kingdom · Mainland Southeast Asia

Chi Tu

550 CE – 650 CE (approx.)

The 'Red Earth Kingdom' of Chinese sources, a Buddhist state on the Malay Peninsula visited by a Sui embassy in 607.

Origins

Chi Tu is known almost entirely from the Sui shu, which describes a mission sent by Emperor Yang of Sui in 607 under Chang Jun. The account calls it a branch of Funan and places it on the Malay Peninsula, probably in the region of Kelantan, Pattani or Songkhla, but its location has never been confirmed.

Rule and society

The Chinese envoys described a king of the Qutan (Gautama) family who lived in a palace with three-storeyed gates, and a court where Buddhism and Brahmin rites were practised. They were received with ceremony, gifts of food served on leaves and a gold-leaf letter. The kingdom traded local products along the peninsular coast.

Decline and legacy

After Chang Jun's visit and a return mission to China in 610, Chi Tu vanishes from the record. It was probably absorbed into the expanding Srivijaya network or neighbouring peninsular states such as Langkasuka. Its name survives mainly as an example of early Chinese ethnography of Southeast Asia.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

More states of Mainland Southeast Asia →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Chi Tu. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/chi-tu
MLA
“Chi Tu.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/chi-tu. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Chi Tu.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/chi-tu.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Chi Tu’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/chi-tu (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