1
琉球居東南大海中，自古不通中國。 元世祖遣官招諭之，不能達。 洪武初，其國有三王，曰中山，曰山南，曰山北，皆以尚為姓，而中山最強。 五年正月命行人楊載以即位建元詔告其國，其中山王察度遣弟泰期等隨載入朝，貢方物。 帝喜，賜《大統歷》及文綺、紗羅有差。 七年冬，泰期復來貢，並上皇太子箋。 命刑部侍郎李浩齎賜文綺、陶鐵器，且以陶器七萬、鐵器千，就其國市馬。 九年夏，泰期隨浩入貢，得馬四十匹。 浩言其國不貴紈綺，惟貴磁器、鐵釜，自是賞賚多用諸物。 明年遣使賀正旦，貢馬十六匹、硫黃千斤。 又明年復貢。 山南王承察度亦遣使朝貢，禮賜如中山。 十五年春，中山來貢，遣內官送其使還國。 明年與山南王並來貢，詔賜二王鍍金銀印。 時二王與山北王爭雄，互相攻伐。 命內史監丞梁民賜之敕，令罷兵息民，三王並奉命。 山北王怕尼芝即遣使偕二王使朝貢。 十八年又貢，賜山北王鍍金銀印如二王，而賜二王海舟各一。 自是，三王屢遣使奉貢，中山王尤數。 二十三年，中山來貢，其通事私攜乳香十斤、胡椒三百斤入都，為門者所獲，當入官。 詔還之，仍賜以鈔。
The Ryūkyū Islands lay far out in the southeastern sea and had had no contact with China since ancient times. Kublai Khan sent envoys to summon them, but the mission never reached the islands. Early in the Hongwu reign the realm was divided among three kings—of Zhongshan, Shannan, and Shanbei—all of the Shang clan, with Zhongshan the most powerful. In the first month of the fifth year the emperor sent the envoy Yang Zai to announce his accession and new reign title; King Chadu of Zhongshan sent his brother Taiqi and others to accompany Zai to court with tribute goods. The emperor was pleased and rewarded them with the 《Great Unity Calendar》 and graded gifts of brocade and gauze. In the winter of the seventh year Taiqi returned with tribute and presented a memorial to the crown prince as well. The vice minister of justice Li Hao was sent with brocades and ceramic and iron wares as gifts, and with seventy thousand pottery pieces and a thousand iron implements to buy horses in Ryūkyū. In the summer of the ninth year Taiqi accompanied Hao to court with tribute, having secured forty horses. Hao reported that the islanders cared little for fine silks but valued porcelain and iron pots; thereafter imperial gifts to them were chiefly of those goods. The following year they sent envoys for the New Year audience with sixteen horses and a thousand jin of sulfur as tribute. They sent tribute again the year after that. King Chengchadu of Shannan also sent envoys with tribute, and received the same ceremonial rewards as Zhongshan. In the spring of the fifteenth year Zhongshan sent tribute, and an imperial eunuch was dispatched to escort the envoys home. The next year both kings sent tribute together, and the court granted each a gilded gold-and-silver seal. At that time the two southern kings and the king of Shanbei were vying for power and raiding one another. The court sent Liang Min of the Secretariat with an imperial letter ordering them to lay down arms and spare their people; all three kings complied. King Panizhi of Shanbei then sent envoys to court alongside those of the other two kings. They sent tribute again in the eighteenth year; Shanbei received a gilded seal like the other two kings, and each of the southern kings was given a seagoing vessel. Thereafter all three kings sent tribute repeatedly, Zhongshan most frequently of all. In the twenty-third year Zhongshan sent tribute; their interpreter had smuggled ten jin of frankincense and three hundred jin of pepper into the capital, was caught at the gate, and the goods were to be confiscated. The emperor ordered the goods returned and still gave him paper money as a gift.
2
二十五年夏，中山貢使以其王從子及寨官子偕來，請肄業國學。 從之，賜衣巾靴襪並夏衣一襲。 其冬，山南王亦遣從子及寨官子入國學，賜賚如之。 自是，歲賜冬夏衣以為常。 明年，中山兩入貢，又遣寨官子肄業國學。 是時，國法嚴，中山生與山南生有非議詔書者。 帝聞，置之死，而待其國如故。 山北王怕尼芝已卒，其嗣王攀安知二十九年春遣使來貢。 令山南生肄國學者歸省，其冬復來。 中山亦遣寨官子二人及女官生姑、魯妹二人，先後來肄業，其感慕華風如此。 中山又遣使請賜冠帶，命禮部繪圖，令自制。 其王固以請，乃賜之，並賜其臣下冠服。 又嘉其修職勤，賜閩中舟工三十六戶，以便貢使往來。 及惠帝嗣位，遣官以登極詔諭其國，三王亦奉貢不絕。
In the summer of the twenty-fifth year Zhongshan's envoys brought the king's nephew and sons of local officials, asking that they be enrolled at the National University. The request was granted, and they were given caps, gowns, boots, socks, and a set of summer clothes. That winter Shannan also sent his nephew and sons of local officials to study at the university, with the same grants of clothing. Thereafter annual grants of winter and summer clothing became the rule. The next year Zhongshan sent tribute twice and again dispatched sons of local officials to study at the university. At that time the law was strict; students from Zhongshan and Shannan were found to have spoken disrespectfully of an imperial edict. On learning of it the emperor had them executed, but continued to treat their countries as before. King Panizhi of Shanbei had died; his successor Pan Anzhi sent envoys with tribute in the spring of the twenty-ninth year. Shannan students at the university were allowed to return home; they came back the following winter. Zhongshan also sent two sons of local officials and two female students, Gu and Lumai, who arrived in turn to study—such was their admiration for Chinese civilization. Zhongshan again asked for court caps and belts; the Ministry of Rites was told to supply designs so they could make their own. When the king pressed the request again, the court granted them, along with official robes for his ministers. The court also rewarded his diligence by assigning thirty-six Fujian shipwright families to his service, to ease the passage of tribute missions. When Emperor Hui came to the throne, envoys announced his accession to Ryūkyū, and all three kings continued sending tribute without interruption.
3
成祖承大統，詔諭如前。 永樂元年春，三王並來貢。 山北王請賜冠帶，詔給賜如中山。 命行人邊信、劉亢齎敕使三國，賜以絨錦、文綺、紗羅。 明年二月，中山王世子武寧遣使告父喪，命禮部遣官諭祭，賻以布帛，遂命武寧襲位。 四月，山南王從弟汪應祖亦遣使告承察度之喪，謂前王無子，傳位應祖，乞加朝命，且賜冠帶。 帝並從之，遂遣官冊封。 時山南使臣私齎白金詣處州市磁器，事發，當諭罪。 帝曰：「遠方之人，知求利而已，安知禁令。」 悉貰之。 三年，山南遣寨官子入國學。 明年，中山亦遣寨官子六人入國學，並獻奄豎數人。 帝曰：「彼亦人子，無罪刑之，何忍？」 命禮部還之。 部臣言：「還之，慮阻歸化之心，請但賜敕，止其再進。」 帝曰：「諭以空言，不若示以實事。 今不遣還，彼欲獻媚，必將繼進。 天地以生物為心，帝王乃可絕人類乎？」 竟還之。 五年四月，中山王世子思紹遣使告父喪，諭祭，賜賻冊封如前儀。
When the Yongle emperor took the throne, he sent the same kind of accession notice as before. In the spring of the first Yongle year all three kings sent tribute. The king of Shanbei asked for caps and belts; the court granted them on the same terms as Zhongshan. The envoys Bian Xin and Liu Kang were sent with an imperial letter to all three realms, bearing velvet brocades, figured silks, and gauzes. The following second month Zhongshan's heir Wuning announced his father's death; the Ministry of Rites sent officials for the mourning rites and funeral gifts of silk, and Wuning was confirmed as king. In the fourth month Shannan's king sent word that Chengchadu had died without an heir and that his cousin Wang Yingzu had succeeded, asking for imperial recognition and the grant of caps and belts. The emperor agreed to both requests and sent officials to perform the investiture. A Shannan envoy was then found to have smuggled silver to Chuzhou to buy porcelain; when discovered he was liable for punishment. The emperor said, "Men from afar know only to seek gain—how could they know our prohibitions." He pardoned them all. In the third year Shannan sent sons of local officials to the National University. The next year Zhongshan sent six sons of local officials to the university and also offered several eunuch youths. The emperor said, "They too are someone's children—how can we punish them when they are innocent? How could I bear that?" He ordered the Ministry of Rites to send them home. Ministry officials argued that returning them might discourage their desire to submit, and asked only to issue an edict forbidding such gifts in future." The emperor replied, "Empty words will not teach them as well as a concrete example. If we do not send them back, they will surely keep sending more to please us. Heaven and earth exist to nurture life—how could an emperor destroy human beings?" In the end he had them sent home. In the fourth month of the fifth year Zhongshan's heir Sishao announced his father's death; the court performed the mourning rites and investiture as before.
