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countries, and he visited the king of the mountain of Ceylon,
who was all the more arrogant and disrespectful, and
attempted to kill the envoy. The king mobilised fifty thousand
troops to fell trees to obstruct the road and sent a contingent to
ransack the seagoing vessels. At that juncture a subordinate
official leaked the secret, and Zheng He and his men, having
realised the situation, at once tried to return to their ships. As
the road had been cut off, they could only secretly send some
men out, but the captors of the ships would not allow them to go
on board. Zheng He, commanding three thousand soldiers,
made an assault by a shortcut at night and took possession of
the royal city.
The native troops who had captured the ships joined forces
with the native soldiers on land and launched a counterattack
from all four sides. They besieged the royal city with a tight
encirclement and fought for six days. Zheng He and his men
captured the king and opened the city gate, and after cutting
down trees to make a way, they moved away while fighting.
Going for more than twenty li, they reached their ships in the
evening. They brought the Buddha’s Tooth Relic on board with
due ceremony. It emitted a brilliant light in a most unusual
manner as mentioned above, while a peal of thunder rumbled
with such a loud crash so that people at a great distance saw the
lightning and hid themselves. The ships sailed on the great sea
without encountering a windstorm, [and they were as safe] as if
they were walking on dry land. Ferocious dragons and Plate 3.9 Colophon of a sῡtra dedicated to Mārīcī, dated 1403.
mischievous fishes emerged before the ships but caused no Printing ink on paper. National Library of China
harm. All the people on board the ships were safe and happy.
On the ninth day of the seventh month on the ninth year of mission to Tibet and Nepal, carrying Yongle’s letter to
Yongle [1411] they returned to the capital, and the Emperor Tsongkhapa, took place soon after the construction of these
ordered that a precious diamond seat [made of sandalwood] be monuments started. It is possible that the Tibetan lama was
prepared in the imperial city for the Tooth Relic, in order to invited in connection with consecrating the temple and the
make offerings to it for the benefit of living beings and the pagoda. Although Tsongkhapa declined the invitation, his
welfare of the people, so that they might perform countless disciple Śākya Yeshé (1354–1439) is known to have reached
meritorious deeds. 48
the Ming court in 1415.
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Except for the concluding section describing the removal From the above episodes it is clear that the Yongle
of the Tooth Relic from Sri Lanka, the episode described in emperor was involved in several Buddhist activities from the
this note is remarkably similar to the Ming Veritable Records time he usurped the throne. They also indicate that he was
account of the conflict between Zheng He and the Sri familiar with Buddhist teachings and cognisant of their
Lankan ruler Aliekunaier mentioned above. More political use and implications. Much of this familiarity with
importantly, this note also very closely resembles a letter Buddhism must have come from the Yongle emperor’s
from the Yongle emperor written to Tsongkhapa that bears association with the monk Daoyan 道衍 (Yao Guangxiao
the date 11 March 1413. Found in 1959 at the Potala Palace in 姚廣孝, 1335–1418). Daoyan had been close to the Yongle
Lhasa, the letter similarly highlights the fact that Zheng He emperor since before he usurped the throne. Later, he was
took the Tooth Relic from Sri Lanka and that a ‘precious involved in justifying the usurpation as the editor of various
diamond seat made of sandalwood’ 莊嚴栴檀金剛寳座 Ming records, including the Veritable Records of the Yongle
(perhaps a sandalwood replica of the Mahābodhi temple) reign. Daoyan was also the person who bestowed the
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had been made to house it. Both these sources, which are bodhisattva precepts upon Zheng He and wrote a colophon
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the earliest records on Zheng He’s military action in Sri for a Buddhist text that the admiral offered to the Buddhist
Lanka and one penned by the emperor himself, are divinity Mārīcī (Pl. 3.9). These connections between the
confirmations of the relic’s having been brought to Ming Yongle emperor, Daoyan and Zheng He might have resulted
China. It would fit with the Yongle emperor’s other Buddhist in the decision to procure the Tooth Relic from Sri Lanka,
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endeavours and aims mentioned above. an important artefact used by Buddhist rulers to legitimise
In 1412, shortly after the Zheng He mission returned from their political authority. In a genealogy of Daoyan found in
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Sri Lanka, the Yongle emperor initiated the building of the Changle city, Fujian province, the monk is reported to have
the Da Baoensi 大報恩寺 (Great Monastery of Filial accompanied Zheng He on his maritime expedition in
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Gratitude) and the so-called ‘Porcelain Pagoda’ (Liuli ta 琉璃 1411. This was the same expedition that was responsible for
塔) in Nanjing in memory of his parents (see discussion by bringing the Tooth Relic to Ming China. Although not an
Clarence Eng in Chapter 20 of this volume). Zheng He was entirely convincing source of information, the genealogy,
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one of the persons put in charge of overseeing the Buddhist which was copied in 1940, seems to imply that Daoyan may
constructions and is later reported to have donated a large have been in Sri Lanka when Zheng He procured the Tooth
sum of money towards their completion. Hou Xian’s Relic for the Yongle emperor.
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Diplomacy, Trade and the Quest for the Buddha’s Tooth: The Yongle Emperor and Ming China’s South Asian Frontier | 35