The Southern Yi — Linyi and Funan南夷

The kingdom of Linyi among the Southern Yi lies south of Jiaozhou, three thousand li by sea. To the north it joins Jiude. It was the old Linyi county of Qin (秦) times. At the end of Han its ruler called himself king. In the fifth year of Taikang under Jin (晉) it first sent tribute.

In the first year of Yongchu under Song, when Fan Yangmai, king of Linyi, was first born, his mother dreamed that someone spread a mat of gold beneath him, strange and lovely in its light and color. What China calls zimo gold (紫磨金) the Yi people (夷人) call "yangmai," and so it was made his name. When Yangmai died his son Duo ascended the throne, and out of longing for his father he changed his own name back to Yangmai.

Linyi has a mountain of gold, and gold flows out in liquid into the creeks. They serve the Nigan way (尼乾道), and cast human figures of gold and silver ten arm-spans around.

In the twenty-second year of Yuanjia, Tan Hezhi, inspector of Jiaozhou, struck Linyi. Yangmai offered to hand over ten thousand catties of gold, a hundred thousand catties of silver and three hundred thousand catties of copper, and to give back the land of Rinan. His great minister Zisengda remonstrated, but he would not listen. Hezhi advanced his troops and broke Qulicheng of the Quanrong on the northern border, and took gold and treasure beyond counting; he smashed their golden figure and got several tens of thousands of catties of yellow gold, and the other things matched it. Hezhi afterward fell sick and died, and it was said that he had seen the Hu god (胡神) working harm upon him. In the second year of Xiaojian, Fan Longba, chief clerk of Linyi, was for the first time made General Who Displays Valor.

The descendants of Yangmai passed the kingship from one to another, but they had no title of rank. A Yi man, Fan Danggenchun, attacked and seized the kingdom and usurped the throne as king. In the ninth year of Yongming he sent an envoy with tribute of gold mats and other things. An edict said, "Though Linyi lies far outside, for generations it has submitted to the king's transforming rule. Danggenchun's sincerity has now reached us; he has led his officials and made his merit known from afar, and this is truly to be commended. It is fitting that he be granted a title of rank, so that our fair favor may be spread wide. He may be bearer of the tally, commander of all military affairs along the sea, General Who Pacifies the South, and king of Linyi."

Fan Zhunong, a descendant of Fan Yangmai, led the men of his clan against Danggenchun and won back the home kingdom. In the tenth year Zhunong was made bearer of the tally, commander of all military affairs along the sea, General Who Pacifies the South, and king of Linyi. In the second year of Jianwu his title was raised to General Who Guards the South. In the first year of Yongtai, Zhunong came to court, and he met a wind on the sea and drowned; so his son Wenkuan was made acting bearer of the tally, commander of military affairs along the sea, General Who Pacifies the South, and king of Linyi.

In the Jianxing period of Jin (晉), Wen (文), the slave of Fan Zhi, a Yi chieftain of Rinan, went trading many times and saw the institutions of the upper kingdom, and he taught Fan Yi, king of Linyi, to raise walls and moats and towers and halls. The king wears a crown of heaven like the crown of a Buddha, and his body is hung with fragrant garlands. The people of that land are fierce and hardy; they know their hills and rivers and fight well. They blow sea conches for horns. The people all go naked. The four seasons are warm, and there is no frost or snow. They hold women noble and men base, and they call the teacher-lord (師君) a Brahman. Kinfolk marry among themselves, and the bride's side first sends the betrothal gifts to seek a husband. A woman who marries wears a jialan robe (迦藍衣), its widths laid crosswise and stitched together like a well railing, and she bears flowered jewels on her head. A Brahman leads the bridegroom and the bride, joins their hands and gives each to the other, and prays for good fortune. In mourning they cut their hair, and this they call filial. They burn the corpse in the open field, and this is their burial. In the far borderlands there is the numinous vulture bird (靈鷲鳥), which knows when a person is about to die. It gathers at the house and eats the flesh of the dead until it is gone and flies away, and then the bones are taken and burned and the ashes thrown into the sea for a water burial. In the color of a person they hold black to be beautiful, and all the kingdoms of the south are so. At Qulicheng a gnomon of eight feet is set up, and the shadow of the sun passes eight inches to the south.

Going southwest from Linyi more than three thousand li, one comes to Funan.