4
八年，山南遣官生三人入國學，賜巾服靴絛、衾褥帷帳，已復頻有所賜。 一日，帝與群臣語及之。 禮部尚書呂震曰：「昔唐太宗興庠序，新羅、百濟並遣子來學。 爾時僅給廩餼，未若今日賜予之周也。」 帝曰：「蠻夷子弟慕義而來，必衣食常充，然後向學。 此我太祖美意，朕安得違之。」 明年，中山遣國相子及寨官子入國學，因言：「右長史王茂輔翼有年，請擢為國相。 左長史硃復，本江西饒州人，輔臣祖察度四十餘年不懈。 今年逾八十，請令致仕還鄉。」 從之，乃命復、茂並為國相，復兼左長史致仕，茂兼右長史任其國事。 十一年，中山遣寨官子十三人入國學。 時山南王應祖為其兄達勃期所弒，諸寨官討誅之，推應祖子他魯每為主，以十三年三月請封。 命行人陳季若等封為山南王，賜誥命冠服及寶鈔萬五千錠。
In the eighth year Shannan sent three students to the university; they were given caps, gowns, boots, bedding, and curtains, and such gifts were repeated often thereafter. One day the emperor mentioned this to his ministers. The minister of rites Lü Zhen said, "When Emperor Taizong of Tang founded the schools, Silla and Baekje both sent princes to study. In those days they received only grain stipends—nothing like the generous grants of today." The emperor replied, "These young men from abroad come drawn by our civilization; they must be well fed and clothed before they can devote themselves to learning. That was my ancestor's wise policy, and I cannot depart from it." The next year Zhongshan sent the state counselor's son and sons of local officials to the university, reporting that the right chief secretary Wang Mao had served faithfully for years and should be made state counselor. The left chief secretary Zhu Fu, a native of Raozhou in Jiangxi, had served King Chadu's house for more than forty years without faltering. He is now over eighty, and we ask that he be permitted to retire and return home." The request was granted: Fu and Mao were both made state counselors; Fu retired as left chief secretary, and Mao took up the right chief secretary post to manage state affairs. In the eleventh year Zhongshan sent thirteen sons of local officials to the National University. King Yingzu of Shannan had been murdered by his brother Daboqi; local leaders put the assassin to death and set up Yingzu's son Tarumei as king, requesting investiture in the third month of the thirteenth year. Chen Jiruo and other envoys were sent to invest Tarumei as king of Shannan, with patent, robes, and fifteen thousand ingots of treasure notes.
5
琉球之分三王也，惟山北最弱，故其朝貢亦最稀。 自永樂三年入貢後，至是年四月始入貢。 其後，竟為二王所並，而中山益強，以其國富，一歲常再貢三貢。 天朝雖厭其繁，不能卻也。 其冬，貢使還，至福建，擅奪海舶，殺官軍，且毆傷中官，掠其衣物。 事聞，戮其為首者，余六十七人付其主自治。 明年遣使謝罪，帝待之如初，其修貢益謹。 二十二年春，中山王世子尚巴志來告父喪，諭祭賜賻如常儀。
Of the three Ryūkyū kingdoms Shanbei was the weakest, and its tribute missions were the rarest. After sending tribute in Yongle 3, Shanbei sent none again until the fourth month of this year. Shanbei was eventually absorbed by the other two kingdoms, while Zhongshan grew ever stronger; its wealth allowed it to send tribute two or three times a year. The court found the frequency burdensome but could not turn the missions away. That winter, on the return journey through Fujian, the envoys seized merchant ships, killed government troops, assaulted imperial eunuchs, and robbed their belongings. When word reached the court the ringleaders were executed; the other sixty-seven were handed back to their king for punishment. The next year they sent envoys to apologize; the emperor treated them as before, and their tribute missions became even more punctilious. In the spring of the twenty-second year Zhongshan's heir Shang Bazhi announced his father's death; the court performed the usual mourning rites and funeral gifts.
6
仁宗嗣位，命行人方彝詔告其國。 洪熙元年命中官齎敕封巴志為中山王。 宣德元年，其王以冠服未給，遣使來請，命制皮弁服賜之。 三年八月，帝以中山王朝貢彌謹，遣官齎敕往勞，賜羅錦諸物。
When Emperor Renzong succeeded, the envoy Fang Yi was sent to announce his accession to Ryūkyū. In the first Hongxi year an imperial eunuch was sent to invest Bazhi as king of Zhongshan. In Xuande 1 the king, having received no court dress, sent envoys to request it; the court had leather cap-and-gown robes made and sent to him. In the eighth month of Xuande 3, noting Zhongshan's ever more diligent tribute, the emperor sent officials with a letter of commendation and gifts of gauze brocades.
7
山南自四年兩貢，終帝世不復至，亦為中山所並矣。 自是，惟中山一國朝貢不絕。
Shannan sent tribute twice in the fourth year and never again during that reign; it too had been absorbed by Zhongshan. Thereafter only Zhongshan continued sending tribute without interruption.
8
正統元年，其使者言：「初入閩時，止具貢物報聞。 下人所齎海、螺殼，失於開報，悉為官司所沒入，致來往乏資，乞賜垂憫。」 命給直如例。 明年，貢使至浙江，典市舶者復請籍其所齎，帝曰：「番人以貿易為利，此二物取之何用，其悉還之，著為令。」 使者奏：「本國陪臣冠服，皆國初所賜，歲久敝壞，乞再給。」 又言：「小邦遵奉正朔，海道險遠，受歷之使，或半歲一歲始返，常懼後時。」 帝曰：「冠服令本邦自制。 《大統歷》，福建布政司給予之。」 七年正月，中山世子尚忠來告父喪，命給事中余忭、行人劉遜封忠為中山王。 敕使之用給事中，自茲始也。 忭等還，受其黃金、沉香、倭扇之贈，為偵事者所覺，並下吏，杖而釋之。 十二年二月，世子尚思達來告父喪，命給事中陳傅、行人萬祥往封。
In Zhengtong 1 their envoys reported that on entering Fujian they had declared only their tribute goods. Cowries and shells carried by their attendants had not been declared and were all confiscated, leaving them without funds for the journey; they begged the court's compassion." They were paid compensation according to precedent. The next year, when the envoys reached Zhejiang, the maritime trade officials again tried to register their goods; the emperor said, "These foreigners live by trade—what use are cowries and shells to us? Return everything and make that the rule." The envoys also asked that court robes for their ministers, originally granted at the dynasty's founding and now worn out, be renewed." They also noted that their remote island followed the Chinese calendar, but envoys carrying the annual calendar sometimes took half a year or more to return, and they feared being late." The emperor replied that they should make their own court dress. The 《Great Unity Calendar》 would be issued by the Fujian provincial administration." In the first month of the seventh year Zhongshan's heir Shang Zhong announced his father's death; Yu Min and Liu Xun were sent to invest him as king. The practice of sending supervising secretaries as imperial envoys began with this mission. On their return Yu Min and his party accepted gifts of gold, aloeswood, and Japanese fans; informers exposed them, and all were arrested, flogged, and released. In the second month of the twelfth year the heir Shang Sida announced his father's death; Chen Fu and Wan Xiang were sent to perform the investiture.
9
景泰二年，思達卒，無子，其叔父金福攝國事，遣使告喪。 命給事中喬毅、行人童守宏封金福為王。 五年二月，金福弟泰久奏：「長兄金福殂，次兄布里與兄子志魯爭立，兩傷俱殞，所賜印亦毀壞。 國中臣民推臣權攝國事，乞再賜印鎮撫遠籓。」 從之。 明年四月命給事中嚴誠、行人劉儉封泰久為王。 天順六年三月，世子尚德來告父喪，命給事中潘榮、行人蔡哲封為王。
In Jingtai 2 Sida died childless; his uncle Jin Fu assumed regency and sent envoys to announce the death. Qiao Yi and Tong Shouhong were sent to invest Jin Fu as king. In the second month of the fifth year Jin Fu's brother Taijiu reported that the eldest brother had died, that the second brother Buri and the nephew Zhilu had fought over the succession and both been killed, and that the imperial seal had been destroyed. The nobles and people had asked him to govern provisionally and begged for a new seal to govern the distant realm." The request was granted. The following fourth month Yan Cheng and Liu Jian were sent to invest Taijiu as king. In the third month of Tianshun 6 the heir Shang De reported his father's death, and Pan Rong and Cai Zhe were dispatched to invest him as king.
10
成化五年，其貢使蔡璟言：「祖父本福建南安人，為琉球通事，傳至璟，擢長史。 乞如制賜誥贈封其父母。」 章下禮官，以無例而止。 明年，福建按察司言：「貢使程鵬至福州，與指揮劉玉私通貨賄，並宜究治。」 命治玉而宥鵬。 七年三月，世子尚圓來告父喪，命給事中丘弘、行人韓文封為王。 弘至山東病卒，命給事中官榮代之。 十年，貢使至福建，殺懷安民夫婦二人，焚屋劫財，捕之不獲。 明年復貢，禮官因請定令二年一貢，毋過百人，不得附攜私物，騷擾道途。 帝從之，賜敕戒王。 其使者請如祖制，比年一貢，不許。 又明年，貢使至，會冊立東宮，請如朝鮮、安南，賜詔齎回。 禮官議：琉球與日本、佔城並居海外，例不頒詔，乃降敕以文錦、彩幣賜其王及妃。 十三年，使臣來，復請比年一貢，不許。 明年四月，王卒，世子尚真來告喪，乞嗣爵，復請比年一貢。 禮官言，其國連章奏請，不過欲圖市易。 近年所遣之使，多系閩中逋逃罪人，殺人縱火，奸狡百端，專貿中國之貨，以擅外蕃之利，所請不可許。 乃命給事中董旻、行人張祥往封，而不從其請。 十六年，使來，復引《祖訓》條章請比年一貢，帝賜敕戒約之。 十八年，使者至，復以為言，賜敕如初。 使者攜陪臣子五人來受學，命隸南京國子監。 二十二年，貢使來，其王移咨禮部，請遣五人歸省，從之。
In Chenghua 5 their tribute envoy Cai Jing petitioned: "My grandfather was a native of Nan'an in Fujian who served as a Ryukyu interpreter; the post passed to me, and I was promoted to chief secretary. He asked that his parents be posthumously ennobled with patents of office, as the regulations provided. The memorial was referred to the Board of Rites, which rejected it for want of precedent. The following year the Fujian surveillance commission reported that the tribute envoy Cheng Peng had reached Fuzhou and traded bribes in secret with the commander Liu Yu, and that both men should be prosecuted. Liu Yu was punished; Cheng Peng was spared. In the third month of Chenghua 7 the heir Shang Yuan reported his father's death, and Qiu Hong and Han Wen were sent to invest him as king. Qiu Hong fell ill and died in Shandong; Guan Rong was appointed supervising secretary in his place. In the tenth year tribute envoys reached Fujian, murdered a Huai'an couple, burned their house, and looted their goods; they were never caught. When they came again with tribute the next year, the rites officials asked that a fixed rule be set: tribute every two years, no more than one hundred men, no private goods carried along, and no harassment of the roads. The emperor agreed and sent an imperial letter of admonition to the king. Their envoys asked to revert to the ancestral practice of annual tribute; the request was denied. The next year tribute envoys arrived just as a crown prince was being invested; they asked, as Korea and Annam had received, for an edict to carry home. The rites officials ruled that Ryukyu, like Japan and Champa, lay overseas and by precedent did not receive promulgated edicts; instead an imperial letter was issued, and patterned brocade and colored silks were granted to the king and queen. In the thirteenth year envoys came and again asked for annual tribute; again they were refused. In the fourth month of the following year the king died; the heir Shang Zhen reported the death, sought succession to the title, and once more requested annual tribute. The rites officials observed that the state's repeated petitions sought nothing beyond easier access to trade. In recent years most of the envoys sent had been fugitive criminals from Fujian—murderers and arsonists, endlessly cunning—who trafficked in Chinese goods to seize profits abroad; their request could not be granted. Dong Min and Zhang Xiang were dispatched to perform the investiture, but the annual-tribute request was rejected. In the sixteenth year envoys came again, citing the 《Ancestral Admonitions》 to ask for annual tribute; the emperor sent an admonitory letter restraining them. In the eighteenth year envoys raised the same issue again and received the same admonitory letter as before. The envoys brought five sons of attending ministers to study and were enrolled in the Nanjing Directorate of Education. In the twenty-second year tribute envoys arrived; the king wrote to the Ministry of Rites asking that the five students be allowed home on leave, and the request was granted.
