The kingdom of Shizi師子國

The kingdom of Shizi (師子國) is a kingdom beside Tianzhu. Its land is mild and even, and there is no difference between winter and summer. The five grains grow as men plant them, and they do not wait upon a season. In the old days that kingdom had no people, and only spirits and dragons lived there. Merchants of the various kingdoms came and traded there together. The spirits did not show their forms, but only set out precious things and marked the price they would take, and the merchants took them at that price. The people of the various kingdoms heard how pleasant that land was and came there in rivalry, and some of them stayed and dwelt there, and at length it became a great kingdom.

At the beginning of Yixi under Jin (晉) it first offered a jade image (玉像), and ten years passed before it arrived. The image was four feet two inches high. The color of the jade was clear and glossy, and the making of it was so uncommon that it was hardly the work of human hands. Through the times of Jin and Song this image stood in the Waguan temple. The temple already had five buddha images made by the hand of Dai Andao, a scholar who had been summoned to office, and a painting of Vimalakirti by Gu Changkang, and people of the age called these the three perfections (三絕). When it came to the Marquis of Donghun of Qi, he destroyed the jade image at last. First he cut off its arms, then he took its body, and he made hairpins and bracelets of it for his favorite, the honored consort Pan. In the sixth year and the twelfth year of Yuanjia under Song its king Chali Mohe sent envoys with tribute.

In the first year of Datong a later king, Jiashe Jialuohuoliye, had an envoy bear a memorial, which said: "Respectfully I address the bright lord of Great Liang (大梁). Though mountains and seas keep us far apart, word passes between us from time to time. Prostrate, I have learned that the emperor's way and virtue are lofty and far-reaching, that he covers and bears up all things as heaven and earth do, and that his bright shining is level with the sun and the moon; that beyond the four seas there is none who does not follow him, and that among the kings of the outer kingdoms there is none who does not offer tribute, to show the sincerity of his longing for what is right. Some float on the sea for three years and some travel by land a thousand days, but they fear his majesty and cherish his virtue, and however far they are there is none who does not come. Since the time of our former kings we have taken the cultivation of virtue alone for our root, and without severity we have been well governed. We honor and serve the true law and lead the world by it, and we rejoice at the good in others as at a blessing to ourselves. We wish to spread the Three Treasures together with Great Liang and so to save those who are hard to teach. When my envoy returns, prostrate I will listen to the command you make known. Now I offer these slight gifts, and I pray that you will receive them."