the northeast 213926, must have set out before the surrender. It presented three males
and three females, fabrics, and tiger skins (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5034;
Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 326:58a).
Nevertheless, envoys kept coming, namely on Aug.16, 926, in the
5th month (June/July) of 929, on Jan.28, 932, on Mar.6, 932, in 933,
on Aug.24, 935, in the 11th month (Nov./Dec.) of 935, and in 936.
All claimed to be from Po-hai (Chiu Wu-tai shih 36:7b; 47:11b; Hsin
Wu-tai shih 6:10a, 10b; 7:5a; Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5034, 5035; Wen-hsien
t’ung-k’ao 326:58a-58b). They may have been sent by Mo-ho tribes in
the former Po-hai who opposed the Khitan.
Like the Korean states and Japan, Po-hai was influenced and
impressed by Chinese culture. Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 326:58a states that
its kings frequently sent students to attend the Academy in China.
Actually recorded cases are three students in 833 and a royal nephew
in 924, but the real number was, of course, very much higher.
In the earlier years, the Po-hai State was a mixture of a royal
bureaucracy and semi-autonomous Mo-ho tribes under their own
chiefs. Tribal prefixes disappear after 741, proof of a trend toward
greater but never complete integration. As far as can be judged, the
royal Po-hai administration was modeled on that of China.
The Chinese imperial courts recognized the kings of Po-hai and
conferred official but not posthumous titles on them. Whatever the
Chinese liked to believe, Po-hai was an entirely independent state and
not always friendly to China. Tensions rose from 726 and culminated
in the Po-hai raid of Teng in 732 and the abortive Chinese war against
Po-hai in 733. Thereafter, relations became amicable.
The claim by the dynastic historians that Ta Tso-jung sent a son to
“attend” at the T’ang court, a term synonymous with hostage, and that
Ta Wu-yi’s younger brother Men-yi had been a hostage in Ch’ang-
an must be rejected. Po-hai had as little reason as Silla and Koryo to
provide hostages, and the T’ang had no way to enforce their being
rendered. If princes went to Ch’ang-an, it was for their education or
amusement, and the initiative rested with Po-hai.
Po-hai’s location beyond the Hsi and Khitan could be a diplomatic
asset to China, while the Black River Mo-ho at the Amur River could
be hoped to be a counterweight to Po-hai. But the view from Po-hai
was different. Few of the missions were concerned with diplomacy.
They might congratulate on a New Year’s Day, announce the death
of a king, or thank for Chinese recognition, but the chief purpose was
trade on the government level and private trade by the envoys on the