11
嘉靖二年從禮官議，敕琉球二年一貢如舊制，不得過百五十人。 五年，尚真卒，其世子尚清以六年來貢，因報訃，使者還至海，溺死。 九年遣他使來貢，並請封。 命福建守臣勘報。 十一年，世子以國中臣民狀來上，乃命給事中陳侃、行人高澄持節往封。 及還，卻其贈。 十四年，貢使至，仍以所贈黃金四十兩進於朝，乃敕侃等受之。 二十九年來貢，攜陪臣子五人入國學。
In Jiajing 2, following the rites officials' recommendation, an imperial letter restored Ryukyu's biennial tribute under the old rule, capped at one hundred fifty persons. In the fifth year Shang Zhen died; his heir Shang Qing came with tribute in the sixth year bearing news of the death, but the envoys drowned at sea on the return voyage. In the ninth year other envoys were sent with tribute and also requested investiture. Fujian frontier officials were ordered to investigate and report back. In the eleventh year the heir submitted a petition from the state's officials and people; Chen Kan and Gao Cheng were then sent with credentials to perform the investiture. On their return the gifts they had been offered were declined. In the fourteenth year tribute envoys arrived and still brought the forty taels of gold they had been given, presenting it at court; the emperor then ordered Chen Kan and his party to accept it. In the twenty-ninth year they came with tribute, bringing five sons of attending ministers to enter the Directorate of Education.
12
三十六年，貢使來，告王尚清之喪。 先是，倭寇自浙江敗還，抵琉球境。 世子尚元遣兵邀擊，大殲之，獲中國被掠者六人，至是送還。 帝嘉其忠順，賜賚有加，即命給事中郭汝霖、行人李際春封尚元為王。 至福建，阻風未行。 三十九年，其貢使亦至福建，稱受世子命，以海中風濤叵測，倭寇又出沒無時，恐天使有他慮，請如正德中封佔城故事，遣人代進表文方物，而身偕本國長史齎回封冊，不煩天使遠臨。 巡按御史樊獻科以聞，禮官言：「遣使冊封，祖制也。 今使者欲遙受冊命，是委君貺於草莽，不可一。 使者本奉表朝貢，乃求遣官代進，是棄世子專遣之命，不可二。 昔正德中，佔城王為安南所侵，竄居他所，故使者齎回敕命，出一時權宜。 今援失國之事，以儗其君，不可三。 梯航通道，柔服之常。 彼所藉口者倭寇之警、風濤之險爾，不知琛賨之輸納、使臣之往來，果何由而得無患乎？ 不可四。 曩佔城雖領封，其王猶懇請遣使。 今使者非世子面命，又無印信文移。 若輕信其言，倘世子以遣使為至榮，遙拜為非禮，不肯受封，復上書請使，將誰執其咎？ 不可五。 乞命福建守臣仍以前詔從事。 至未受封而先謝恩，亦非故事。 宜止聽其入貢，其謝恩表文，俟世子受封后遣使上進，庶中國之大體以全。」 帝如其言。 四十一年夏，遣使入貢謝恩。 明年及四十四年併入貢。 隆慶中，凡三貢，皆送還中國飄流人口。 天子嘉其忠誠，賜敕獎勵，加賚銀幣。
In the thirty-sixth year tribute envoys arrived bearing news of King Shang Qing's death. Earlier, Japanese pirates beaten back from Zhejiang had fled to Ryukyu waters. The heir Shang Yuan sent troops to intercept them, inflicting heavy losses, and recovered six Chinese captives who were now sent home. The emperor praised their loyalty, added extra gifts, and at once dispatched Guo Rulin and Li Jichun to invest Shang Yuan as king. They reached Fujian but were stalled by contrary winds and could not sail on. In the thirty-ninth year their tribute envoys also reached Fujian with orders from the heir: seas were unpredictable, Japanese pirates roved without warning, and they feared the imperial envoy might come to harm; they asked, following the Zhengde precedent for investing Champa, that someone else submit the memorial and tribute on their behalf while they themselves, with their chief secretary, carried home the patent of investiture—sparing the envoy the long voyage. Touring censor Fan Xianke reported the request; the rites officials replied: "Dispatching envoys to invest a king is the ancestral institution. For the envoys now to seek investiture from afar would be to cast the sovereign's gift into the wilderness. That may not be allowed—first. They came to court to present memorials and tribute, yet now ask officials to submit in their place—contravening the heir's express commission. That may not be allowed—second. Under Zhengde, the king of Champa was driven out by Annam and lived in exile; only then did envoys carry home the investiture mandate—a temporary expedient. To invoke a king who had lost his realm as a precedent for their sovereign is inadmissible—third. Opening routes by ladder and ship, and coming in gentle submission—that is the constant practice. They plead only pirate alarms and stormy seas—yet do tribute goods reach court and envoys travel back and forth entirely without hazard? That may not be allowed—fourth. Even when Champa received investiture by courier, its king still earnestly asked that envoys be sent. These envoys bear no face-to-face command from the heir and no sealed dispatch. If we trust them lightly and the heir then holds that an envoy's arrival is the highest honor while distant investiture is unseemly, refuses the patent, and petitions again for an envoy—who will answer for it? That may not be allowed—fifth. We ask that Fujian frontier officials be ordered to proceed under the earlier edict. To offer thanks for grace before investiture has been received is also without precedent. They should be allowed only to present tribute; the thanks-for-grace memorial should wait until after the heir has received investiture and can send envoys to submit it—so that China's larger propriety remains intact. The emperor approved. In the summer of the forty-first year envoys came with tribute to express thanks. They sent tribute again the next year and once more in the forty-fourth year. During the Longqing reign they sent tribute three times, each mission returning Chinese castaways adrift at sea. The emperor praised their loyalty, sent a letter of encouragement, and added gifts of silver and silk.
13
萬曆元年冬，其國世子尚永遣使告父喪，請襲爵。 章下禮部，行福建守臣核奏。 明年遣使賀登極。 三年入貢。 四年春，再貢。 七月命戶科給事中蕭崇業、行人謝傑齎敕及皮弁冠服、玉珪，封尚永為中山王。 明年冬，崇業等未至，世子復遣使入貢，其後，修貢如常儀。 八年冬，遣陪臣子三人入南京國學。 十九年遣使來貢，而尚永隨卒。 禮官以日本方侵噬鄰境，琉球不可無王，乞令世子速請襲封，用資鎮壓。 從之。
In the winter of Wanli 1 the heir Shang Yong sent envoys to report his father's death and seek succession. The memorial went to the Ministry of Rites, which directed Fujian officials to verify the facts and report. The following year envoys were sent to congratulate the new emperor on his accession. In the third year they presented tribute. In the spring of the fourth year they sent tribute again. In the seventh month Xiao Chongye, supervising secretary of the revenue section, and Xie Jie the credential bearer were sent with an imperial letter, leather cap and court robes, and jade tablet to invest Shang Yong as king of Zhongshan. The next winter, before Chongye's party had arrived, the heir sent tribute again; thereafter the tribute schedule resumed as usual. In the eighth winter three sons of attending ministers were sent to study at the Nanjing Directorate of Education. In the nineteenth year envoys came with tribute; Shang Yong died soon afterward. The rites officials, noting that Japan was encroaching on neighboring lands and that Ryukyu could not be left without a king, asked that the heir be urged to seek investiture quickly as a stabilizing measure. The court agreed.
