Biographies CLXX: Foreign Peoples, Part XII: Song, Yuan, Ming, Tokhara, and Kunlun

Song

¶Song (Sō). The first emperor of Song bore the surname Zhao and the personal name Kuangyin. Having served Later Zhou and risen to Commander of the Palace Command, he received the abdication of Emperor Gong of Zhou, ascended the throne, and changed the dynastic name to Song. This was Taizu (Note: following the Song Shi). That year corresponds to the fourth year of Tentoku in the reign of Emperor Murakami (960) (Note: following the Teiō Hennenki and the Wakan Gōun). In the first year of Teigen in the reign of Emperor En'yū (976), Taizu of Song died, and his younger brother Jiong was set up as Taizong (Note: following the Song Shi). In the fifth year of Tengen (982), the monk Chōnen crossed to Song (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Hyakurenshō). The emperor of Song summoned Chōnen and questioned him about the genealogy of the successive sovereigns of Japan, and Chōnen's answers were of the utmost detail. The emperor praised him and bestowed on him a purple robe. In the autumn of the first year of Eien in the reign of Emperor Ichijō (987), Chōnen returned home on the ship of the Song merchant Zheng Rende (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho). In the winter of the same year, the Song merchant Zhu Rencong arrived in Wakasa. In the second year of Eien (988), Chōnen sent his disciple Kain to present a memorial to the emperor of Song through the Song monk Qiqian (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). In the third year of Chōtoku (997), there was an incident in which Zhu Rencong insulted Kanetaka, Governor of Wakasa (Note: Kanetaka's surname is unknown). The court issued an edict ordering that the crimes of Rencong and his fellows be deliberated (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In this year Taizong of Song died, and the Crown Prince Heng was set up as Zhenzong (Note: following the Song Shi). In the fourth year of Chōhō (1002), the monk Jakushō petitioned to enter Song and to make a pilgrimage to Mount Wutai, and was permitted (Note: following the Hyakurenshō. However, the Fusō Ryakki and the Teiō Hennenki both place this in the fifth year of Chōhō [1003], and one text of the Teiō Hennenki also gives the second year of Kanna [986]). The emperor of Song bestowed on Jakushō the title Entsū Daishi (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Song Shi). In the second year of Kankō (1005), the Song merchant Zeng Lingwen came to Japan. In the fourth year of Chōwa in the reign of Emperor Sanjō (1015), ordination certificates were granted to Jakushō and four others. The Minister of the Left, Fujiwara-no-Michinaga, also sent a letter to Jakushō. The Song merchant Zhou Wenyi presented peacocks (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the second year of Jian in the reign of Emperor Go-Ichijō (1022), Zhenzong of Song died, and the Crown Prince Zhen was set up as Renzong (Note: following the Song Shi). In the fourth year of Manju (1027), the Song merchant Chen Wenyou came to Japan, and Jakushō sent a letter to the Chancellor, Fujiwara-no-Michinaga (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the third year of Chōgen (1030), Jakushō died in Song (Note: following the Teiō Hennenki). In the first year of Chōryaku in the reign of Emperor Go-Suzaku (1037), the Song merchant Mu Ancheng and others came to Japan (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the first year of Kantoku (1044), Song people arrived in Tajima, and Nakahara-no-Nagakuni, of the unassigned rank list, and Fujiwara-no-Yukitō, Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Popular Affairs, and others were dispatched to inquire into the circumstances (Note: the Fusō Ryakki writes Yukitō as 生行). By deliberation of the court it was decided to send them back. But the provincial governor Minamoto-no-Akitō privately seized their cargo, and the merchant Zhang Shoulong and others lodged a complaint against him (Note: the original text says only that "the high ministers held a court deliberation"; the content of the ruling is missing, and the details are unknown). Earlier, Kiyohara-no-Moritake, a resident of Chikuzen, had secretly crossed to Song; his crime was deliberated and he was sentenced to exile (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the second year of Eishō in the reign of Emperor Go-Reizei (1047), Song merchants staying at Dazaifu set fire to their lodgings and fled, but Dazaifu promptly seized them and imprisoned them. In the third year of Eishō (1048), Dazaifu presented a Song calendar, and it was found to agree with the Japanese calendar (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Hyakurenshō). In the autumn of the same year a Song merchant ship arrived, and by deliberation of the court it was decided to send it back. In the fifth year of Eishō (1050), by an official order of the Council of State, the Song merchant Zhang Shoulong and his party were lodged in Tajima. In the first year of Kōhei (1058), Shou Daoli, a Song castaway, committed a murder in Ōsumi, and the court decided his crime (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the third year of Kōhei (1060), the Song merchants Lin Biao and Hou Gai reached the port of Tsuruga in Echizen, and the provincial governor was ordered to send them back at once (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki. The Hyakurenshō gives Lin Biao as Lin Yang and Hou Gai as Junzheng [俊政]). Lin Biao and the others pleaded piteously, saying: "We have already spent a long time on our journey, and our provisions are nearly exhausted. The weather is cold and the wind fierce, and the sea route is full of danger. We beg that the court take pity on those who have come from afar." The court therefore issued an official directive (miyafu) and had them lodged there (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). In the sixth year of Kōhei (1063), Renzong of Song died and Yingzong, Shu, was set up (Note: following the Song Shi). In the second year of Jiryaku (1066), the Song merchant Wang Man presented parrots, medicinal herbs, and other goods (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Hyakurenshō). Earlier, when the Song man Lu Fan had drifted ashore, the court had ordered that he be given provisions and sent back. Lu Fan's mother had her son present goods as a token of gratitude (Note: following the Hyakurenshō. The name Lu Fan is from the Fusō Ryakki). In the third year of Jiryaku (1067), Yingzong died, and Shenzong, Xu, was set up (Note: following the Song Shi).