The kingdom of Funan lies in the western bay of the great sea south of Rinan. It is more than three thousand li across, and a great river runs west into the sea. In the old days a woman was king there, named Liuye (柳葉). There was also a man of the kingdom of Ji named Hun Tian (混塡), who dreamed that a god gave him a bow and taught him to take ship and put out to sea. Hun Tian rose at dawn and found the bow under the tree at the god's shrine, and at once he took ship and made for Funan. Liuye saw the ship and led her people out to stop him. Hun Tian raised the bow and shot from afar, and the arrow pierced one side of the ship and struck the person within. Liuye was afraid and surrendered, and Hun Tian took her to wife. He disliked her going with her body bare, so he had folded cloth drawn over her head. So he ruled that kingdom, and his descendants passed it on one to another.

When King Panhuang died, the people of the kingdom set up his great general Fan Shiman. When Shiman fell ill, his sister's son Zhan usurped the throne and killed Shiman's son Jinsheng. More than ten years later Shiman's younger son Chang fell upon Zhan and killed him, and he cut into Zhan's belly with his blade and said, "You killed my elder brother long ago; now I repay you for my father and my brother." Zhan's great general Fan Xun then killed Chang, and the people of the kingdom set him up as king. This was in the time of Wu and Jin. Under Jin and Song they kept up their tribute duties.

At the end of Song the king of Funan was Qiaochenru by surname and Sheyebamo by name, and he sent trade goods to Guangzhou. Naqiexian, a man of the Way from Tianzhu, took passage on that ship meaning to return to his own land, but he met a wind and came to Linyi, and all his goods were taken from him. Naqiexian made his way by back roads and barely reached Funan, and he told them in full that in China a sage ruler had received the mandate.

In the second year of Yongming, Sheyebamo sent Shi Naqiexian, a man of the Way from Tianzhu, to present a memorial. "Your servant Qiaochenru Sheyebamo, king of the kingdom of Funan, bows his head and states: the transforming power of heaven soothes and nurtures, the spirits are moved, and the breath of the four seasons is in tune. Prostrate, I pray that the sage ruler's person be at ease in rising and resting, that the crown prince have ten thousand blessings, that the six palaces be pure and at peace, that the many kings and consorts and princesses and the officials within and without be all in harmony, that the gentry and common folk of neighboring lands and the ten thousand kingdoms turn their hearts to you, that the five grains ripen in plenty and no calamity arise, that the land be clear and the people at peace, and that all things be quiet and secure. Your servant and his people and his land too are rich and glad, and the breath of the four seasons is in tune; those of the Way and those of the world are gathered in throngs, and all are covered by the shining transformation of Your Majesty and rest in peace."

He said again, "Your servant earlier sent an envoy carrying sundry goods to Guangzhou to trade. Shi Naqiexian, a man of the Way from Tianzhu, took passage at Guangzhou on your servant's ship meaning to come to Funan, but on the sea he was driven by the wind to Linyi, and the king of that land took your servant's trade goods and Naqiexian's private property as well. Naqiexian set out in full how he had come here from China, and he told in praise of Your Majesty's sage virtue and benevolent rule: that the winds of transformation are weighed with care, that the law of the Buddha flourishes and shines, that the monks gather in throngs and the works of the Law grow greater by the day, that the king's majesty is stern and ordered, and that the standing of the court and the rule of the kingdom pity all living things, so that in the eight directions and the six quarters there is none that does not submit. If it is as he says, then the transformation there neighbors the many heavens, and there is nothing to liken it to. Hearing this, your servant leapt for joy in his heart, as though for a moment he had met your honored feet; and looking up in longing for your merciful grace, he prays that the favor flowing to a small kingdom and the answer heaven sends down may let the people of all the land receive your kindness and protection.

And so your servant now sends this man of the Way, Shi Naqiexian, as envoy, to present a memorial with greetings and tribute, to offer up a little of the red hearts of your servants, and to state his humble case besides. Only, what is offered is light and mean, and his shame and fear run deep. Prostrate, he prays that heaven's mercy may shine down upon him, look into his sincerity, and not cast him off."