14
二十三年，世子尚寧遣人請襲。 福建巡撫許孚遠以倭氛未息，據先臣鄭曉領封之議，請遣官一員齎敕至福建，聽其陪臣面領歸國，或遣習海武臣一人，偕陪臣同往。 禮官范謙議如其言，且請待世子表至乃許。 二十八年，世子以表至，其陪臣請如祖制遣官。 禮官余繼登言：「累朝冊封琉球，伐木造舟，動經數歲。 使者蹈風濤之險，小國苦供億之煩。 宜一如前議從事。」 帝可之，命今後冊封，止遣廉勇武臣一人偕請封陪臣前往，其祭前王，封新王，禮儀一如舊章，仍命俟彼國大臣結狀至乃行。 明年秋，貢使以狀至，仍請遣文臣。 乃命給事中洪瞻祖、行人王士禎往，且命待海寇息警，乃渡海行事。 已而瞻祖以憂去，改命給事中夏子陽，以三十一年二月抵福建。 按臣方元彥復以海上多事，警報頻仍，會巡撫徐學聚疏請仍遣武臣。 子陽、士禎則以屬國言不可爽，使臣義當有終，乞堅成命慰遠人。 章俱未報，禮部侍郎李廷機言：「宜行領封初旨，並武臣不必遣。」 於是御史錢桓、給事中蕭近高交章爭其不可，謂：「此事當在欽命未定之前，不當在冊使既遣之後，宜敕所司速成海艘，勿誤今歲渡海之期。 俟竣事覆命，然後定為畫一之規，先之以文告，令其領封海上，永為遵守。」 帝納之。 三十三年七月，乃命子陽等速渡海竣事。
In the twenty-third year the heir Shang Ning sent envoys to request succession. Grand coordinator Xu Fuyuan, citing former minister Zheng Xiao's proposal because Japanese raids had not ceased, asked that one official carry the investiture letter to Fujian for the attending ministers to receive in person and return home—or else that one sea-seasoned military officer go with them. Rites official Fan Qian endorsed the proposal and added that permission should wait until the heir's memorial arrived. In the twenty-eighth year the heir's memorial arrived; his attending ministers asked that envoys be sent as ancestral practice required. Rites official Yu Jideng argued: "Across successive reigns, Ryukyu investitures required felling timber and building ships and often took years. Envoys risked storms at sea; the small kingdom bore the cost of provisioning them. We should proceed entirely as in the earlier proposal. The emperor agreed and ruled that henceforth investiture missions would send only one upright, brave military officer together with the attending ministers who had requested it; rites honoring the late king and investing the new one would follow the old code, but the mission would wait until a sworn affidavit from the kingdom's ministers arrived. The next autumn tribute envoys arrived with the affidavit and still asked for civil officials to be dispatched. Hong Zhanzu and Wang Shizhen were then ordered to go, with instructions to wait until piracy on the seas had subsided before crossing to complete the investiture. Zhanzu soon left office to mourn a parent; Xia Ziyang replaced him as supervising secretary and reached Fujian in the second month of the thirty-first year. Surveillance commissioner Fang Yuanyan again reported turmoil at sea and repeated alarms; he and grand coordinator Xu Xueju jointly memorialized asking that a military officer be sent instead. Xia Ziyang and Wang Shizhen countered that a tributary state's trust must not be broken and an envoy's commission must be seen through, and begged that the original order stand to reassure those afar. Before either memorial received a reply, Vice Minister of Rites Li Tingji argued: "The original plan for receiving investiture in person should stand, and no military officer need be sent. Censor Qian Huan and supervising secretary Xiao Jingao then submitted competing memorials, insisting this was wrong: "The question should have been settled before the imperial command was issued, not after envoys were already dispatched; the responsible offices must be ordered to finish the sea vessels at once so this year's crossing is not missed. After the mission is completed and they report back, a single uniform rule can be set—first by proclamation ordering investiture received at sea, to be followed forever after. The emperor accepted their view. In the seventh month of the thirty-third year Xia Ziyang and his party were ordered to cross the sea at once and finish the investiture.
15
當是時，日本方強，有吞滅之意。 琉球外御強鄰，內修貢不絕。 四十年，日本果以勁兵三千入其國，擄其王，遷其宗器，大掠而去。 浙江總兵官楊宗業以聞，乞嚴飭海上兵備，從之。 已而其王釋歸，復遣使修貢，然其國殘破已甚，禮官乃定十年一貢之例。 明年修貢如故。 又明年再貢，福建守臣遵朝命卻還之，其使者怏怏而去。 四十四年，日本有取雞籠山之謀，其地名台灣，密邇福建，尚寧遣使以聞，詔海上警備。
Japan was then growing powerful and clearly intended to swallow the kingdom. Ryukyu held off powerful neighbors abroad while keeping tribute flowing without interruption. In the fortieth year Japan invaded with three thousand crack troops, seized the king, carried off the royal regalia, and withdrew after extensive looting. Zhejiang regional commander Yang Zongye reported the raid and asked that coastal defenses be tightened; the court agreed. The king was soon released and tribute resumed, but the kingdom lay in ruins; the rites officials therefore set tribute at once every ten years. The next year they sent tribute again as before. They came again the year after that, but Fujian officials, obeying court orders, turned them away; the envoys left in sullen resentment. In the forty-fourth year Japan plotted against Chicken Cage Mountain—known as Taiwan, close to Fujian; Shang Ning sent word, and the court ordered heightened coastal defenses.
16
天啟三年，尚寧已卒，其世子尚豐遣使請貢請封。 禮官言：「舊制，琉球二年一貢，後為倭寇所破，改期十年。 今其國休養未久，暫擬五年一貢，俟新王冊封更議。」 從之。 五年遣使入貢請封。 六年再貢。 是時中國多事，而科臣應使者亦憚行，故封典久稽。
In Tianqi 3 Shang Ning had died; his heir Shang Feng sent envoys requesting both tribute and investiture. The rites officials noted: "Under the old rule Ryukyu tribute came every two years; after devastation by Japanese pirates the interval was lengthened to ten years. The kingdom has scarcely recovered; tribute is temporarily fixed at once every five years, to be reconsidered after the new king is invested. The court agreed. In the fifth year envoys came with tribute and a request for investiture. In the sixth year they sent tribute again. China was beset by troubles, and the censorial officials assigned to meet envoys were reluctant to make the journey, so the investiture ceremony dragged on for years.
17
崇禎二年，貢使又至請封，命遣官如故事。 禮官何如寵復以履險糜費，請令陪臣領封。 帝不從，乃命戶科給事中杜三策、行人楊掄往，成禮而還。 四年秋，遣使賀東宮冊立。 自是，迄崇禎末，並修貢如儀。 後兩京繼沒，唐王立於福建，猶遣使奉貢。 其虔事天朝，為外籓最雲。
In Chongzhen 2 tribute envoys came again to request investiture, and the court ordered envoys sent as before. The rites official He Ruchong again argued that the mission was perilous and wasteful and asked that Ryukyuan ministers be allowed to receive investiture on the king's behalf. The emperor refused and sent Du San'e of the Household Section and the envoy Yang Lun to perform the ceremony; they completed the rites and returned. In the autumn of the fourth year envoys were sent to congratulate the crown prince on his investiture. From then until the fall of the dynasty they continued to send tribute on schedule. Even after both capitals fell and the Prince of Tang set up court in Fujian, Ryukyu still sent tribute missions. In their devotion to the dynasty they surpassed every other tributary state.
18
呂宋居南海中，去漳州甚近。 洪武五年正月遣使偕瑣裡諸國來貢。 永樂三年十月遣官齎詔，撫諭其國。 八年與馮嘉施蘭入貢，自後久不至。 萬曆四年，官軍追海寇林道乾至其國，國人助討有功，復朝貢。 時佛郎機強，與呂宋互市，久之見其國弱可取，乃奉厚賄遺王，乞地如牛皮大，建屋以居。 王不虞其詐而許之，其人乃裂牛皮，聯屬至數千丈，圍呂宋地，乞如約。 王大駭，然業已許諾，無可奈何，遂聽之，而稍徵其稅如國法。 其人既得地，即營室築城，列火器，設守禦具，為窺伺計。 已，竟乘其無備，襲殺其王，逐其人民，而據其國，名仍呂宋，實佛郎機也。 先是，閩人以其地近且饒富，商販者至數萬人，往往久居不返，至長子孫。 佛郎機既奪其國，其王遣一酋來鎮，慮華人為變，多逐之歸，留者悉被其侵辱。
Luzon lay in the South China Sea, not far from Zhangzhou. In the first month of Hongwu 5 it sent envoys with Suoli and other states to present tribute. In the tenth month of Yongle 3 the court sent officials with an edict to reassure and instruct the kingdom. In the eighth year it presented tribute together with Pangasinan, then ceased coming for many years. In Wanli 4, when Ming troops pursued the pirate Lin Daoqian to Luzon, the locals helped defeat him; tribute was restored. The Portuguese were then powerful and traded with Luzon; seeing the kingdom's weakness, they bribed the king and asked for a plot of land no larger than a cowhide on which to build a settlement. The king, unsuspecting, agreed; they cut the hide into strips, joined them into a cord thousands of feet long, and laid claim to a vast tract of Luzon. The king was horrified, but bound by his word he could only acquiesce, though he did levy taxes on them as the law allowed. Once they had the land, they built houses and fortifications, deployed firearms, and prepared defenses for the conquest they were planning. Soon they struck without warning, killed the king, drove out the people, and seized the kingdom. It was still called Luzon, but it was Portuguese territory now. For years Fujian traders had settled there by the tens of thousands, lured by proximity and wealth; many never went home and raised families on the island. After the Portuguese takeover their governor expelled most of the Chinese settlers for fear of rebellion; those who remained were abused and humiliated.