¶In the first year of Enkyū in the reign of Emperor Go-Sanjō (1069), the Song man Lu Fan was richly rewarded with goods and sent home. In the spring of the fourth year of Enkyū (1072), the monk Jōjin of Daiunji went to Song on the ship of the Song merchant Sun Zhong (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki. The name Sun Zhong is from the Zenrin Kokuhōki; the original text gives Zeng Ju). Pan Huaiqing, a merchant of Fuzhou in Song, arrived at Dazaifu bringing Buddhist images and books, and by deliberation of the court they were accepted and installed (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai). In the fifth year of Enkyū (1073), the emperor of Song sent, through Jōjin, a Lotus Sutra written in gold ink, a complete Buddhist canon, and twenty bolts of brocade (Note: following the Hyakurenshō. The original text places this at the time of Jōjin's return to Japan, which is an error. The Genkō Shakusho says that Jōjin petitioned the emperor of Song and presented more than three hundred newly translated scrolls of scripture). In the second year of Jōhō (1075), the emperor of Song again sent gifts through Jōjin. The court had the high ministers and the doctors of the various branches of learning deliberate on gifts in return. In the first year of Jōryaku in the reign of Emperor Shirakawa (1077), two hundred bolts of six-jō silk and five thousand ryō of mercury were sent to the emperor of Song through the Song merchant Sun Zhong (Note: the name Sun Zhong differs among the various books; the details are given in the Annals). In the second year of Jōryaku (1078), the Song merchant Sun Ji arrived at Dazaifu bearing an official document. The document read: "Bestowed upon the Dazaifu of the Land of Japan. Fujiwara-no-Tsunehira is to carry it out" (Note: following the Zenrin Kokuhōki). In the fourth year of Jōryaku (1080), the emperor of Song again sent brocade, figured silk, and other goods through Sun Zhong (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). At the outset, regarding Song's repeated presentation of gifts, the court deliberation had held: "Relations with Song were broken off long ago, and that its envoys now come so frequently is a sign that its true intent is hard to fathom." Soon afterwards, when Sun Zhong reached Dazaifu, the officials of Dazaifu reported that "Sun Zhong has left without waiting for a reply." Sun Zhong also went to the port of Tsuruga in Echizen and submitted an official document from Song (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). The document read: "Mingzhou of the Great Song, to Japan, a communication" (Note: following the Zenrin Kokuhōki). Those who deliberated suspected that the wording of the document was discourteous, and in the end no formal reply was sent. They merely ordered the Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu to send gifts informally (Note: the Assistant Governor-General's name is unknown). In the second year of Eihō (1082), a reply was entrusted to Sun Zhong and sent to Song. In this year a Song merchant presented a parrot (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the second year of Ōtoku (1085), Shenzong of Song died, and Zhezong, Xu, was set up (Note: following the Song Shi). In the second year of Kanji in the reign of Emperor Horikawa (1088), the Song man Zhang Zhong presented a leopard, but it was declined (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the second year of Kōwa (1100), Zhezong of Song died, and Huizong, Ji, was set up (Note: following the Song Shi). In the second year of Chōji (1105), Li Chong, the head of a trading fleet (kōshu) of Quanzhou in Song, arrived at Dazaifu, and the officials of the office questioned him according to precedent. Li Chong and his men presented a certificate issued by their home country and asked to trade (Note: following the Chōya Gunsai). In the fourth year of Eikyū in the reign of Emperor Toba (1116), Song people sent an official document. In the first year of Gen'ei (1118), the merchants Sun Junming and Zheng Qing, as envoys of the emperor of Song, sent a letter, whose wording was extremely arrogant (Note: following the Zenrin Kokuhōki, the Teiō Hennenki, and the Rekidai Kōki. The Hyakurenshō records that in the first year of Gen'ei an official document sent from Song was deliberated, which probably refers to this). The court had scholars deliberate on the form of the reply. Sugawara-no-Arinaga, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial, argued as follows: "In the sixteenth year of Emperor Suiko (608), the letter of Emperor Yang of Sui read, 'The Emperor inquires after the Emperor of Wa.' In the tenth year of Emperor Tenji (671), when Guo Wuzong came to Japan, the letter he bore read, 'The Emperor of the Great Tang respectfully inquires after the Emperor of Japan.' Past precedents have been, for the most part, of this kind" (Note: following the Zenrin Kokuhōki). By deliberation of the court it was therefore decided not to send a reply, and only to have Dazaifu issue an official document and send gifts in return (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the second year of Tenji in the reign of Emperor Sutoku (1125), Jin attacked Song. The emperor of Song yielded the throne to the Crown Prince Huan, who became Qinzong. Jin seized the emperor of Song and his son and carried them off to the north, and both emperors died in Jin territory. The emperor's younger brother, Prince Kang, Gou, ascended the throne at Yingtianfu; this was Gaozong. Gaozong fled and held Lin'an, and in the end made it his provisional court. In the second year of Ōhō in the reign of Emperor Nijō (1162), Gaozong yielded the throne to Xiaozong, Shen (Note: following the Song Shi). In the second year of Kaō in the reign of Emperor Takakura (1170), Song people visited the Fukuhara estate of Taira-no-Kiyomori, and the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa received them in person. People of the time criticized this, saying, "Since the Engi era, there has never been anything like it." In the second year of Jōan (1172), a letter and gifts arrived from Song, and the court deliberation held that the wording was discourteous in places and that they should be rejected. The Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, however, would not listen, and the next year he sent a letter, thirty dyed hides, and one hundred ryō of gold dust as a return gift (Note: following the Yuhai. The Song Shi, in its chapter on Japan, says: "In the ninth year of Qiandao of Song [1173], through the head of a trading fleet of Mingzhou, they sent the products of their country." The ninth year of Qiandao corresponds to the third year of Jōan. It also says: "In the second year of Chunxi [1175], the Japanese ship's man Teng Daming beat Zheng Zuo to death." This corresponds to the first year of Angen. The Heike Monogatari says: "In the spring of Angen, Taira-no-Shigemori entrusted three thousand five hundred ryō of gold to the Chinzei ship captain Myōten, to be given in alms to the Chan master Foshao, abbot of Yuwangshan in Song." This agrees with the dating of the Song Shi, but whether it is fact is unknown. It is noted here for the moment for reference). Gaozong of Song died, and Guangzong, Dun, was set up. He died, and Ningzong, Kuo, was set up. He died, and Lizong, Yun, was set up. He died, and Duzong, Qi, was set up. He died, and Gongzong, Xian, was set up. The army of Yuan invaded, and the emperor of Song surrendered and was taken north; on the way he died in the desert. The ministers set up the emperor's elder brother Shi, but he was attacked by Yuan and died at Lizhou. This was Duanzong. His younger brother Bing was set up, but he too was defeated by Yuan and died in the sea at Yashan. With this the Song of the Zhao house came to an end. Song had eighteen emperors and lasted three hundred and twenty years (Note: following the Song Shi). This year corresponds to the second year of Kōan in the reign of Emperor Go-Uda (1279).

