians of mountains and jungles from the remote part of the geographically known world. The
Champas and
Khmers were called
Kunlun people by the Chinese before the term was applied to the Malays or more accurately
Austronesians as a whole. In 750,
Jianzhen (688–765) noticed the presence of many "
Brahmans,
Persians and Kunluns in
Canton". The
Old Book of Tang reported that "every year, Kunlun merchants came in their ships carrying valuable goods to trade with the Chinese".
[8]
m&ds is labeled as black!