19
二十一年八月，酋郎雷敝裡系朥侵美洛居，役華人二百五十助戰。 有潘和五者為其哨官。 蠻人日酣臥，而令華人操舟，稍怠，輒鞭撻，有至死者。 和五曰：「叛死，箠死，等死耳，否亦且戰死，曷若刺殺此酋以救死。 勝則揚帆歸，不勝而見縛，死未晚也。」 眾然之，乃夜刺殺其酋，持酋首大呼。 諸蠻驚起，不知所為，悉被刃，或落水死。 和五等盡收其金寶、甲仗，駕舟以歸。 失路之安南，為其國人所掠，惟郭惟太等三十二人附他舟獲返。 時酋子郎雷貓吝駐朔霧，聞之，率眾馳至，遣僧陳父冤，乞還其戰艦、金寶，戮仇人以償父命。 巡撫許孚遠聞於朝，檄兩廣督撫以禮遣僧，置惟太於理，和五竟留安南不敢返。
In the eighth month of Wanli 21 the governor Lang Lei Bi Li Xi Lang invaded Maluku with two hundred fifty Chinese pressed into service. A man named Pan Hewu served as their scout officer. The natives drank themselves into stupors while the Chinese rowed; the slightest lapse brought a beating, and some men were flogged to death. Pan Hewu said, "Rebellion means death, and so does the lash -- either way we die. If we refuse, we'll die fighting anyway. Better to kill this governor and live. If we win, we sail home. If we lose and are captured, we die -- but not before we've tried. The others agreed. That night they killed the governor, held up his severed head, and shouted the alarm. The natives woke in panic and were cut down where they stood; others drowned trying to escape. Pan Hewu and his men seized the gold, arms, and treasure and sailed for home. They lost their way to Annam and were robbed by locals; only Guo Weitai and thirty-two others, catching rides on other vessels, made it back. The governor's son Lang Lei Mao Lin was then at Shuowu; hearing the news, he rushed over, sent a monk to plead his father's case, and demanded the return of the ships and treasure and the execution of the killers. Grand Coordinator Xu Fuyuan reported the affair; the two Guang governors were ordered to send the monk home courteously and put Guo Weitai on trial. Pan Hewu stayed in Annam and never dared return.
20
初，酋之被戮也，其部下居呂宋者，盡逐華人於城外，毀其廬。 及貓吝歸，令城外築室以居。 會有傳日本來寇者，貓吝懼交通為患，復議驅逐。 而孚遠適遣人招還，蠻乃給行糧遣之。 然華商嗜利，趨死不顧，久之復成聚。
When the governor was killed, his men in Luzon expelled every Chinese settler beyond the walls and razed their homes. When Mao Lin returned, he had houses built outside the walls for them to live in. Rumors then spread that Japan was about to attack; fearing collusion, Mao Lin again debated expelling the Chinese. Just then Xu Fuyuan sent envoys to recall them, and the natives provisioned them for the journey and let them go. But Chinese traders, greedy for profit and heedless of danger, gradually drifted back until another settlement took shape.
21
其時礦稅使者四出，奸宄蜂起言利，有閻應龍、張嶷者，言呂宋機易山素產金銀，采之，歲可得金十萬兩、銀三十萬兩，以三十年七月詣闕奏聞，帝即納之。 命下，舉朝駭異。 都御史溫純疏言：「近中外諸臣爭言礦稅之害，天聽彌高。 今廣東李鳳至污辱婦女六十六人，私運財賄至三十巨舟、三百大扛，勢必見戮於積怒之眾。 何如及今撤之，猶不失威福操縱之柄。 緬酋以寶井故，提兵十萬將犯內地，西南之蠻，岌岌可憂。 而閩中奸徒又以機易山事見告。 此其妄言，真如戲劇，不意皇上之聰明而誤聽之。 臣等驚魂搖曳，寢食不寧。 異時變興禍起，費國家之財不知幾百萬，倘或剪滅不早，其患又不止費財矣。
Mining-tax commissioners were fanning out everywhere, and profiteers abounded. Yan Yinglong and Zhang Yi claimed that Mount Jiyi in Luzon was rich in gold and silver and could yield a hundred thousand taels of gold and three hundred thousand of silver a year. In the seventh month of Wanli 30 they presented this at court, and the emperor approved it at once. When the order went out, the entire court was appalled. Censor-in-Chief Wen Chun memorialized: "Recently officials at court and abroad have protested the harm of mining levies, and Your Majesty has heard them ever more clearly. In Guangdong alone Li Feng has violated sixty-six women and smuggled bribes aboard thirty large ships and three hundred heavy loads. An enraged populace will surely kill him. Withdraw the policy now and you will still keep control of power and favor. The Burmese, fighting over gem mines, are massing a hundred thousand men to invade the interior. The southwest is already on the brink. Now Fujian scoundrels have come forward with tales of Mount Jiyi. It is pure fantasy, fit for the stage -- yet Your Majesty's wise ear has been taken in. We lie awake in dread and cannot eat or sleep. When disaster strikes, the treasury will bleed millions. Wait too long to act, and the cost will be far worse than money.
22
臣聞海澄市舶高采已歲徵三萬金，決不遺餘力而讓利。 即機易越在海外，亦決無遍地金銀，任人採取之理，安所得金十萬、銀三十萬，以實其言。 不過假借朝命，闌出禁物，勾引諸番，以逞不軌之謀，豈止煩擾公私，貽害海澄一邑而已哉。
Gao Cai at Haicheng already exacts thirty thousand taels of gold a year from maritime trade. He will not yield a penny of profit. Even overseas, gold and silver do not lie open for the taking. Where are the hundred thousand taels of gold and three hundred thousand of silver to prove this claim? They mean only to use imperial authority to smuggle contraband and incite the barbarians in treason. The damage will not stop at Haicheng or the public purse.
23
昔年倭患，正緣奸民下海，私通大姓，設計勒價，致倭賊憤恨，稱兵犯順。 今以朝命行之，害當彌大。 及乎兵連禍結，諸奸且效汪直、曾一本輩故智，負海稱王，擁兵列寨，近可以規重利，遠不失為尉佗。 於諸亡命之計得矣，如國家大患何！ 乞急置於理，用消禍本。」
The Japanese raids of years past began when local ruffians went to sea, colluded with powerful families, and rigged prices until the pirates turned violent. Do the same under imperial orders and the harm will be far worse. When war follows, these men will copy the pirates Wang Zhi and Zeng Yiben -- declaring themselves kings at sea, raising armies, building forts. Near at hand lies great profit; far off, a kingdom of their own like Zhao Tuo. That may serve the outlaws well enough -- but what of the empire? I beg that these men be tried at once and the source of this evil cut off."
24
言官金忠士、曹於汴、硃吾弼等亦連章力爭，皆不聽。
The censors Jin Zhongshi, Cao Yubian, Zhu Wubi, and others filed memorial after memorial in protest. The emperor would not listen.
25
事下福建守臣，持不欲行，而迫於朝命，乃遣海澄丞王時和、百戶幹一成偕嶷往勘。 呂宋人聞之大駭。 華人流寓者謂之曰：「天朝無他意，特是奸徒橫生事端。 今遣使者按驗，俾奸徒自窮，便於還報耳。」 其酋意稍解，命諸僧散花道旁，若敬朝使，而盛陳兵衛迓之。 時和等入，酋為置宴，問曰：「天朝欲遣人開山。 山各有主，安得開？ 譬中華有山，可容我國開耶？」 且言：「樹生金豆，是何樹所生？」 時和不能對，數視嶷，嶷曰：「此地皆金，何必問豆所自？」 上下皆大笑，留嶷，欲殺之。 諸華人共解，乃獲釋歸。 時和還任，即病悸死。 守臣以聞，請治嶷妄言罪。 事已止矣，而呂宋人終自疑，謂天朝將襲取其國，諸流寓者為內應，潛謀殺之。
The case went to Fujian's frontier officials, who were reluctant to act but bowed to the court order and sent Haicheng Assistant Magistrate Wang Shihe, Company Officer Gan Yicheng, and Zhang Yi to investigate. When the people of Luzon heard, they were terrified. Chinese residents reassured them: "The court means no harm. Scoundrels at home invented this affair. Imperial envoys have come only to investigate and expose the liars. That is all. The governor's suspicions eased somewhat. Monks strewed flowers along the road as if greeting imperial envoys, and he received the mission with a great show of armed escort. At the banquet the governor asked Wang Shihe, "So the court wants to open the mountains. Every mountain here has an owner. Who gave you leave to mine them? Would China let us come dig up your hills? You say trees grow golden beans. Which trees are those? Wang Shihe had no reply and kept glancing at Zhang Yi, who said, "The whole place is gold. Why quibble over beans? The hall erupted in laughter. They detained Zhang Yi and meant to kill him. The Chinese community interceded, and he was released. Wang Shihe returned to his post, fell ill with heart palpitations, and died. The frontier officials reported the affair and asked that Zhang Yi be punished for his fabrications. The crisis seemed over, but the Luzonese remained convinced that the dynasty meant to seize their kingdom with Chinese residents as fifth columnists, and they began plotting a massacre.
