lavish, Hongwu told Vietnam, and should not be a burden: the inten-
tion was what counted. The symbolism of ritual submission took
precedence over economic benefit.^5
An elaborate ceremonial was put in place, based on historical
precedent. Court officials greeted the envoys, and prepared them for the
emperor’s banquet at which a tributary memorial was presented, along
with ‘local produce’, the more exotic the better. Envoys were instructed
how to behave and when to kowtow. Less important banquets followed
until it was time to leave the capital, escorted by an appropriate official.
Even more revealing of the Chinese view of the world were the equally
detailed instructions on how Chinese envoys were to be received by
foreign courts, especially when bearing an imperial edict or seal of
office for the investiture of the ruler as a Chinese vassal.
More Chinese envoys travelled abroad during the early Ming
than at any other time in the history of relations between China and
Southeast Asia. Five were despatched to Ayutthaya by Hongwu, for
example, and nine by Yongle. They came to instruct as well as inform,
to let Southeast Asian courts know exactly what was expected of
them. Their demeanor was both superior and patronising, as was the
message they carried. The ritual for the reception of Chinese envoys
reflected in large part the ritual for the reception of tributary missions
in China. Some Southeast Asian kingdoms went to great lengths to
impress visiting Chinese envoys, for this was an opportunity for recip-
rocal demonstrations of royal power and wealth. Great reverence
would be shown to an imperial edict or letter, but in Siam, for example,
the envoy was led into the royal presence barefooted and was required
to prostrate himself three times before the king. Even during the early
Ming, however, more embassies were sent to China from Southeast
Asia than were received from China. In fact, more missions were dis-
patched from Cambodia in the first fifty years of the Ming than were
sent throughout the rest of the Angkor period (802–1431).
The new Ming restrictions applying to trade reduced both its
volume and value. In response, Southeast Asian principalities and
A Short History of China and Southeast Asia