continental south asia and the islands 33annually sent tribute to the Sung court, he may, in fact, have used the
right term.^83 This arrangement, which may or may not have been in
force throughout the entire period, gave the Annamese rulers freedom
to devote their energies toward the south and west. The Sung, on
its part, responded to the special relationship between it and Chiao-
chih by sending more missions to this state than to any other South
Asian or island country, and by conferring on its rulers the titles of
Meritorious Subject in their lifetimes and posthumous titles after their
deaths, a practice it did not observe toward the rulers of any other
states discussed in this chapter.
It is certain that not all missions are recorded from either side. For
instance, Chiao-chih/Annam congratulated in 977 on the enthrone-
ment of T’ai-tsung, on Dec.2, 1190, on the entronement of Kuang-
tsung, and on Sep.24, 1266, on the entronement of Tu-tsung. It is
probable, although not recorded, that it congratulated on the ascension
of the other Sung emperors as well. On Nov.22, 1055, testamentary
gifts from Li Te-cheng were presented to the Sung emperor. On Apr.
30, 1063, testamentary gifts from the Sung emperor Jen-tsung were
presented to the king of Chiao-chih, Li Jih-tsun. There is no reason
why testamentary gifts should not have been exchanged at the deaths
of other rulers also. The ritual missions from Sung for the purpose of
congratulations and condolences may well be underrecorded. With
three exceptions, it is recorded that the Sung appointed the rulers of
Chiao-chih/Annam as Military Commissioners of the non-existant
Army Which Quiets the Sea. Ting Hsüan and Li Lung-yüeh were
soon overthrown, and the appointments probably could not take place.
But it is improbable that Li Te-cheng did not receive the title. There
are similar omissions in the granting of the title of Protector General
of Annam. In all cases missions would have been involved. On the
other hand, according to Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 330:5b, Chiao-chih after
1010 sent gifts in successive or alternate years. “After” is an ambiguous
term, since it could refer to a few years or many. But since missions
are recorded for 1011, 1012, 1013, and two for 1014, the coverage
may here be complete. In any event, as noted before, the statistics are
good enough to reveal general trends.
Missions arrived from Chiao-ch’ih/Annam during every month of
the year, but the most preferred seasons seems to have been spring
(^83) Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p.46.