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Plate 14.5a–b: a) (left) Anonymous, Tribute Giraffe from Bengal (Mingren hua
qilin Shen Du song 明人畫麒麟沈度頌), calligraphy by Shen Du 沈度 (1357–1434),
Ming dynasty, dated c. 1414. Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk, image
height 90.4cm, width 45cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei; b) (above)
Calligraphy by Shen Du 沈度 on Tribute Giraffe from Bengal (Mingren hua qilin
Shen Du song
明人畫麒麟沈度頌)

South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. In return, these such a sensation that the envoy from Joseon Korea sent
regions sent envoys to the Ming court to offer tribute. In the representatives to congratulate the emperor in Beijing. It is
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summer of 1404, an envoy from Annam presented a white also recorded in the official Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (Joseon
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elephant to the emperor. Zeng Qi 曾棨 (1372–1432) wangjo sillok 朝鮮王朝實錄). Both Bengal and Malindi are
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composed an Ode to the White Elephant (Baixiang fu 白象賦) to far from China. The arrival of two qilin in the Ming capital
commemorate this gift.In the third month of 1409, an envoy within a short span of time was understood as the direct

from Jiaozhi 交趾 (in present-day northern Vietnam) offered result of the charismatic power of the Yongle emperor’s
another white elephant. Chen Gui 陳珪 (d. 1415) wrote to virtue reverberating across vast distances.
congratulate the emperor, but the emperor replied that A painting depicting the tribute giraffe from Bengal is in
white elephants are common and that congratulations were the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Pl. 14.5a). It
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not necessary. includes a transcription of Shen Du’s ode to qilin (Pl. 14.5b),
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In the ninth month of 1414, the ruler of Bengal (roughly signed with the following:
Bangladesh today) sent the Yongle emperor a giraffe, which In autumn, the 9th month of the jiawu year of the Yongle reign
the Chinese thought was a qilin 麒麟. According to the [1414] … a sign of eternal peace in the state ... The real qilin is
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2nd-century dictionary Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 (Explaining and five zhang in height [approximately 16.6m]. It has the body of a
Analysing Characters), a qilin is a benevolent beast that has the river deer and the hooves of a horse … [it] walks slowly and
body of a deer, the tail of an ox and a single horn. The qilin steadily … Gentleman-Confucian and Senior Compiler in the
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is believed to be the most auspicious of beasts, appearing Hanlin Academy, your servitor, Shen Du, respectfully presents.
only when the emperor is both rightful and benevolent. One 永樂甲午（1414）秋九月，…以為國家萬萬年太平之徵。…實生
theory suggests that it became equated with the giraffe 麒麟，形高丈五。麕身馬蹄…舒舒徐徐…儒林郎翰林院脩撰臣
because qilin sounded similar to giri, the Somali word for 沈度謹進。
giraffe. In 1414, Hanlin officials such as Shen Du 沈度
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(1357–1434), Xia Yuanji, Jin Youzi 金幼孜 (1367–1431) and Li Although Shen Du is named as the writer, the
Shimian 李時勉 (1374–1450) all composed Odes to Qilin (Qilin handwriting of the inscription does not resemble that of the
fu 麒麟賦). In 1415, Malin 麻林, today’s Malindi of Kenya, Hanlin scholar. The written characters are not sufficiently
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sent an envoy bearing tributes of ‘qilin, heavenly horse and regular in form. Extant calligraphy by Shen Du, such as
spiritual deer’ (qilin, tianma, shenlu 麒麟、天馬、神鹿) to Album of Admonitions by Jingzhai (Jingzhai zhen 敬齋箴) in the
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China. The arrival of giraffes as tribute in China caused Palace Museum, Beijing, shows the grace and elegance of his

126 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450