— n — 



imperial conimand and since that time tribute was brought repeatedly. 

 Though Cliin-ch'ing had received a commission from the Emperor, he was 

 at the same time subject to Java; his territory was not large and could not 

 be compared to the old San-bo-tsai. 



In 1424 the son of Chin-ch'ing, called Shih Chi-sun ( 1 ), reported 

 that his father had died and asked permission to succeed him, which was 

 granted. In 1425 he sent envoys to biïng tribute, who stated that the old 

 seal had been destroyed by fire , on which the Emperor ordered to give him 

 a new one. After this their tribute gradually became more rare. 



Towards the end of the period Chia-ching (1522 — 1566), the famous 

 Cantonese robber Chang Lien ( 2 ) made a disturbance and after some time 

 the military officers reported that they had captured him; in the year 1577 

 traders who came to Ku-kang saw that this man had there a large commer- 

 cial establishment (litt. a row of shops) and was chief of the native ships ; a 

 large number of Chinese from Eukien were attached to him and he was 

 like a superintendent of trade in China. 



This country is a place of much importance fór the trade of the bar- 

 barians ; it is situated at the west of Java , from where with a fair wind the 

 passage takes about eight days. The country is divided into fifteen districts, 

 the soil is fertile and fit for agriculture , and there is a saying : //If you plant 

 rice one year, you have gold for three", meaning that the harvest is abun- 

 dant and may be sold for much money. 



The rich people are much given to sensuality. 



The inhabitants of this country are skilled in fighting on the water 

 and therefore their neighbours fear them. 



The country is rich in water ; only the chiefs live on the land , whilst 

 the common people dweil on the river; for this purpose they build their 

 houses on rafts, which are fastened to poles in such a way that, when the 

 tide rises, the rafts are lifted up without being flooded. When they want 

 to remove to another place , they have only to pull up the poles , which does 

 not cost much money or labour. 



The lower classes call their superiors by the title of Chan-pi ( 3 ), which 



(') 



O J=? Jfï» See note 5 on page (53. Tlic cxplanation ol' Chan-pi in this fertiele, is pro- 

 bably a repetition of the error we pointcd out there. 