Yuan

¶Yuan (Gen). The Yuan emperor Khubilai had ancestors who came from the Mongol tribe (Note: following the Yuan Shi). In the time of Liang and Tang among the Five Dynasties, Abaoji of the Khitan annexed the small states around him and brought them into submission, took the title of emperor, and, using the name of the place where he lived as his surname, called himself Shili. In the speech of the interpreters, Shili is Yelü (Note: following the Wudai Shi). After Abaoji's death, Deguang succeeded him and captured Yingzhou, Pingzhou, and other places belonging to Tang. Shi Jingtang, fearing Khitan military power, overthrew Tang and promised to enter into a father-and-son relationship with them. Deguang took the lands of the sixteen prefectures north of Yanmen, made Youzhou into Yanjing, and afterwards went on to destroy Jin and annex much of its territory, changing the dynastic name to Liao. After Deguang's death, Wuyu was set up and changed his name to Ruan. After his death, Shulü was set up and changed his name to Jing (Note: following the Liao Shi and the Wudai Shi). After his death, Xian was set up. After his death, Longxu was set up. They attacked one another with Song many times, until the Song emperor Heng sent as annual tribute one hundred thousand liang of silver and two hundred thousand bolts of silk, and a peace was agreed upon with a covenant of friendship (Note: following the Song Shi and the Liao Shi). In the Kanji era in the reign of Emperor Horikawa (1087-1094), a trading ship reached the Khitan, and the Khitan merchants Dōgen and Nōsan and others also came to Japan by ship, but a dispute arose over the dealings, and thereafter travel between the two countries was forbidden (Note: following the Hyakurenshō). In the Eikyū era in the reign of Emperor Toba (1113-1118), the Jurchen Wanyan Aguda in turn took the title of emperor, named his state Jin, and changed his name to Min. After his death, his younger brother Wuqimai was set up and changed his name to Sheng; he made a pact with Song, attacked the Khitan, and destroyed them. Before long he attacked Song in turn, took Bianjing, and seized the emperor of Song and his son and carried them off. In the time of Wanyan Liang, the capital was moved to Yan, and then to Bian, but Liang was assassinated. Wulu set himself up, changed his name to Yong, and again moved the capital back to Yan. In the time of his grandson Xun, the capital was once more moved to Bian (Note: following the Jin Shi).

¶The Mongols had for generations paid tribute to Liao and Jin, but with Temüjin they first took the imperial title, and in the end attacked Yanjing and took it. After Temüjin's death he was given the posthumous designation Taizu. His son Ögödei was set up. In the first year of Bunryaku in the reign of Emperor Shijō (1234), together with Song, they destroyed Jin. After Ögödei's death he was given the designation Taizong. Güyük was set up, and after his death was designated Dingzong. Möngke was set up, and after his death was designated Xianzong. Khubilai was his younger brother (Note: following the Yuan Shi). In the fifth year of Bun'ei in the reign of Emperor Kameyama (1268), Goryeo sent its subject Ban Bu to Japan bearing a letter from Goryeo and a letter from the Mongols (Note: following the Kantō Hyōjōden and the Hachiman Gudōkun. The Yuan Shi places this in the fourth year of Bun'ei [1267]. The Godai Teiō Monogatari says, "Zhao Liangbi of the Mongols came together with the envoy of Goryeo," but according to the Yuan Shi the envoy of state credentials at this time was Hei Di, not Liangbi, so this is not adopted here). The general sense of the Mongol letter was as follows. "The Emperor of the Great Mongol State presents this letter to the King of Japan. Our ancestors received the clear mandate of Heaven and came to possess the whole world; of those in distant and foreign lands who do not turn toward our might and virtue, there are countless numbers. When We first came to the throne, because the innocent people of Goryeo had long suffered from war, We immediately had the fighting stopped, returned their territory, and restored their old and young. The lord and ministers of Goryeo were grateful and came to court, and though the duty between lord and subject remained, their joy was like that of father and son. The lord and ministers of your kingdom must already know of this. Goryeo is Our eastern vassal state. Japan is close to Goryeo, and since its founding has frequently had dealings with China. But since Our reign not a single envoy has been sent, and no friendly relations have been opened. We feared that your kingdom might not yet understand the circumstances, and therefore have specially sent an envoy with a letter to make Our intentions known. We wish that from now on we may exchange envoys, join in friendship, and deepen our amity. Moreover, the sage regards the whole world as one household, and for those not to open friendly relations with one another surely runs contrary to the principle of one household. If it comes in the end to the use of arms, who indeed would desire that? Let the King consider this