26
明年，聲言發兵侵旁國，厚價市鐵器。 華人貪利盡鬻之，於是家無寸鐵。 酋乃下令錄華人姓名，分三百人為一院，入即殲之。 事稍露，華人群走菜園。 酋發兵攻，眾無兵仗，死無算，奔大侖山。 蠻人復來攻，眾殊死鬥，蠻兵少挫。 酋旋悔，遣使議和。 眾疑其偽，撲殺之。 酋大怒，斂眾入城，設伏城旁。 眾飢甚，悉下山攻城。 伏發，眾大敗，先後死者二萬五千人。 酋尋出令，諸所掠華人貲，悉封識貯庫。 移書閩中守臣，言華人將謀亂，不得已先之，請令死者家屬往取其孥與帑。 巡撫徐學聚等亟告變於朝，帝驚悼，下法司議奸徒罪。 三十二年十二月議上，帝曰：「嶷等欺誑朝廷，生釁海外，致二萬商民盡膏鋒刃，損威辱國，死有餘辜，即梟首傳示海上。 呂宋酋擅殺商民，撫按官議罪以聞。」 學聚等乃移檄呂宋，數以擅殺罪，令送死者妻子歸，竟不能討也。 其後，華人復稍稍往，而蠻人利中國互市，亦不拒，久之復成聚。
The next year they announced a campaign against a neighbor and paid top prices for iron goods. Greedy for profit, the Chinese sold every scrap of metal until not a household had a weapon left. The governor then registered every Chinese name, grouped them in compounds of three hundred, and slaughtered each group as they were admitted. Word leaked, and the Chinese fled en masse to the market gardens. Troops pursued them. Unarmed, they fell by the thousands and retreated to Mount Dalun. The natives attacked again; the Chinese fought desperately and briefly drove them back. The governor soon regretted the bloodshed and sent an envoy to negotiate. The refugees suspected a trick and killed the envoy. Enraged, the governor withdrew into the city and laid an ambush outside the walls. Starving, they came down from the mountain and stormed the walls. The trap was sprung. Twenty-five thousand Chinese were killed. The governor then ordered all seized Chinese property sealed and stored in the treasury. He wrote to Fujian's officials claiming the Chinese had been plotting rebellion and that he had acted first, and invited the victims' families to come collect their kin and goods. Grand Coordinator Xu Xueju rushed word to court. The emperor was horrified and ordered the judiciary to determine the profiteers' punishment. In the twelfth month of Wanli 32 the verdict reached the throne. The emperor declared, "Zhang Yi and his accomplices lied to the court, provoked bloodshed overseas, and sent twenty thousand merchants and civilians to their deaths, shaming the empire. Execute them and display their heads along the coast. As for the Luzon governor who slaughtered merchants, let the frontier officials determine his punishment and report. Xu Xueju dispatched a reprimand to Luzon demanding the return of the victims' families, but no punishment could be enforced. Chinese traders gradually returned, and the locals, eager for trade, did not turn them away. In time another settlement grew up.
27
時佛郎機已並滿剌加，益以呂宋，勢愈強，橫行海外，遂據廣東香山澳，築城以居，與民互市，而患復中於粵矣。
By then the Portuguese had taken Malacca and Luzon and grown ever bolder. They dominated the seas, seized Xiangshan Ao in Guangdong, built a fortified settlement, and traded with local merchants -- and trouble returned to Guangdong.
28
合貓裡
Camarines Sur
29
合貓裡，海中小國也。 土瘠多山，山外大海，饒魚蟲，人知耕稼。 永樂三年九月遣使附爪哇使臣朝貢。 其國又名貓裡務，近呂宋，商舶往來，漸成富壤。 華人入其國，不敢欺陵，市法最平，故華人為之語曰：「若要富，須往貓裡務。」 有網巾礁老者，最凶悍，海上行劫，舟若飄風，遇之無免者。 然特惡商舶不至其地，偶有至者，待之甚善。 貓裡務後遭寇掠，人多死傷，地亦貧困。 商人慮為礁老所劫，鮮有赴者。
Camarines Sur was a small island kingdom. The land was poor and mountainous, but the surrounding seas teemed with fish; the people farmed. In the ninth month of Yongle 3 it sent envoys with the Javanese mission to present tribute. It was also known as Maoliwu. Close to Luzon and on the shipping lanes, it grew prosperous. Chinese traders were treated fairly and never cheated, and a saying went around: "Want to get rich? Go to Maoliwu. A pirate called the Old Man of Wangjin Reef was the fiercest raider on the sea; ships that crossed his path were lost. Yet he reserved his wrath for merchants who bypassed his waters; any who did call were treated with surprising hospitality. Maoliwu was later ravaged by raiders. Many were killed or wounded, and the country fell into poverty. Traders, fearing the Old Man of the Reef, seldom ventured there.
30
美洛居
Maluku
31
美洛居，俗訛為米六合，居東海中，頗稱饒富。 酋出，威儀甚備，所部合掌伏道旁。 男子削髮，，女椎結。 地有香山，雨後香墮，沿流滿地，居民拾取不竭。 其酋委積充棟，以待商舶之售。 東洋不產丁香，獨此地有之，可以闢邪，故華人多市易。
Maluku, vulgarly miscalled "Mi Liuhe," lay in the eastern sea and was regarded as notably prosperous. Whenever the chieftain appeared in public, his retinue was arrayed in full ceremony, and his subjects pressed their palms together and prostrated themselves along the roadside. Men shaved their heads,, and women wore their hair in topknots. There was a Fragrant Mountain on the island. After rain, aromatic droplets fell and washed down the streams until the ground along the banks was covered; the people gathered them endlessly. The chieftain stockpiled the spice until his storehouses overflowed, holding it for sale to passing merchant vessels. Cloves were not produced elsewhere in the Eastern Ocean; only this island had them. Believed to dispel evil influences, they drew many Chinese traders.
32
萬曆時，佛郎機來攻，其酋戰敗請降，乃宥令復位，歲以丁香充貢，不設戍兵而去。 已，紅毛番橫海上，知佛郎機兵已退，乘虛直抵城下，執其酋，語之曰：「若善事我，我為若主，殊勝佛郎機也。」 酋不得已聽命，復位如故。 佛郎機酋聞之大怒，率兵來攻，道為華人所殺，語具《呂宋傳》。
During the Wanli reign the Portuguese attacked. The chieftain was defeated and sued for peace; he was pardoned and restored to power on condition that cloves be sent as tribute each year, and the Portuguese withdrew without leaving a garrison. Soon the Dutch dominated the seas. Learning that the Portuguese had withdrawn, they seized the chance, sailed straight to the walls, took the chieftain captive, and told him, "Serve me faithfully and I will be your master -- a far better one than the Portuguese." The chieftain had no choice but to submit, and was reinstated as before. The Portuguese governor, enraged at the news, marched to attack, but was killed en route by Chinese -- the full account appears in the 《Luzon Monograph》.
33
時紅毛番雖據美洛居，率一二歲率眾返國，既返復來。 佛郎機酋子既襲位，欲竟父志，大舉兵來襲，值紅毛番已去，遂破美洛居，殺其酋，立己所親信主之。 無何，紅毛番至，又破其城，逐佛郎機所立酋，而立美洛居故王之子。 自是，歲構兵，人不堪命。 華人流寓者，遊說兩國，令各罷兵，分國中萬老高山為界，山以北屬紅毛番，南屬佛郎機，始稍休息，而美洛居竟為兩國所分。
Though the Dutch held Maluku, every year or two they led their people home, only to return again afterward. The Portuguese governor's son, succeeding his father and intent on finishing what he had begun, launched a major assault. The Dutch had already left, so he overran Maluku, killed the chieftain, and installed a man of his own trust as ruler. Before long the Dutch returned, stormed the city again, expelled the Portuguese appointee, and restored the son of Maluku's former king. From then on the two sides fought year after year, and the people could endure it no longer. Chinese residents brokered a truce and divided the island at Mount Wanlao: the north went to the Dutch, the south to the Portuguese. Only then did the fighting ease, and Maluku was permanently split between the two powers.
34
沙瑤，與吶嗶啴連壞。 吶嗶啴在海畔，沙瑤稍紆入山隈，皆與呂宋近。 男女蓄髮椎結，男子用履，婦女跣足。 以板為城，豎木覆茅為室。 崇釋教，多建禮拜寺。 男女之禁甚嚴，夫行在前，其婦與人嘲笑，夫即刃其婦，所嘲笑之人不敢逃，任其刺割。 盜不問大小，輒論死。 孕婦將產，以水灌之，且以水滌其子，置水中，生而與水習矣。 物產甚薄，華人商其地，所攜僅磁器、鍋釜之類，重者至布而止。 後佛郎機據呂宋，多侵奪鄰境，惟二國號令不能及。
Sayao and Napitan were neighboring lands. Napitan lay on the coast, while Sayao stretched back into the hills; both were near Luzon. Both sexes wore their hair long in topknots. Men wore shoes; women went barefoot. Their settlements were walled with planks; houses were framed with upright timbers and roofed with thatch. They followed Buddhism and built many houses of worship. Sexual propriety was strictly enforced. If a husband walked ahead and another man mocked his wife, the husband would immediately kill her; the mocker would not flee but submit to being stabbed and hacked at the husband's pleasure. Theft, however petty, was always punished by death. When a woman was near delivery she was bathed in water; the newborn was washed and placed in water as well, so that from birth the child was at home in the water. The country had little to offer. Chinese merchants brought only porcelain, pots, and the like -- cloth was the weightiest cargo they could hope to sell. After the Portuguese seized Luzon and began annexing neighboring lands, only these two countries remained outside their control.
35
雞籠山在彭湖嶼東北，故名北港，又名東番，去泉州甚邇。 地多深山大澤，聚落星散。 無君長，有十五社，社多者千人，少或五六百人。 無徭賦，以子女多者為雄，聽其號令。 雖居海中，酷畏海，不善操舟，老死不與領國往來。
Chicken Cage Mountain stood northeast of the Pescadores, whence the name North Harbor; it was also called Eastern Barbarians and lay very close to Quanzhou. Deep mountains and broad marshes covered the land, and villages were scattered far apart. There were no chiefs or kings, only fifteen communities of up to a thousand people each, some as small as five or six hundred. There was no taxation or forced labor. The man with the most children was treated as the leader, and others followed his word. Though surrounded by sea, they were deeply afraid of it and poor sailors; most lived and died without ever visiting neighboring lands.
