Entry

Previously, Li Guan, a supervising secretary in the Office of Scrutiny for Rites and the messenger Liu Mi received Imperial orders to proceed to enfeoff Sha-gu-bu-luo as the king of the country of Champa. When they arrived in Guang-dong, Mi died of illness and the messenger Liu Wen-rui was sent to replace him. Before he arrived, Guan memorialized saying:

"In the early years of the dynasty, Champa was stopped (絕) from coming to Court to offer tribute. Recently, a supervising secretary has put forward a proposal noting that it is inappropriate to enfeoff in the distance. Permission is requested to open the orders and promulgate them at the Huai-yuan Postal Relay Station in Guang-zhou, and that the king's uncle Sha-xi-ba-ma and the others who have been sent be instructed to take the orders as well as the goods which have been conferred upon the king and his consort back with them."

The matter was referred to the Ministry of Rites which deliberated on it and memorialized that in the past there had been no precedents whereby others had received the enfeoffment orders (無領封之例). It was commanded that the assembled Court ministers deliberate upon the matter. They held:

"Sha-gu-bu-luo of Champa memorialized requesting permission to inherit the fief over two years ago. Suddenly suspending the mission for no reason is not the way to restore a broken line of succession. If perchance Sha-xi-ba-ma should not agree to take it back or if he agrees and proceeds to enfeoff someone else and it gives rise to squabbles, how would these situations be handled? It is requested that the matter be handled in accordance with the previous deliberations and that Guan and so on be instructed to go and carry out the enfeoffment in that country. In this way, we will not lose the trust of the foreign yi and China's dignity will not be harmed."

This was approved.