carefully." Japan sent no reply to this and sent the envoy back. The envoy secretly scouted the strategic points along the coast before leaving (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun). In the spring of the sixth year of Bun'ei (1269), the Mongols sent their subjects Hei Di, Vice Minister of War, and Yin Hong, Vice Minister of Rites, to ask for a reply, but Tsushima refused and would not receive them. Hei Di and his party seized two men of the island, Tōjirō and Yajirō, and left (Note: following the Godai Teiō Monogatari. The names of Hei Di and his party are from the Yuan Shi, and the names of Tōjirō and the other from the Kantō Hyōjōden. The Yuan Shi places this in the fifth year of Bun'ei [1268]). In the autumn of the same year, Gim Yuseong and Go Yu of Goryeo came to Japan bearing letters from the Mongols and from Goryeo, and at the same time sent back Tōjirō and Yajirō (Note: following the Kantō Hyōjōden). In the tenth month of the eighth year of Bun'ei (1271), the Mongol envoy Zhao Liangbi, Director of the Palace Library, and his party came and arrived at Dazaifu (Note: Liangbi's office is from the Yuan Shi). When the Shōni, Assistant Governor-General, asked for the letter (Note: the original text has "Shōkei" here, but the man's name is not recorded and nothing can now be established), Liangbi said, "I must deliver the letter to the capital with my own hands, and I cannot part with it for a trifling matter." The Shōni said, "It is not fitting for the envoy of a foreign people to go directly to the imperial capital," and did not cease pressing for the letter. Liangbi made a copy and submitted it. The general sense of the letter was roughly as follows. "A ruler has no outside; Goryeo has already become one household with Us, and your honorable country is in truth a neighbor as well. We once sent an envoy to open friendly relations, but afterwards there was no word at all. Now We again send Zhao Liangbi. If you send an envoy to come with him, to form a close and neighborly bond would be a fine thing for both states; but if you hesitate and it comes to the use of arms, who indeed would take pleasure in that?" (Note: following the Kikki. The original text records only the general sense of the letter, so the content has now been supplemented from the Yuan Shi.) At this time the Mongol side was certain that a reply would be obtained, and set the eleventh month as the deadline, but there was no reply. In the twelfth month, Liangbi sent Zhang Duo back to his home country (Note: following the Kikki and the Kantō Hyōjōden. That there was no reply is from the Godai Teiō Monogatari. The Yuan Shi says: "Twenty-six men dispatched by the Guard Office went with Zhang Duo to Yan and asked for an audience with the Yuan emperor," and the Sonpi Bunmyaku says, "Ashikaga-no-Yoshitsugu crossed to Tang," which may refer to one of these men, but since it does not appear in other books it is not adopted). In the fifth month of the ninth year of Bun'ei (1272), Zhang Duo again arrived at Dazaifu bearing a letter from Goryeo, but was not received (Note: following the Kantō Hyōjōden. The Yuan Shi says, "In the sixth month of the tenth year of Bun'ei [1273], Liangbi again arrived at Dazaifu but was not received"). In the eleventh year of Bun'ei (1274), four hundred and fifty Mongol ships and about thirty thousand troops reached Tsushima. The deputy governor, Koremune-no-Sukekuni, Uma-no-jō, Assistant Master of the Right Stables (Note: the Kantō Hyōjōden gives this as Tōma-no-jō), led his clan in defense but all were killed in battle. The Mongol army went on to attack the island of Iki, and the deputy governor Taira-no-Kagetaka was killed in battle (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun and the Nichiren Chūgasan. The Gudōkun gives Kagetaka as Tsunetaka). The Mongol army occupied the two islands, slaughtered all the men, and pierced holes through the palms of the women and tied them to the sides of their ships. They further invaded Matsura in Hizen (Note: following the Nichiren Chūgasan), and advanced to attack Hakozaki, Imazu, Sawara, and other places in the jurisdiction of Dazaifu. The defending troops struggled in the fight and suffered many dead and wounded. Shōni Kagesuke shot and hit one of the Mongol generals (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun. The original text says "the enemy general Ryūshō-kō" [流将公], but on examination of the Dongguk Tonggam, "流将" is probably an error for "復将." Since "流" and "劉" are close in sound, it is probably the Yuan general Liu Fuheng). That night there was a great storm of wind and rain (Note: following the Dongguk Tonggam), and many of the enemy ships were sunk, and the Mongol army withdrew (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki, the Rekidai Kōki, the Kōdai Ryakki, and the Tōji Chōja Bunin). When day broke, the soldiers of Chinzei pursued them but could not overtake them; they captured one ship and a hundred and twenty men and beheaded them (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun. The Ichidai Yōki gives the captured ship as one ship with sixty of the enemy).