36
永樂時，鄭和遍歷東西洋，靡不獻琛恐後，獨東番遠避不至。 和惡之，家貽一銅鈴，俾掛諸項，蓋擬之狗國也。 其後，人反寶之，富者至掇數枚，曰：「此祖宗所遺。」 俗尚勇，暇即習走，日可數百里，不讓奔馬。 足皮厚數分，履荊棘如平地。 男女椎結，裸逐無所避。 女或結草裙蔽體，遇長老則背身而立，俟過乃行。 男子穿耳。 女子年十五，斷唇旁齒以為飾，手足皆刺文，眾社畢賀，費不貲。 貧者不任受賀，則不敢刺。 四序，以草青為歲首。 土宜五穀，而不善水田。 谷種落地，則止殺，謂行好事，助天公，乞飯食。 既收穫，即標竹竿於道，謂之插青，此時逢外人便殺矣。 村落相仇，刻期而後戰，勇者數人前跳，被殺則立散。 其勝者，眾賀之，曰：「壯士能殺人也。」 其負者，家眾亦賀之，曰：「壯士不畏死也。 次日，即和好如初。 地多竹，大至數拱，長十丈，以竹構屋，覆之以茅，廣且長，聚族而居。 無歷日、文字，有大事集眾議之。 善用鏢槍，竹柄鐵鏃，銛甚，試鹿鹿斃，試虎虎亦斃。 性既畏海，捕魚則於溪澗。 冬月聚眾捕鹿，鏢發輒中，積如丘山。 獨不食雞雉，但取其毛以為飾。 中多大溪，流入海，水澹，故其外名淡水洋。
During the Yongle reign Zheng He toured the Eastern and Western Oceans, and every people rushed to offer tribute -- all except the Eastern Barbarians, who kept their distance and never appeared. Zheng He took offense and gave each household a bronze bell to hang around the neck, treating them like a nation of dogs. Later the people came to prize the bells instead; the wealthy collected several and said, "These were handed down by our ancestors." Bravery was honored, and in spare time men trained at running, covering several hundred li in a day -- a match for a galloping horse. The soles of their feet were several fen thick, so they walked thorn and bramble as if on flat ground. Men and women wore topknots and went naked in one another's presence without shame. Women sometimes wore grass skirts for modesty. When they met an elder they turned away and waited until he had passed before moving on. Men wore pierced ears. At fifteen a girl had the teeth beside her lips knocked out for adornment and her hands and feet tattooed. The whole community turned out to celebrate, at staggering expense. Those too poor to host the celebration simply did without the tattoos. Their calendar began when the grass turned green. The land supported grain crops, but the people did not practice wet-rice cultivation. Once seed was sown they stopped killing, declaring that they were doing good, aiding Heaven, and begging sustenance for the harvest. After the harvest they set up green-marked bamboo poles along the roads -- the "inserting green" season -- and killed any outsider they encountered. Feuding villages set a day for battle. A few champions charged first; if one fell, the fight broke up at once. The victors were hailed with the words, "A brave man knows how to kill." Even the losers' families offered praise: "A brave man does not fear death. The next day the two sides were friends again. Bamboo grew there as thick as several arm-spans and ten zhang tall. Clans lived together in long, broad bamboo houses roofed with thatch. They kept no calendar and had no writing; important decisions were settled in council. They were expert with javelins -- bamboo shafts tipped with sharp iron points that would drop a deer on trial and a tiger as well. Afraid of the open sea by nature, they fished only in streams and creeks. In winter they hunted deer in parties; every throw found its mark, and the carcasses heaped up like hills. They never ate chicken or pheasant, using only the feathers for decoration. Great rivers ran from the interior to the sea. Their water was fresh, and the adjoining waters were called the Freshwater Sea.
37
嘉靖末，倭寇擾閩，大將戚繼光敗之。 倭遁居於此，其黨林道乾從之。 已，道乾懼為倭所並，又懼官軍追擊，揚帆直抵浡泥，攘其邊地以居，號道乾港。 而雞籠遭倭焚掠，國遂殘破。 初悉居海濱，既遭倭難，稍稍避居山後。 忽中國漁舟從魍港飄至，遂往來通販，以為常。 至萬曆末，紅毛番泊舟於此，因事耕鑿，設阛阓，稱台灣焉。
Near the end of the Jiajing reign Japanese pirates raided Fujian; the commander Qi Jiguang routed them. The Japanese withdrew to this island, followed by the renegade Lin Daoqian. Soon Daoqian, fearing annexation by the Japanese and pursuit by Ming forces, sailed to Brunei, carved out a strip of borderland, and established Daoqian Harbor. Chicken Cage itself was burned and looted by the Japanese, and the settlements were left in ruins. They had first lived entirely on the coast; after the Japanese raids they gradually retreated inland behind the mountains. Then a Chinese fishing boat blown in from Wanggang Harbor opened regular trade, which soon became routine. Near the end of the Wanli reign the Dutch anchored there, cleared fields, built settlements, opened a market, and gave the place the name Taiwan.
38
崇禎八年，給事中何楷陳靖海之策，言：「自袁進、李忠、楊祿、楊策、鄭芝龍、李魁奇、鐘斌、劉香相繼為亂，海上歲無寧息。 今欲靖寇氛，非墟其窟不可。 其窟維何？ 台灣是也。 台灣在彭湖島外，距漳、泉止兩日夜程，地廣而腴。 初，貧民時至其地，規魚鹽之利，後見兵威不及，往往聚而為盜。 近則紅毛築城其中，與奸民互市，屹然一大部落。 墟之之計，非可干戈從事，必嚴通海之禁，俾紅毛無從謀利，奸民無從得食，出兵四犯，我師乘其虛而擊之，可大得志。 紅毛舍此而去，然後海氛可靖也。」 時不能用。
In Chongzhen 8 the supervising secretary He Kai submitted a plan to pacify the seas: "Since Yuan Jin, Li Zhong, Yang Lu, Yang Ce, Zheng Zhilong, Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin, and Liu Xiang stirred rebellion in succession, the coast has not known a year of peace. To end the piracy, their lair must be destroyed. Where is that lair? Taiwan. Taiwan lies beyond the Pescadores, only two days' sail from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, on broad and fertile ground. At first poor men went there for fish and salt; finding themselves beyond the reach of the law, many banded together as pirates. Now the Dutch have built a fort and trade with renegade Chinese, forming a substantial colony. Destroying this nest cannot be done by force alone. Seal off sea trade so the Dutch cannot profit and outlaws cannot eat; then raid on four fronts and strike when they are weakened -- that is how to succeed. Only when the Dutch abandon Taiwan will the seas be calm again." The court did not act on the proposal.
39
其地，北自雞籠，南至浪嶠，可一千餘里。 東自多羅滿，西至王城，可九百餘裡。 水道，順風，自雞籠淡水至福州港口。 五更可達。 自台灣港至彭湖嶼，四更可達。 自彭湖至金門，七更可達。 東北至日本，七十更可達。 南至呂宋，六十更可達。 蓋海道不可以裡計，舟人分一晝夜為十更，故以更計道里雲。
The island stretched some thirteen hundred li from Chicken Cage in the north to Langjiao in the south. From Duoluoman in the east to Wangcheng in the west, it measured roughly nine hundred li. By sea, with a fair wind, from Chicken Cage Freshwater to Fuzhou harbor: five watches. From Taiwan harbor to the Pescadores: four watches. From the Pescadores to Kinmen: seven watches. Northeast to Japan: seventy watches. South to Luzon: sixty watches. Sea distances cannot be measured in li. Mariners divide day and night into ten watches, and so reckon voyages in watches rather than miles.
40
婆羅，又名文萊，東洋盡處，西洋所自起也。 唐時有婆羅國，高宗時常入貢。 永樂三年十月遣使者齎璽書、彩幣撫諭其王。 四年十二月，其國東、西二王並遣使奉表朝貢。 明年又貢。
Borneo, also known as Brunei, marked the eastern limit of the Eastern Ocean and the beginning of the Western Ocean. Tang records mention a Borneo kingdom that regularly sent tribute during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. In the tenth month of Yongle 3 the court sent envoys with imperial letters and silks to confer with its king. In the twelfth month of Yongle 4 both the eastern and western kings sent envoys with memorials and tribute. They sent tribute again the following year.
41
其地負山面海，崇釋教，惡殺喜施。 禁食豕肉，犯者罪死。 王薙發，裹金繡巾，佩雙劍，出入徒步，從者二百餘人。 有禮拜寺，每祭用犧。 厥貢玳瑁、瑪瑙、硨磲、珠、白焦布、花焦布、降真香、黃蠟、黑小廝。
Mountainous and sea-girt, the country followed Buddhism, abhorred killing, and favored charity. Pork was forbidden on pain of death. The king shaved his head, wore a gold-embroidered turban and two swords at his belt, walked wherever he went, and was attended by more than two hundred followers. There were houses of worship where sacrifices were offered with livestock. Tribute included tortoiseshell, agate, giant-clam shell, pearls, plain and patterned gauze, eaglewood, yellow beeswax, and black servants.
42
萬曆時，為王者閩人也。 或言鄭和使婆羅，有閩人從之，因留居其地，其後人竟據其國而王之。 邸旁有中國碑。 王有金印一，篆文，上作獸形，言永樂朝所賜。 民間嫁娶，必請此印印背上，以為榮。 後佛郎機橫，舉兵來擊。 王率國人走入山谷中，放藥水，流出，毒殺其人無算，王得返國。 佛郎機遂犯呂宋。
By the Wanli reign the throne was held by a man from Fujian. Some say that when Zheng He visited Borneo a Fujianese man in his party stayed behind, and his descendants eventually seized the throne. A Chinese stele stood beside the royal residence. The king possessed a gold seal in seal script surmounted by an animal figure, said to have been granted in the Yongle reign. At weddings commoners sought the honor of having this seal impressed on the bride's back. Later the Portuguese grew aggressive and marched against the kingdom. The king withdrew with his people into the hills and released poisoned water downstream, killing countless Portuguese; he then recovered his kingdom. The Portuguese then turned their attack on Luzon.
