Entry

The Eunuch Director Zheng He and others were sent with an Imperial proclamation to go and instruct the various fan countries. The proclamation read: "I have respectfully taken on the mandate of Heaven and reverently inherited the Great Rule from the Tai-zu Gao Emperor, the Tai-zong Wen Emperor and the Ren-zong Zhao Emperor. I rule over the ten thousand states, manifest the supreme benevolence of my ancestors and spread peace to all things. I have already issued a general amnesty to all under Heaven and declared the commencement of the Xuan-de reign. All has begun anew. You, the various fan countries far across the ocean, will not yet have heard. Now I am especially sending the Eunuch Directors Zheng He and Wang Jing-hong carrying this proclamation with which to instruct you. You must all respect and accord with the Way of Heaven, care for your people and keep them in peace. Thus will you all enjoy the prosperity of Great Peace." Variegated silks, as appropriate, were to be conferred upon the rulers or chiefs of all 20 countries through which the eunuchs were to pass, including Hormuz, Sri Lanka, Calicut, Melaka, Cochin, Bu-la-wa, Mogadishu, Nan-bo-li, Samudera, La-sa, Liu-shan, Aru, Gan-ba-li, Aden, Zuo-fa-er, Zhu-bu, Jia-yi-le and so on, as well as the Old Port Pacification Superintendency.