— 4 — 



T.t will be observed tbat the second extract speaks of an embassy or expedition 

 sent to foreign coimtries between 222 and 251. What countrieS' these were is not 

 stated , but we may believë that the Malay islauds were not amongst them, otherwise 

 their name would have appeared at that time already in the annals of China. With 

 the exception of tliis single instance , the historian only speaks of distant nations who 

 came to China, not of Chinese going to them. 



This brings us also to the tribute, which is said to have been presented by 

 those foreign conntries , a matter with which we shall have much to do yet and which 

 may well be discussed at once. 



IVom the beginning of Chinese history up to the present day, their annals 

 record numerous instances of foreign princes , doing homage to the emperor of China 

 in this manner. Some people have tried to dispose of this question with the assistance 

 of the wellknown conceitedness of the Chinese , and charged them on this score with 

 boastful misrepresentation or even deliberate falsehood , but such an explanation can 

 only have its ground in total ignorance of the facts and surely the most sceptic reader 

 will not be satisfied with it after perusal of the folio wing pages. 



IWtunately it is possible to take a more natural view of the case. 



In the first place we know by our own experience , that the princes of the 

 smaller states in Asia were often engaged in trade on their own account and, when 

 they extended their operations to China, it was but natural that they sought to pro- 

 pitiate the ruler of that country by a few presents, which they soon saw were so ac- 

 ceptable there. This example was often foliowed by private traders , who, in order 

 to gain facilities for their commerce , or perhaps to get access to the capital, a paying 

 mart for their merchandise, assumed the character of envoys from a distant country 

 and set apart a few articles of their stock to be presented as tribute , knowing at the 

 same time that even these would not be lost , but probably reciprocated above their 

 value. And lastly it cannot be denied, that China formerly occupied a very exalted 

 place in the estimation of the greater part of Asia, its higher civilisation, the splendor 

 of its court, the richness and extent of its territory, easily account for this feeling of 

 veneration. Compared Avith China all other countries were petty and insignificant, and 

 it would seem that the different princes thought it an honor to have relations with it 

 just as once , on the other side of the old world, it was a point of national pride to 

 be an ally of Rome. On different occasions , especially on their accession to the throne 

 of their country , these princes sent envoys with presents as a homage to the emperor 

 of China, and , besides costly gifts, they received in return letters , seals , royal insignia 

 or other tokens of investiture , which seem generally to have been highly prized. At 

 the same time this sending of envoys and presents could hardly be called a burden : the 

 presents were requited in the most liberal way , the envoys lived at the expense of China 

 and, above all, it offered an occasion for trading in places, which were not accessible other- 

 wise. The introduction of the Islam and the arrival of Europeans have put an end to 

 these relations for the greater part; in Siam they have been broken ofl'under the latter 



