Boni in Chinese Sources - Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre - iseas

Kurz: Boni in Chinese Sources NSC Working Paper No. 4I have received the great grace of the court, been enfeoffed with the title of king andall the territory of my country is subject to the control of your administration.Behind the country there is a mountain and it is humbly requested that it beenfeoffed as the protector of the country. 120Xiawang repeated this request upon departure and accordingly the mountain was given thetitle “Mountain Which Will Ever Peacefully Protect the Country” (changning zhenguo zhishan 長 寧 鎮 國 之 山 ). Qian and the others were to set up a commemorative tablet on top ofit, the text for which was composed by the emperor himself:Heaven has provided the base of help and instruction for our country for 10,000generations. It ordered our August Emperor Taizu to pacify all under Heaven, tonourish the people and, in ruling and educating, to widely make known benevolenceand righteousness. His brightness extended to the outer limits and the 10,000countries in the four directions rushed to become subjects, taking the court as theirhub. The mechanism of Sagely influence was as wonderful as this. I inherited thetask of safeguarding the Great Plan and, in observing the patterns, I have remainedrespectful and in awe. Making no distinction between inner and outer, I looked onall as one. The distant and the near all became peaceful and were all able toundertake my will. Manarejiananai, the king of the country of Boni, was sincere andrespectful in the extreme and he knew that which should be respected. He movedtowards culture and learning and became increasingly loyal and respectful. Leadinghis family and ministers and not considering the tens of thousands of li he had totraverse as a long journey, he sailed across the ocean and came to court, therebyachieving his goal and fulfilling his wishes. Kowtowing, he spoke as follows: “Yourdistant subject and his wife have been greatly favoured by the grace of the Son ofHeaven who has provided support and assistance and brought peace to all. I wishedto see the brightness of the Sun and the Moon and thus, not fearing the dangers anddistance involved, I have dared to come to court.” He also said: “Heaven covers meand Earth supports me. However, the fact that I have been given land and people,that my fields and towns are many, that I have palaces in which to dwell, that I havethe pleasure of my wife and concubines, good food and fine clothing, that we haveimplements to assist in our livelihood and that the strong dare not attack the weakand the many do not bully the isolated — all these are conferred by the Son ofHeaven. This excellent virtuous power which the Son of Heaven bestowed upon mewas as great as that of Heaven and Earth. On looking up I could see Heaven and ontreading down, I could feel the Earth. Only the Son of Heaven was distant anddifficult to see and my loyalty could not be conveyed. Thus, your distant subject andhis wife, not daring to consider themselves outsiders, crossed the mountains andseas and personally came to court to express our loyalty.” I said: “It was Heaven andmy Imperial father who bequeathed on me all under Heaven and the people theyhad treated as their children. Heaven and my Imperial father looked on all equally. Iinherited the virtuous power of Heaven and my Imperial father, but I fear that I am120 Wade, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi‐lu, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/entry/1230, accessed 16 April 2005.39