Entry

Yong-le: Year 6, Month 8, Day 1

21 Aug 1408

Next Entry >>
<< Previous Entry

An envoy was sent to take orders with which to instruct Po-di-na-lang, the Da Gu-la Pacification Superintendent. At this time, the Supervising Secretary Zhou Rang and others had returned from Gu-la and said that, without authority, Po-di-na-lang had despatched troops to attack the Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta Chief's Offices, occupied their land and carried off the native official Jia-li-mei and others. It was requested that troops be despatched to punish him. At this time, Imperial orders of instruction were conferred upon him. The orders read:

"A ruler of the people serves Heaven by rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Ministers serve their ruler by keeping to their own affairs and observing the law. I received Heaven's mandate and rule the Chinese and the yi. In issuing rewards and inflicting punishments, I proceed from utmost justness. You previously sent a person to advise your wish to be part of the within. I was pleased with your sincerity especially established a pacification superintendency and appointed you as pacification superintendent. I then sent an envoy to confer upon you a warrant and a seal, so that you could soothe and rule the people. When the envoy returned, he said that after you received the orders, you became increasingly arrogant and overbearing. Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta are isolated and weak, without ready assistance and you invaded their territory, engaged in plunder and carried off the native official Jia-li-mei and others. Having troops and people unsettled and not at peace goes against my wishes to calm and soothe the distant peoples. Now, I am again sending an envoy to instruct you. If you immediately respect the orders and return the former territories of Di-ban and the other two chief's offices, send back the native official Jia-li-mei and so on and return the people, livestock and property which you carried off, your crimes will be pardoned and your land and people will be protected. If you act otherwise, the Great Army will smash your territory and it will be too late for regret."

Tai-zong: juan 82.1a-b

Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 11, page 1093/94

Next Entry >>
<< Previous Entry

Preferred form of citation for this entry:

Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/reign/yong-le/year-6-month-8-day-1, accessed January 22, 2019