Boni in Chinese Sources - Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre - iseas

Kurz: Boni in Chinese Sources NSC Working Paper No. 4history of the Song Songshi 宋 史 . Note also, that the first mission is dated 978, which puts ita year later than the other sources. This may result from a copying error which occur quitefrequently in the case of Chinese block‐printed books, as er 二 (two or second) can rathereasily turn into san 三 (three or third). The entry in Yuhai reads as follows:Boni 勃 泥 brings tribute during the Taiping xingguo era.Boni is situated in the middle of the southwestern seas and in previous times it hadnever brought tribute. On the dingwei 丁 未 day of the ninth month in the third yearof the Taiping xingguo era (30 October 978) Boni’s ruler Xiangda sent envoys whosubmitted a letter and camphor and tortoise shells as tribute. His envoys wereconferred saddles, horses, sacrificial vessels and brocades by the Hall for theVeneration of Governance (Chongzheng dian 崇 政 殿 ) 44 , and they were housed inthe Foreign Relations Office (Libin yuan 禮 賓 院 ). On the 24 th day of the secondmonth of the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era [Boni again] brought tribute. 45This passage strips the TPHYJ account to the bare essentials, and provides newinformation only in the form of the presents that were given to the envoys. The horses andsaddles were probably for use in the capital for it is difficult to imagine how they wouldtransport them back to their home country. The name of the ruler is consistent with theearlier reports, but again the exact location of Boni remains a mystery. The date providedfor the arrival of the envoys is apparently incorrect, as other sources agree on the year 977.Boni 渤 泥 in the Long Draft of the Continued Mirror in Government (Xu Zizhi tongjianchangbian 續 資 治 通 鋻 長 編 )In the Xu Zizhi tongjian changbian 續 資 治 通 鑑 長 編 (1183) by Li Tao 李 濤 (1115‐1184), an annalistic history of the Northern Song dynasty covering the period from 960 to1100, the country is referred to as Boniguo 渤 泥 國 . 46 The commentary explains that thisinformation was derived from the shilu 實 錄 (“The Veritable Records”) of emperorShenzong, which are no longer extant. The arrival of the envoys is dated 3 November 977.44 According to Hucker, this hall was a subsection of the Hanlin Academy. See Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionaryof Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), 195. The significance of thisdepartment in relation to welcoming foreign guests is obscure.45 See Wang Yinglin, Yuhai (Shanghai: Shanghai chubanshe, 1992), 154.34b‐35a.46 See Li Tao, Xu Zizhi tongjian changbian (Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1983), 18.18a (221).14