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Yong-le: Year 6, Month 8, Day 20

9 Sep 1408

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Ma-na-re-jia-na-re-nai, the king of the country of Bo-ni, came to Court leading his consort, younger brothers, younger sisters, sons and daughters and his attendant officials. Previously, when Ma-na-re-jia-na-nai and the others reached Fu-jian, the regional officials advised. The Emperor, concerned that they had travelled so far across the ocean, sent the eunuch Du Xing to go to banquet and reward them. He also commanded that the prefectures through which they were to pass were to provide them with banquets. At this time, the king presented a memorial, engraved in gold and offered as tribute "long-nao" camphor, "mao-ding", waist belts, "pian-nao" camphor, "he-ding" tortoise-shell, rhinoceros horn, turtle shells, a vessel made of gold, silver and eight precious things ( ) and other local products. When he entered the Court for an audience with the Emperor, the Emperor greatly praised him. Kneeling, Ma-na-re-jia-na-nai said: "The Emperor has received Heaven's precious mandate and had unified the Chinese and the yi. My country is a distant island in the ocean but I received Imperial grace and was enfeoffed. Since that time, in our country, the rain and sunshine have been timely, there have been successive years of bountiful harvests and the people have been without calamities. In the mountains and in the streams, precious treasures have been revealed and the plants, trees, birds and animals have all thrived. The elders of the country say that this is all due to our being sheltered by Your Majesty's great grace. I wished to gaze on the brightness of the Sun and to offer a little tribute to show my humble sincerity. Thus, not fearing the dangers and distance involved, I have personally led my family and the people of my country to the Court to express gratitude." The Emperor was pleased and repeatedly praised him. At the same time, the king's consort offered a salutory letter to the Empress and the king presented a salutory letter to the Heir Apparent. Both messages were engraved in gold and both were accompanied by tribute of local products. The Emperor ordered that the salutory letter and local products offered to the Empress be displayed on small tables and mats. Ma-na-re-jia-ne-nai then returned from the audience to Wen-hua Hall. After the presenting of the salutory letters and local products was completed, headwear, belts and suits of clothing were conferred upon all from the king and his consort down. On this day, the Emperor personally banqueted Ma-na-re-jia-na-nai at Feng-tian Gate and conferred upon his consort and their subordinates a banquet at the former Three Dukes Office.

Tai-zong: juan 82.7b-8a

Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 11, page 1106/07

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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/yong-le/year-6-month-8-day-20, accessed January 22, 2019