8 introduction
may have been a common practice.^3 The Chinese received many goods
of great value to them, either for purposes of luxury or utility.
All foreign countries were ranked in relation to each other. This
listing decided their precedence at the Chinese court and sometimes
led to quarrels among the ambassadors. Envoys were not always
received by the emperor. He might be absent from the capital or the
country might be considered too unimportant to merit an audience
or banquet.
The envoys were not diplomats in the modern sense, with special
training for foreign relations and knowledge of foreign languages.
Some Chinese envoys showed egregious tactlessness and sino-centric
arrogance. Few were sent on more than one mission. Their employment
was not without inconvenience or danger and could lead to punish-
ment for improper behaviour, and death through illness, accident,
hardship or even execution. Foreign climate, food and drink could
be distressing.^4 But the commissions were lucrative. Envoys brought
goods of their own for profitable trade, and even if this is mentioned
only sporadically in the sources, it must have been a general practice.
The members of the missions also received valuable gifts from heir
hosts in accordance with their ranks. It was not unusual for certain
countries to employ Buddhist priests as envoys, and it is not always
easy to decide when monks were arriving in an official capacity or
for purposes of their monasteries or their own. It is equally difficult
to determine whether Arab shipmasters represented the caliphate or
were private entrepeneurs. Some countries along the maritime routes
south of Asia employed Arabs as their envoys, because these were
experienced travellers with good connections. During T’ang, envoys
from states in frequent contact with China were issued bronze fishes,
divided into halves, for purpose of identification. One half was kept
in the capital, the other was carried in a brocade “fish wallet” by the
envoy. By melding the two parts, an envoy proved his authenticity.
Fish wallets were common imperial presents to the envoys. In Sung
times, the fish wallets were still used but tallies were not.
(^3) In addition to this government-level trade, there flourished, of course, a much
larger volume of private commerce conducted via port towns, border toll stations,
and joint markets, and controlled by special commissioners. This commerce had no
part in foreign relations and will be referred to only occasionally. 4
One Sung envoy in 1176 gave advice on how to prevent ones ears from falling
off in the bitter cold of the north. See H.Franke in Rossabi ed., China among Equals,
p.135.