He said again, "Your servant had a slave named Jiuchouluo, who turned his back on your servant and fled away. In another place he wove a wicked rebellion, and at last he broke Linyi and set himself up as king. He is forever unsubmissive; he has turned his back on kindness and betrayed right, and the fault of a slave who rebels against his master is one heaven does not hold up. Prostrate, I observe that Linyi, once broken by Tan Hezhi, long ago came over to your transforming rule. Where the majesty of heaven reaches, the four seas submit throughout; yet now Jiuchouluo holds fast to the wickedness of a slave and is fierce and stubborn at his own will. Moreover Linyi and Funan share a border, and by kinship he is your servant's own slave, and still he has turned away and fled; how then should he honor a court that lies far off? This land belongs to Your Majesty, and so your servant states the matter in full. Prostrate, I hear that of late the memorials and offerings of Linyi have grown few and have ceased, and that they mean to be cut off from the court for good. How can one sit on the lion's seat and let a great rat be at ease? Prostrate, I pray that you send a general to strike this wicked rebel. Your servant too will offer his small sincerity and help the court to cut them down, so that the many kingdoms along the sea may submit at one time. Should Your Majesty wish to set up another man as king of that land, your servant will prostrate himself and obey the edict. If you do not yet wish openly to raise troops and strike Linyi, then prostrate I pray that you grant an edict to that place and help your servant with a few soldiers as suits the case; then, riding on the majesty of heaven, I shall wipe out this small bandit, strike down evil and make them follow good.

On the day they are put down I shall present a memorial and offer five poluo (婆羅) of gold. Now your servant sends his plain sincerity lightly by this envoy; what is set forth in the memorial does not exhaust his humble case. He entrusts it with care to the mouths of Naqiexian and his companions, to be stated in full. Prostrate, he prays that you take pity on what is stated. And he offers one gold-inlaid seated image of the Dragon King, one image of white sandalwood, two ivory pagodas, two pairs of gubei cloth, two glass suli (蘇鉝) vessels, and one betel tray of tortoiseshell."

Naqiexian came to the capital and said that the custom of his land was to serve the heavenly god Moxishouluo (摩醯首羅), and that the god always came down upon Mount Motan; that the breath of that earth is always warm, and the grass and trees do not fall. His writing said —

"The Auspicious One profits the world and gathers in all living beings. That it is so is because the bond of heaven's transforming grace is bright. The immortal mountain is named Motan, where auspicious trees put out fair blossoms, and there Moxishouluo the heaven leans down and sends his honored spirit. The land is blessed throughout and the people are all at peace. Because this kindness has covered us, your servant turns his heart to you. The bodhisattva practices patience and mercy, raising his true traces from the ground of common men. Once he has brought forth the mind of awakening, the two vehicles are not what he looks for. Through life after life he heaps up merit, and by the six perfections he practices great compassion. His courage passes beyond the number of the kalpas, and he gives up wealth and life with nothing held back. He does not weary of birth and death, but turns those of the six paths who have the bond; he practices the ten stages in full, and with the fruit he leaves behind he ferries over men and gods. His merit being already settled and his practice full, he mounts to right awakening. The ten thousand goods and his wisdom are rounded and complete, and the sun of his wisdom shines on the world of dust. When living beings answer according to their bond, he gives them the medicine of the Law according to their capacity; the Buddha's transformation fills the ten directions, and there is none that is not saved and lifted up. The Emperor is a sage and widens the Way and raises up the Three Treasures. He bends his mind to look over the ten thousand affairs, and his majesty and grace shake the eight quarters. In his land and his walled towns the wind of benevolence is clear and bright; it is as when Shakra is highest among the many heavens. Your Majesty stands over the ten thousand people, and the four seas turn their hearts to you together; the sage's mercy flows without bound and reaches deep into your servant's small kingdom."

An edict answered, "You state in full that Moxishouluo sends down his spirit and pours out his gifts on that land; and though the customs differ and the transformation is other, we rejoice and praise it deeply from afar. We know that Jiuchouluo has rebelled there, that he has stolen and holds Linyi and gathers the wicked and plunders at will, and that he is truly to be cut down. Though they lie in a far corner, of old they kept up the tribute of a vassal; but since the many troubles at the end of Song the sea roads and their interpreters have been blocked, and though the imperial transformation has been made new, they are steeped in their delusion and have not yet changed.

We are just now drawing distant people with the virtue of letters, and do not yet wish to raise shield and spear. Since the king has set out his loyalty with full sincerity and has asked from afar for the majesty of our arms, we now send an edict to the Jiao command to answer and receive him as suits the case. To strike the rebellious and soothe the submissive is truly the law of the kingdom; strive to set up some rare merit and answer to what is looked for. Naqiexian has many times borne the word of the border interpreters and knows well how wide or narrow the middle land is; let him tell it all." The emperor sent back in return five bolts each of figured damask, of crimson-purple ground, of yellow, and of jade green.