¶In the fourth month of the first year of Kenji in the reign of Emperor Go-Uda (1275), the Mongols, who had earlier changed their dynastic name to Yuan, sent Du Shizhong, Vice Minister of Rites, He Wenzhu, Vice Minister of War, and the counselor Sadulüding, with a letter, to seek friendly relations (Note: following the Kantō Hyōjōden. The offices of Du Shizhong and the others are from the Yuan Shi. On examination of the Yuan Shi, the change of the dynastic name to Yuan actually took place in the eighth year of Bun'ei in the reign of Emperor Kameyama [1271], but because the sea route was distant, the news was learned only at this time. For this reason, up to this point the text writes "Mongol," and from here on writes "Yuan"). In the eighth month of the same year, Du Shizhong, He Wenzhu, Sadulüding, and two others, five in all, were escorted to Kamakura. In the ninth month, Hōjō Tokimune, Sagami-no-kami and Regent of the Kamakura shogunate, had them beheaded (Note: following the Kantō Hyōjōden and the Hōreki Kanki). In the second year of Kōan (1279), the Yuan generals Xia Gui and Fan Wenhu sent Zhou Fu, Yue Zhong, the monk Lingguo, and the interpreter Chen Guang with a letter to Dazaifu to urge friendly relations once more, but they were beheaded at Hakata (Note: following the Kantō Hyōjōden and the Hōreki Kanki). In this year Yuan destroyed Song (Note: following the Song Shi and the Yuan Shi). In the fifth month of the fourth year of Kōan (1281), Yuan, with Goryeo as its guide, came with over a hundred thousand troops and several thousand ships, covering the sea, made straight for the island of Iki, reached Dazaifu's waters, and took up positions on the two islands of Nokonoshima and Shikanoshima. The Goryeo fleet came from Tsushima to the sea off Munakata and joined the Yuan fleet. The armies of the Kantō and the troops of the two provinces of Kyushu all gathered at Dazaifu and built defensive walls along the coast. Their length reached several hundred chō, and their height was over one jō, so that they could look down on the enemy ships and shoot at them. At night they lined up bonfires and kept up a strong guard, so the enemy could not approach the shore and remained at Shikanoshima. Kusano Shichirō made a night attack, burned one ship, and killed some twenty men. After this the enemy linked their large ships together with chains, set their crossbows facing outward, and made their preparations extremely strict. The Japanese forces attacked, but the boats they rode were small and fragile, and many were smashed on hidden reefs, so that the dead and wounded were very numerous (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun. The fifth month is from the Rekidai Kōki and the Kōnendai Ryakki). Kōno Michiari went forward steering a light boat. Arrows flew thick, and many of his men died, but though Michiari himself was wounded in the left shoulder, his courage only rose the higher. The enemy ships were so high and large that they could not be climbed, but using a ship's mast he leapt aboard in a single bound, took captive one of the commanders who wore a jade crown (Note: one of high rank who wore a crown adorned with jade), and returned (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun and the Yoshōki). Before long Ōtomo Sadachika (Note: Sadachika's name is from the Ōtomo Keizu), Akita-jō-no-jirō, and others, together with the soldiers of Kyushu, fought with resolve to die, and the enemy's morale gradually declined and they moved to Takashima. Just then a blue dragon appeared in the sea, the smell of sulphur spread in every direction, and the enemy commander-in-chief fled ahead of the rest alone in a small boat (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun). On the night of the last day of the seventh month, a northwest wind blew violently, the sea heaved and raged, the ships were wrecked, and those who drifted and drowned could not be counted (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun and the Kantō Hyōjōden). The corpses were carried into the inlets by the ebb and flow of the tide, and the inlets were blocked by them so that one could walk on top of them (Note: following the Dongguk Tonggam). Several thousand defeated soldiers still remained on Takashima, repairing broken ships in order to flee back. Shōni Kagesuke and the soldiers of Chinzei took advantage of this to attack them and killed almost all of them. More than a thousand asked to surrender, but these too were all beheaded. The enemy had in fact brought utensils and farming tools with them, so it is clear that they planned to settle in Japan, but here they suffered a great defeat (Note: following the Hachiman Gudōkun). It was later heard that of the hundred thousand Yuan soldiers only three returned alive, and of the ten thousand Goryeo soldiers more than seven thousand died (Note: following the Yuan Shi and the Dongguk Tonggam). Khubilai died and was designated Shizu. His son Zhenjin had died early, and his grandson Temür was set up (Note: following the Yuan Shi).

