intervention. Aggression by one tributary against another was frowned
upon, for that destroyed the peace and harmony the Chinese world
order was supposed to uphold. By the time a tributary kingdom
appealed for protection in the face of invasion, however, it was usually
too late to prevent it. Faced with a fait accompli, the Chinese bureau-
cracy could do little more than investigate the situation, a process that
might take so long that the crisis resolved itself. It was, of course, in
China’s interest to prevent the rise of an expansionist power that
might pose a security threat to the Middle Kingdom, but it was imma-
terial whether some Tai principality, such as Chiang Mai, was tributary
to Ayutthaya or Burma—so long as the victor maintained properly
respectful relations with China.
As for Southeast Asian rulers, they seem to have seen appeal to
China as a last resort. The second half of the sixteenth century was a
period of conflict and struggle throughout much of mainland South-
east Asia. By 1547, King Tabinshwehti, founder of the Toungu dynasty,
succeeded in unifying Burma after two centuries of division. Buoyed by
his success, Tabinshwehti proclaimed himself a chakravartinor world
conqueror, one whose karma predestined him to be a universal ruler, at
least of the Buddhist Theravada world. His pretensions were chal-
lenged, however, by both King Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya and by King
Xetthathirat of Lan Xang, both of whom made similar claims. When
the Siamese became embroiled in a succession dispute, Tabinshwehti
took the opportunity to invade southern Thailand, while a Cambodian
force pillaged and plundered further east. Yet none of the four Siamese
tribute missions sent between 1554 and 1560 appealed for Chinese
assistance or arbitration.
Conflict continued throughout the turbulent second half of the
sixteenth century, but the Ming took no initiative to arbitrate an end
to the fighting. No envoys were dispatched to Pegu to demand
restraint on the part of the Burmese. Nor did the Tai kingdoms, mostly
on the receiving end of Burmese aggression, appeal to China to inter-
vene. Even reports reaching Beijing from Yunnan that Burma had
A Short History of China and Southeast Asia