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matter of treating those who come [in submission] with
sincerity.

人恆言以不治治夷狄。夫好善惡惡，人情所同者。豈間於夷狄。
撫之有道，未必不來。虎至暴，擾之能使馴帖。況虜亦飢食渴
飲。有人心者何不可馴哉。但有來者推誠待之耳。 22

Here the emperor uses the occasion to pontificate about
an element of rulership considered essential in (if not unique
to) Confucian ideology, the ability to win the allegiance of
men by dealing with them with confidence and in good faith,
regardless of apparent differences or backgrounds. Although
the emperor chose the generic language of Yi 夷 and Di 狄,
generalised terms to denote foreigners who do not necessarily
share the cultural values and practices of China, to describe
these men from afar, he was extending his rulership over
Mongols who almost certainly had either direct experience
or recent memory of being Chinggisid subjects.
The best-known example of the Yongle emperor winning
the allegiance of a Mongol leader who had formerly fought
for the Chinggisids occurred in 1423. The emperor had been
on his fourth campaign to the steppe, this time against
Plate 1.4 Coin, Timurid dynasty, 1393. Inscribed: (obverse) There is Arugtai (d. 1434), a powerful Mongol ostensibly wielding
no god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God Abu bakr; power on behalf of a Chinggisid. The emperor was keen to
‘Omar; ‘Uthman; ‘Ali; (reverse) Herat, The Supreme Sultan, Mahmud
Khan, the Mighty Amir, Timur Gurkan. Silver, weight 6.96g; diameter find a face-saving end to a long, inconclusive and
2.5cm. British Museum, London, 1887,1201.11 increasingly demoralising campaign, and so when a former
lieutenant of Arugtai, Esen-Tughal (d. 1431), signalled an
15th-century Ming imperial sources such as the Veritable interest in transferring his allegiance, the Yongle emperor
Records refer to the rulers of Moghulistan in present-day and his advisors quickly agreed. The presentation of events
Xinjiang as part of the Chinggisid oecumene, that is the in Ming records highlights the emperor’s generosity and
wider Mongolian world centred on descendants of Chinggis wisdom: ‘To now have the good fortune to meet His
Khan, with close ties to the Timurids, who in turn were Majesty’, exclaimed Esen-Tughal, ‘is Heaven granting Your
directly tied to the Eastern Mongols. Officials at the Ming Servant a day of rebirth’ 今幸見陛下是天賜臣再生之日也.
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court knew that at one point Timūr had offered refuge to The emperor responded warmly: ‘The Chinese and Yi are
Bunyashiri at his capital in Samarqand. Finally, early Ming one family. We received the Mandate of Heaven to be the
rulers and their advisors knew full well that members of the Son of Heaven. All those who Heaven covers, all those who
ruling house of the Goryeo dynasty in Korea had also been the earth carries are Our children’ 華夷本一家。朕奉天命為
Chinggisid son-in-laws for nearly a century. 20 天子，天之所覆地之所載皆朕赤子. Here, through the
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incorporation of a Mongol leader, the emperor can claim
Performing rulership universal rulership and evidence that he possesses the
Winning the allegiance of subordinates of Chinggisid rulers Mandate of Heaven.
was valuable evidence on the wider Eurasian stage of the Later, in an ostensibly unguarded moment with his
superiority of Ming rulership. The Ming founder had family and close followers, Esen-Tughal is said to have
initiated this strategy, offering economic incentives, declared: ‘The emperor of the Great Ming truly is my lord’
providing positions of security and prestige within the Ming 大明皇帝真吾主也. The term ‘true lord’ (zhen zhu 真主) had
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military, and supplying intellectual or emotional figured prominently in early Ming narratives of the Hongwu
justifications for transferring allegiance from the emperor’s rise, distinguishing him from other ambitious
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Chinggisids to the Ming throne. Early in the Yongle Chinese warlords who sought regional domination prior to
emperor’s reign, a group of Mongols from the northwest 1368. Here ‘truly is my lord’ suggests an implicit comparison
offered gifts to the emperor. After the banquet, the Minister with Esen-Tughal’s former lord, Arugtai, and perhaps by
of Rites complimented the emperor on his skill in handling extension even Bunyashiri, who at one point had been
the Mongols. Yongle responded: Arugtai’s lord. In other words, although we have little way to
People often speak of governing the Yi and Di without know what if anything Esen-Tughal said about the Yongle
governing them. To cherish good and detest evil is common to emperor truly being his lord, Ming observers (who compiled
human emotion. How can [we] distinguish this in regard to the the account we have today) contextualised rulership and
Yi and Di? If you comfort them properly, it is not certain that patronage in a wider competitive and comparative field.
they will not come [in submission]. Tigers are extremely Winning the allegiance of men from afar proved the
violent. If you soothe them, you can cause them to become superiority of Ming rulership.
tame. How much more so with the caitiffs who [like us] eat In return the Yongle emperor is seen in the Veritable
when hungry and drink when thirsty. For those with a human
heart, how would it be impossible to tame [them]? It is just a Records praising Esen-Tughal, in large part because it
confirms his status as a superior ruler:

12 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450