¶In the first year of Shōan in the reign of Emperor Go-Fushimi (1299), Temür, hearing that Japan deeply revered Buddhism, sent the monk Yishan Yining to urge friendly relations. Hōjō Sadatoki was angry, and among those who deliberated there was even an opinion that he should be put to death. But considering that he was a monk, they specially pardoned him and kept him in Izu (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho and the Saihoku-shū). After this, exchanges between the two countries ceased. Temür died and was designated Chengzong. Wuzong, Haishan, was set up. He died, and Renzong, Ayurbarwada, was set up. He died, and Yingzong, Shidebala, was set up. He died, and Esen Temür was set up; when he died he was called Emperor Taiding. Mingzong, Khoshila, was set up. He died, and Wenzong, Tugh Temür, was set up. He died, and Ningzong, Irinchibal, was set up. He died, and Toghon Temür was set up. The army of Zhu Yuanzhang, Prince of Wu, attacked Yanjing, and Toghon Temür fled north (Note: following the Yuan Shi). He soon died and was called Shundi. His son Ayushiridara fled to Helin, and after his death his son Toghus Temür was set up but was killed by his subordinates. After that the various tribes rebelled, and five reigns followed, but their imperial titles have not been transmitted. A man named Guilichi seized the throne and took the title of khan, abandoned the dynastic name, and called his state Tatar (Dada). The tribal chief Alutai killed Guilichi and welcomed Benyashili from Beshbaliq and set him up, but he was killed by Mahamu and others of the Oirat. Toghtoa Bukha was also a descendant of Yuan and took the title of khan, but he was killed by Esen of the Oirat. His son Markor was set up and was called the Little Prince (Xiao Wangzi). The Tatars regained their strength. After several generations another man appeared who called himself the Little Prince, took the title of Dayuan Khan, became the richest and strongest, and moved to the east, where he was called the Tuman. Among those to his northwest, Anda was the strongest, and once even besieged Yanjing of Ming. There were also many other tribes; from the Uriyangkha in the east to the Oirat in the west, they in turn menaced the borders of Ming, and so it is said they did throughout the time that Ming existed. The Oirat were also a tribe of the Mongols, and their chief Esen invaded Ming and captured the Ming emperor Qizhen at Tumu. After Esen's death the Oirat declined (Note: following the Ming Shi. The Tang Shu says: "The Shiwei are a separate kind of Khitan, and among them is a tribe called Mengwa"; and the Ming Yitongzhi says: "The Mongols annexed the Tatars and other tribes. These are the Mengwa of the Tang Shu, the Mengwu of the Jiu Tang Shu, and the Mongol tribe and Tatar tribe recorded in the Yuan Shi").

Ming

¶Ming (Min). The first emperor of Ming bore the surname Zhu and the personal name Yuanzhang, and was a native of Haozhou. When the government of Yuan fell into disorder, bandits rose in every region. Liu Futong, Xu Shouhui, Fang Guozhen, and others each held a region of their own. The founder of Ming also raised troops, pacified the commanderies of Yangzhou and Jingzhou, and took the title of Prince of Wu. Before long he sent his general Xu Da and others to attack Yanjing, and the Yuan emperor fled north. The founder then ascended the throne at Jiqing, established the era name Hongwu, and named the dynasty Ming. This was Taizu (Note: following the Ming Shi). That year corresponds to the twenty-third year of Shōhei in the reign of Emperor Go-Murakami (1368). Taizu of Ming distributed documents in all directions to announce the founding of his dynasty. His envoy reached Dazaifu but was not received. Ever since the Yuan invasions, the court had cut off all exchange of state letters, but the people of the frontier kept up private comings and goings and never ceased trading. After the reign of Emperor Go-Daigo, warfare broke out repeatedly and rebellions followed one another in every quarter, so that the court's control no longer reached distant places. As a result, the people of the coastal islands took advantage of the disorder to raid the coastal prefectures of Ming. Taizu of Ming was troubled by this and sent a letter to Prince Kaneyoshi, who was then governing Dazaifu (Note: also read Kanenaga), asking him to suppress the pirates. In the second year of Bunchū in the reign of Emperor Chōkei (1373), Taizu of Ming again sent the monk Zuchan of Tianningsi and the monk Keqin of Waguansi to ask for the suppression of the pirates and for trade. Zuchan and his party reached Chinzei but were not permitted to enter Kyoto, and stayed at Dazaifu. After a time they sent a letter to the Tendai Abbot (zasu) setting out their purpose (Note: following the Zenrin Kokuhōki). Afterwards the Ming emperor Di (the Yongle Emperor) repeatedly sent letters to the Barbarian-Quelling Shogun Ashikaga-no-Yoshimitsu asking him to suppress the pirates, but illegal crossings and raids by lawless people did not stop, and in the end are said to have continued throughout the Ming period (Note: following the Zenrin Kokuhōki and the Ming Shi).

