Entry

The envoy Li Shen (Alt: Li Lai) from the country of Annam took leave of the Court. It was ordered that he carry with him Imperial orders as well as a cap of leather (皮弁), other headwear, suits of clothing made of silk gauze (luo) interwoven with gold thread and other goods and, on his return, confer these on Li Lin, the king of his country. The Imperial orders read: "I have respectfully taken on Heaven's mandate and all the people under my rule, both within and without the seas, are the children of the Court. I wish all to be happy in their lives, content in their occupations and in their place. The former Emperors manifested Heaven's wishes by resting the troops and showing sympathy to the people and thus all under Heaven came to be at peace. It was especially ordered that your father temporarily take on the affairs of the country, so as to soothe the people of the region. I inherited the ideals of my ancestors and am accordingly enfeoffing you as the king of the country of Annam, so that you can carry on from your father and manifest Heaven's benevolence in its affection for the people. Last year, Huang Jin-guang and others from Qin Subprefecture under Lian-zhou Prefecture, Guang-dong, were beguiled and had their ideas of right and wrong obscured by people from your country. They wildly claimed that the two sectors (都) of Tie-lang and Ru-xi had, since ancient times, been part of Annam. The lies misled your father and subsequently he established guards and deployed troops at Ya-ge Village (Alt: Yi-ge Village) in this subprefecture and 281 households were coerced into according. The invading of the borders and the beguiling and coercion of the people will certainly have been carried out only by your underlings, and neither your father nor yourself will have been aware of it. The 281 households are at no disadvantage on one side and gain no advantage on the other. However, on an important matter of sincerity and right conduct, Heaven cannot be deceived. When these orders arrive, you are to immediately return the 281 households of Huang Kuan and so on to the jurisdiction of Qin Subprefecture. The crimes will then be pardoned and not investigated. The guards established are all to be removed and the former situation restored. In this way you will be according with the Way of respecting Heaven and serving the superior and you will enjoy prosperity without end. Respect this!"