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Zheng-tong: Year 12, Month 8, Day 26

5 Oct 1447

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The Ministry of Rites memorialized: "The envoy Kun Pu-lun-zhi and others from the country of Siam have stated that the 1,380 jin of `bowl-stone' (碗石) they offered in tribute is not a product of their country, that it is obtained through trade with the Western Ocean and that it is very difficult to procure. They requested that the precedent in the second year of the Zheng-tong reign (1437/38) be followed and that 250 guan of paper money be paid for each jin. We have conducted an investigation and found that in the ninth year of the Zheng-tong reign (1444/45), the envoy Kun Sha-qun and others from this country came to the capital and offered tribute of 8,000 jin of `bowl-stone'. As it was not valuable material, the ministry memorialized that for each jin a price of 50 guan of paper money be given and that each 20 guan of paper money be converted to one bolt of thin silk. This worked out to a total of 2,000 bolts of thin silks. The Emperor reduced this by half. Now Kun Pu-lun-zhi is asking that we follow the precedent in the second year of the Zheng-tong reign. We dare not act lightly." The Emperor said: "China has always had `bowl-stone' . It is not a rare thing. Give them 50 guan of paper money per jin and instruct them that in future they are not to bring such material in tribute."

Ying-zong: juan 157.8a-b

Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 29, page 3065/66

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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/zheng-tong/year-12-month-8-day-26, accessed January 22, 2019