Tokhara

¶The country of Tokhara (Tokara-koku; Note: the original text also writes it as 都貨羅, 覩貨邏, and 墮羅) lies to the west of Sui (Note: following the Sui Shu). Shaei (Note: an ancient Persian state) (Note: following the Da Tang Xiyu Ji and the Wenxian Tongkao) borders on Tokhara (Note: following the Tang Shu). It is a branch of the Great Yuezhi (Note: following the Wenxian Tongkao). In the fifth year of Hakuchi in the reign of Emperor Kōtoku (654), two men and two women of Tokhara, together with one woman of Shaei, drifted ashore in Hyūga. In the third year of Saimei (657), two men and four women of Tokhara (written 覩貨邏) drifted ashore on the island of Amami-no-shima, and were then moved to Tsukushi. By imperial command they were sent to the capital by post-horse. In the fifth year of Saimei (659), a man of Tokhara and a woman of Shaei came to court. In the sixth year of Saimei (660), a Tokhara man named Kenzuhashidachia petitioned: "I beg that you send an escort with me and let me return to my own country for a while. I wish to leave my wife here as a hostage." This was granted, and he was sent home by the western sea route together with several tens of others. In the fourth year of Tenmu (675), women of Tokhara and Shaei presented the seeds of medicinal herbs and rare goods (Note: following the Nihongi). In the eighth year of Tenpyō in the reign of Emperor Shōmu (736), the Persian Li Miyi came to court in the company of Nakatomi-no-Nashiro, Vice Envoy to Tang (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). India (Tenjiku) also lies to the west of Tang (Note: following the Jiu Tang Shu). In the eighth year of Tenpyō in the reign of Emperor Shōmu (736), the monk Bodai of southern India and the monk Buttetsu of the country of Linyi (Rinyū) came in a small boat to the port of Naniwa (Note: following the Genkō Shakusho and the Zenrin Kokuhōki). Bodai was of the Brahman class of his country, of the highest and most noble family (Note: these four characters are from the Da Tang Xiyu Ji). The emperor revered him deeply, and after he later became a Sōjō (Prelate), people of the time called him the "Brahman Prelate" (Baramon Sōjō). Buttetsu was versed in the music of his country, and it is said that the pieces in the gagaku repertoire today called Bodai, Batō, Karyōbin, and the Rinyū music were all transmitted by Buttetsu and his companions (Note: following the Wamyō Ruijushō and the Genkō Shakusho).

Kunlun

¶The country of Kunlun (Konron-koku) is a tribal country near India (Tenjiku) (Note: following the Tang Shu). In the fifth year of Tenpyō in the reign of Emperor Shōmu (733), Heguri-no-Hironari went to Tang as an envoy; on his way home he met a violent storm at sea, was suddenly cast ashore in the country of Kunlun, and was taken captive. Later he escaped to Tang and returned home by way of Balhae (Bokkai) (Note: following the Shoku Nihongi). In the eighteenth year of Enryaku in the reign of Emperor Kanmu (799), a certain person drifted ashore in Mikawa in a small boat. He had cloth wrapped around his body and covering his back, wore a loincloth but no trousers, and had a dark blue cloth hung over his left shoulder in the manner of a kesa. He seemed to be about twenty years old, was five shaku and five bu in height, and had ears more than three sun long; his speech could not be understood. A man of Tang who saw him said, "This is a person of the country of Kunlun." This person gradually learned Chinese, called himself an Indian, and constantly played a one-stringed zither and sang, in a voice of great pathos. He asked to live at Kawaradera, and this was granted. He then sold the goods he carried and built a house by the roadside in the western outer quarter of the capital. Every passer-by, it is said, stopped there to rest. This person had been the first to bring cotton seed, and the seed was had planted on trial in the provinces of Kii, Awaji, Awa, Sanuki, Iyo, and Tosa, and at Dazaifu. His method of cultivation was as follows: choose sunny, warm, fertile land; dig holes one sun deep, spaced four shaku apart; soak the seeds in water and leave them overnight before planting; put four seeds in each hole, cover them with earth, and press it down by hand; water every morning so that the soil is always moist, and tend the plants once the shoots appear. This person later moved to the Ōmi Provincial Temple (Note: following the Ruijū Kokushi).