the southwest 271them to the institutions in Ch’eng-tu.^57 It is probable, therefore, that
in the negotiations of 799 and 876 the T’ang made exceptions, and
that the students in Ch’ang-an either by the governments of that time
or later by the dynastic historians were wishfully or wilfully misrepre-
sented as hostages.
Especially toward the end of T’ang, its diplomacy could be blunder-
ing or outright disthonest. In 818, the court decreed that Nan-chao
missions were not to exceed 20 members, yet for 839 there is reference
to one with 37. It was more serious that in 869 and 876 Nan-chao
envoys were killed by local officials en route to the capital. In 883,
three important Nan-chao envoys were murdered with the connivance
of Hsi-tsung. The same emperor acted with extraordinary clumsiness
when in 882 he agreed to the marriage of a Chinese princess with Fa
and then in 883 avoided it by transparent deceit. In 897, Emperor
Chao-tsung accepted the view that the people of Nan-chao were “less er
barbarians” who should be ignored.
In short, the relations between China and Nan-chao were those
between two independent states and alternated between war and
peace. The T’ang emperors twice (809, 816) suspended the court for
three days after the death of Nan-chao rulers and condoled at both
occassions. Most Nan-chao rulers were recognized by China (738,
748, 794, 809, 816, 823, and 1117). Chinese titles were conferred on
them in 738 and 1117, but posthumous titles never. Relations were
therefore ambivalent. The inhabitants and officials of Ssu-ch’uan had
special reasons to fear Nan-chao, but the Chinese aggrevated matters
by tactlessness and brutality. Yet missions to the T’ang court were fre-
quent in peace times, and the magnet which drew them was trade.
According to Chiu T’ang shu 197:9b and Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5033,
Nan-chao envoys arrived annually from 817 to 820, sometimes two or
three times a year. Only two missions are recorded. Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao
329:71b says, under the heading of 830, that envoys arrived every year.
Five missions are recorded from 830 to 836. According to Wen-hsien
t’ung-k’ao 329:71b, envoys arrived twice between 836 and 846. Six mis-
sions are recorded. It follows that the statistics are fairly complete.
Nan-chao missions arrived at the Chinese court throughout the
year. But they came most often in the 12th and 1st months in order
to attend the New Year festivals.
(^57) See O.Franke, Geschichte, II, pp. 450-451.