The people of Funan are shrewd and knowing and skilled. They raid the neighboring towns and make slaves of the folk who do not submit, and they trade in gold and silver and colored silks. In great houses the men cut brocade into crosswise widths, and the women wear the head-drawn robe (貫頭); the poor cover themselves with hemp cloth. They beat out gold rings and silver vessels for eating. They fell trees and raise houses; the king lives in a double storied hall, and a palisade of wood serves for his city wall. By the seashore grows a great ruo leaf eight or nine feet long, and they plait the leaves to roof their houses. The people too live in upper storeys. They make boats eight or nine fathoms long, trimmed six or seven feet wide, with head and tail like a fish. The king rides an elephant when he goes out, and the women too can ride elephants. They take their pleasure in fights of cocks and of pigs.

They have no prison. When there is a suit at law, they throw a gold finger ring or a hen's egg into boiling water and make the man grope for it; or they heat a chain red and lay it on his hands and have him carry it seven paces. The guilty have their hands all scorched and festering; the guiltless are not hurt. They also make him sink in water: the straight man goes in and does not sink, and the man who is not straight sinks at once.

There are sugarcane and the several canes, pomegranate and orange, and much betel; the birds and beasts are as in China. The people are good by nature and are not apt at war, so they are always struck at by Linyi and cannot reach Jiaozhou, and their envoys come but rarely.

Jiaozhou stands sheer off among the sea islands and draws the foreign kingdoms about it, and so, trusting in its steepness, it was often unsubmissive. At the beginning of Taishi under Song, when the inspector Zhang Mu died, Li Changren, a man of Jiaozhi, killed the retainers Zhang Mu had brought from the north, took Jiaozhou and rebelled. After some years he fell ill and died, and his cousin Shuxian carried on the business; but his orders did not run, and he sent an envoy to ask for an inspector. The Song court made Shen Huan, governor of Nanhai, inspector of Jiaozhou, and made Shuxian Shen Huan's Marshal Who Quiets the Distant and governor of the two commanderies of Wuping and Xinchang. Shuxian, having the court's commission and the hearts of the people with him, then sent out troops to hold the passes and would not let Shen Huan in; and Shen Huan stopped at Yulin and died of illness.

In the first year of Jianyuan under Taizu, Shuxian was made inspector of Jiaozhou as before, and so set at ease. Shuxian took the commission, but soon he cut off the roads to the foreign kingdoms, and his tribute was scant and few. Shizu wished to punish him, and in the third year of Yongming he made Liu Kai, Minister of Agriculture, inspector of Jiaozhou, and raised the troops of the commanderies of Nankang, Luling and Shixing to campaign against Jiaozhou. Shuxian heard of it and sent an envoy asking that it be put off a few years more, and he offered twelve sets of helmets of pure silver and peacock plumes, but Shizu would not allow it. Shuxian, fearing that Liu Kai would fall upon him, went back to court by back roads through Xiangchuan.

In the sixth year Fang Fasheng, governor of Shixing, took Liu Kai's place. Fasheng came to his post, but he was ill and did not attend to affairs, caring only to read books. His chief clerk Fu Dengzhi seized on this to take power into his own hands, replacing officers and clerks without letting Fasheng know. The recorder Fang Jiwen reported it, and Fasheng in great anger put Dengzhi in prison. After some ten days Dengzhi bribed Fasheng's sister's husband Cui Jingshu heavily and got out; then he led his retainers, fell upon the provincial seat and seized Fasheng, and said to him, "Since you are already ill, sir, you ought not to be troubled with work." And he shut him in a separate room. Fasheng, having nothing to do, asked Dengzhi again for books to read, and Dengzhi said, "Sir, even resting quietly we fear your illness may stir; how then can you look at books?" And in the end he would not give them. Then he reported that Fasheng's heart-sickness had stirred and that he could not attend to affairs, and Shizu accordingly made Dengzhi inspector of Jiaozhou. Fasheng died on the way back, when he reached the mountain pass.

Fasheng was a man of Qinghe. In the Shengming period he was an officer of the central troops under Taizu, the General of Agile Cavalry, and he rose to General of the Gentlemen of the Household of the Left. He was upright and plain by nature. He was eight feet three inches tall, and standing above other men when he walked, he always stooped himself. Ming Qingfu, inspector of Qingzhou, was as tall as Fasheng; in the whole court there were only these two.