continental south asia and the islands 63987-1006: 3
1007-1026: 3
1027-1046: 1
1047-1066: 0
1067-1086: 4
1097-1106: 5
1107-1126: 0
1127-1146: 0
1147-1166: 2
1167-1186: 2
The missions from “rivijaya come to an abrupt end after An Lu-shan’s
rebellion in 755, with but a single mission in 904. 27 missions are
recorded for Northern Sung but only 4 for Southern Sung.
The recorded offerings from “rivijaya were pygmies, one or two black
girls, musicians, five-coloured parrots, elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns,
golden lotus flowers, silver, crystal, a rock crystal Buddha, finger rings
of rock crystal, pearls, coral trees, opaque glass pitchers, frankincense,
aromatic drugs, ointments, rose water, dates, sugar, baroos camphor,
and mineral oil (naphta). These were mostly luxury articles of no
great bulk and high value. Some of the goods, such as opaque glass,
frankincense, camphor, etc. were themselves imported by “rivijaya.^139
The mention of naphta is particularly interesting, since it has been
seen that the Sung in 958 had also received it from Champa, presum-
ably for military experimentation.
The Chinese, as usual, matched gifts for gifts or paid in silver and
copper cash. The chief Chinese offerings were caps, robes, belts, por-
celain vessels, lacquered vessels, silver vessels, silk and cotton fabrics,
horse trappings, and copper.
In addition to this government trade, there also was private trade by
merchants and shipmasters from “rivijaya. In 980, Ch’ao commandery
on the northeast coast of Kuang-tung reported to the Sung court that
the foreign merchant Li Fu-hui from “rivijaya had arrived by ship after
a stormy voyage of 60 days with aromatic drugs, rhinoceros horns,
and elephant tusks. His goods had been sent to Canton. In 985, the
shipmaster Chin Hua-ch’a came from “rivijaya with regional objects
(^139) Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p.150 note 2, suggest that the black girl or
girls may have been from Africa.