43
麻葉甕
Belitung Island
44
麻葉甕，在西南海中。 永樂三年十月遣使齎璽書賜物，招諭其國，迄不朝貢。 自佔城靈山放舟，順風十晝夜至交欄山，其西南即麻葉甕。 山峻地平，田膏腴，收獲倍他國。 煮海為鹽，釀蔗為酒。 男女椎結，衣長衫，圍之以布。 俗尚節義，婦喪夫，剺面剃髮，絕粒七日，與屍同寢，多死。 七日不死，則親戚勸以飲食，終身不再嫁。 或於焚屍日，亦赴火自焚。 產玳瑁、木棉、黃蠟、檳榔、花布之屬。
Mayeuwong lay in the southwestern sea. In the tenth month of Yongle 3 the court sent envoys with an imperial letter and gifts to summon and reassure the kingdom, but it never sent tribute. From Lingshan in Champa, a fair wind carried a ship ten days and nights to Jiaolan Mountain; Mayeuwong lay to its southwest. Steep mountains rose above level ground, the soil was rich, and harvests ran to twice those of neighboring lands. They boiled seawater for salt and fermented sugarcane into wine. Men and women wore topknots and long gowns, with cloth wrapped about them. The people prized fidelity: when a woman lost her husband she scarred her face, shaved her head, ate nothing for seven days, and slept beside the corpse--and many died. If she survived the seven days, kin would coax her to eat; she then remained a widow for life. Some women, on the day the body was cremated, threw themselves into the flames as well. Local products included tortoiseshell, cotton, yellow beeswax, betel nuts, and patterned cloth.
45
交欄山甚高廣，饒竹木。 元史弼、高興伐爪哇，遭風至此山下，舟多壞，乃登山伐木重造，遂破爪哇。 其病卒百餘，留養不歸，後益蕃衍，故其地多華人。
Jiaolan Mountain was lofty and wide, rich in bamboo and timber. When the Yuan generals Shi Bi and Gao Xing invaded Java, a storm drove them to this mountain; many ships were wrecked, so they climbed it to cut timber, rebuilt their fleet, and went on to conquer Java. More than a hundred sick soldiers were left behind to recover and never went home; their numbers grew, and the region came to have a large Chinese population.
46
又有葛卜及速兒米囊二國，亦永樂三年遣使持璽書賜物招諭，竟不至。
Nearby were Gebu and Su'erminang; in Yongle 3 the court likewise sent envoys with an imperial letter and gifts to summon them, but they never came.
47
古麻剌朗
Gumalalang
48
古麻剌朗，東南海中小國也。 永樂十五年九月遣中官張謙齎敕撫諭其王干剌義亦奔敦，賜之絨錦、纟寧絲、紗羅。 十八年八月，王率妻子、陪臣隨謙來朝，貢方物，禮之如蘇祿國王。 王言：「臣愚無知，雖為國人所推，然未受朝命，幸賜封誥，仍其國號。」 從之，乃賜以印誥、冠帶、儀仗、鞍馬及文綺、金織襲衣，妃以下並有賜。 明年正月辭還，復賜金銀錢、文綺、紗羅、彩帛、金織襲衣、麒麟衣，妃以下賜有差。 王還至福建，遘疾卒。 遣禮部主事楊善諭祭，謚曰康靖，有司治墳，葬以王禮。 命其子剌苾嗣為王，率眾歸，賜鈔幣。
Gumalalang was another small kingdom in the southeastern sea. In the ninth month of Yongle 15 the eunuch Zhang Qian was sent with an edict to reassure King Ganlayi Yibendun, granting him velvet brocade, ramie silk, and gauze. In the eighth month of the eighteenth year the king brought his wife, children, and ministers to court with Zhang Qian, bearing tribute; he was received with the same honors as the king of Sulu. The king said, "Your subject is foolish and knows nothing. Though my people have pressed me forward, I have never received appointment from the court. I beg that you grant me an investiture patent and let my kingdom keep its name." The court agreed and granted him a seal patent, cap and belt, ceremonial regalia, saddle and horse, figured silks, and gold-woven state robes; his consort and the rest of his party received gifts as well. The next first month he took leave to return home and received further gifts of gold, silver, cash, figured silks, gauzes, colored silks, gold-woven state robes, and qilin robes; the consort and her attendants were rewarded in graded amounts. On the journey home the king fell ill in Fujian and died. Yang Shan, a principal secretary of the Ministry of Rites, was sent to offer condolence sacrifices; the court posthumously titled him Kangjing, local officials prepared his tomb, and he was buried with royal honors. His son Labi was appointed to succeed him, led the party home, and was granted paper money.
49
馮嘉施蘭
Pangasinan
50
馮嘉施蘭，亦東洋中小國。 永樂四年八月，其酋嘉馬銀等來朝，貢方物，賜鈔幣有差。 六年四月，其酋玳瑁、裡欲二人，各率其屬朝貢，賜二人鈔各百錠、文綺六表裡，其從者亦有賜。 八年復來貢。
Pangasinan was likewise a small state of the Eastern Ocean. In the eighth month of Yongle 4 its chieftain Jiamayin and others came to court with tribute and received graded gifts of paper money. In the fourth month of the sixth year its chieftains Daimao and Liyu each brought their followers to court; each received a hundred ingots of paper money and six lined suits of figured silk, and their attendants were rewarded as well. They sent tribute again in the eighth year.
51
文郎馬神
Banjarmasin
52
文郎馬神，以木為城，其半倚山。 酋蓄繡女數百人。 出乘象，則繡女執衣履、刀劍及檳榔盤以從。 或泛舟，則酋趺坐床上，繡女列坐其下，與相向，或用以刺舟，威儀甚都。 民多縛木水上，築室以居，如三佛齊。 男女用五色布纏頭，腹背多袒，或著小袖衣，蒙頭而入，下體圍以幔。 初用蕉葉為食器，後與華人市，漸用磁器。 尤好磁甕，畫龍其外，死則貯甕中以葬。 其俗惡淫，奸者論死。 華人與女通，輒削其發，以女配之，永不聽歸。 女苦發短，問華人何以致長，紿之曰：「我用華水沐之，故長耳。」 其女信之，競市船中水以沐。 華人故靳之，以為笑端。 女或悅華人，持香蕉、甘蔗、茉莉相贈遺，多與之調笑。 然憚其法嚴，無敢私通者。
Banjarmasin was walled in timber, half the settlement built against a mountainside. Its ruler kept several hundred embroidered maidens in attendance. When he went abroad on an elephant, the maidens followed bearing clothes, shoes, swords, and betel trays. On the water he sat cross-legged on a couch while the maidens sat in rows below, facing him; some poled the boat. The spectacle was stately in the extreme. Most people lashed logs together on the water and built houses to live in, as in Srivijaya. Men and women wound their heads in cloth of five colors, baring chest and back, or wore short-sleeved jackets with veiled heads and skirts about the lower body. They once ate from banana leaves; trade with Chinese merchants gradually brought them to porcelain. They prized porcelain jars painted with dragons on the outside; the dead were placed in such jars for burial. The people abhorred licentiousness, and adultery was punishable by death. If a Chinese man slept with a local woman, his head was shaved and the woman given to him in marriage; he was never allowed to go home. The women, vexed by their short hair, asked Chinese men how to make it grow; the men lied, "I wash mine in Chinese water, and that is why it is long." The women believed them and vied to buy water from the ships to wash their hair. The Chinese deliberately rationed the water and laughed at them. Some women who took a fancy to Chinese men would bring them bananas, sugarcane, and jasmine, bantering and flirting as they came and went. Yet the law was strict, and none dared a secret affair.
53
其深山中有村名烏籠裡憚，其人盡生尾，見人輒掩面走避。 然地饒沙金，商人持貨往市者，擊小銅鼓為號，置貨地上，即引退丈許。 其人乃前視，當意者，置金於旁。 主者遙語欲售，則持貨去，否則懷金以歸，不交言也。 所產有犀牛、孔雀、鸚鵡、沙金、鶴頂、降香、蠟、藤席、惸藤、蓽撥、血竭、肉荳蔻、麞皮諸物。
Deep in the mountains was a village called Wulonglidan whose people were born with tails; at the sight of strangers they covered their faces and fled. The country was rich in placer gold all the same. Merchants who came to trade beat a small copper drum, set their goods on the ground, and withdrew a few paces. The villagers came forward to look; if pleased, they laid gold beside the goods. If the merchant shouted from a distance that he would sell, they took the goods; if not, they carried the gold away. Not a word passed between them. Products included rhinoceros horn, peacocks, parrots, placer gold, hornbill casques, aloeswood, wax, rattan mats, rattan, long pepper, dragon's blood resin, nutmeg, and deerskin.
54
鄰境有買哇柔者，性凶狠，每夜半盜斬人頭以去，裝之以金。 故商人畏之，夜必嚴更以待。
In a neighboring land lived the Maiwarou, a fierce people who at midnight would steal in, cut off a head, and adorn it with gold. Merchants feared them and kept strict night watches.
55
始，文郎馬神酋有賢德，待商人以恩信。 子三十一人，恐擾商舶，不令外出。 其妻乃買哇柔酋長之妹，生子襲父位，聽其母族之言，務為欺詐，多負商人價直，自是赴者亦稀。
At first Banjarmasin's ruler was a man of virtue who treated merchants with kindness and good faith. He had thirty-one sons, but fearing they would trouble merchant ships, he forbade them to go abroad. His wife was the sister of the Maiwarou chieftain. Their son succeeded him, listened to his mother's kin, and turned to deceit, often cheating merchants of their due; from then on fewer traders came.