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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.
                                                                                 53
               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
                                                                    54
            had been made to house it.  Both these sources, which are   bodhisattva precepts upon Zheng He and wrote a colophon
                                  49
            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,
                                            50
            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
                                                                                  55
            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
                                                                   56
            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,
                                               51
            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
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