The earliest emba.s.sy from Ceylon recorded in the Chinese[1] annals at the beginning of the fifth century, appears to have proceeded overland by way of India, and was ten years before reaching the capital of China.

It was the bearer of "a jade-stone image of Buddha, exhibiting every colour in purity and richness, in workmanship unique, and appearing to be beyond human art[2]."

[Footnote 1: A.D. 405. Gibbon alludes with natural surprise to his discovery of the fact, that prior to the reign of Justinian, the "monarch of China had actually received an emba.s.sy from the Island of Ceylon."--_Decline and Fall_, c. xl.]

[Footnote 2: _Leang-shoo,_ A.D. 630, b. liv. p. 13. The ultimate fate of this renowned work of art is related in the _Leang-shoo,_ and several other of the Chinese chronicles. Throughout the

Tsin and Sung dynasties it was preserved in the Wa-kwan monastery at Nankin, along with five other statues and three paintings which were esteemed chefs-d'oeuvre. The jade-stone image was at length destroyed in the time of Tung-hwan, of the Tse dynasty; first, the arm was broken off, and eventually the body taken to make hair-pins and armlets for the emperor's favourite consort Pwan. _Nan-she,_ b. lxxviii. p. 13.

_Tung-teen,_ b. cxciii. p. 8. _Tae-ping,_ &c., b. dcclx.x.xvii. p. 6.]

During the same century there were four other emba.s.sies from Ceylon. One A.D. 428, when the King Cha-cha Mo-ho-nan (Raja Maha Naama) sent an address to the emperor, which will be found in the history of the Northern Sung dynasty[1], together with a "model of the shrine of the tooth," as a token of fidelity;--two in A.D. 430 and A.D. 435; and a fourth A.D. 456, when five priests, of whom one was Nante, the celebrated sculptor, brought as a gift to the emperor a "three-fold image of Buddha."[2]

[Footnote 1: _Sung-shoo,_ A.D. 487, b. xcvii. p. 5.]

[Footnote 2: Probably one in each of the three orthodox att.i.tudes,--sitting in meditation, standing to preach, and reposing in "nirwana." _Wei-shoo,_ "History of the Wei Tartar Dynasty," A.D. 590, b.

cxiv. p. 9.]

According to the Chinese annalists, the kings of Ceylon, in the sixth century, acknowledged themselves va.s.sals of the Emperor of China, and in the year 515, on the occasion of k.u.mara Das raising the chatta, an envoy was despatched with tribute to China, together with an address, announcing the royal accession, in which the king intimates that he "had been desirous to go in person, but was deterred by fear of winds and waves."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Leang-shoo,_ b. liv. p. 10. _Y[(u]h-hae,_ "Ocean of Gems,"

A.D. 1331, b. clii. p. 33. The latter authority announces in like terms two other emba.s.sies with tribute to China, one in A.D. 523, and another in the reign of Kirti Sena, A.D. 527. The _Tsih-foo yuen-kwei_ mentions a similar mission in A.D. 531, b. dcccclxviii. p. 20.]

But although all these emba.s.sies are recorded in the Chinese chronicles as so many instances of acknowledged subjection, there is every reason to believe that the magniloquent terms in which they are described are by no means to be taken in a literal sense, and that the offerings enumerated were merely in recognition of the privilege of commercial intercourse subsisting between the two nations: but as the Chinese _literati_ affect a lofty contempt for commerce, all allusion to trade is omitted; and beyond an incidental remark in some works of secondary importance, the literature of China observes a dignified silence on the subject.

Only one emba.s.sy is mentioned in the seventh century, when Dalu-piatissa despatched "a memorial and offerings of native productions;"[1] but there were four in the century following[2], after which there occurs an interval of above five hundred years, during which the Chinese writers are singularly silent regarding Ceylon; but the Singhalese historians incidentally mention that swords and musical instruments were then imported from China, for the use of the native forces, and that Chinese soldiers took service in the army of Prakrama III. A.D. 1266.[3]

[Footnote 1: A.D. 670. _Ts[)i]h-foo yuen-kwei_, b. dcccclxx. p. 16. It was in the early part of this century, during a period of intestine commotion, when the native princes were overawed by the Malabars, that _Hiouen-Thsang_ met on the coast of India fugitives from Ceylon, from whom he derived his information as to the internal condition of the island, A.D. 629--633. See Transl. by STANISLAS JULIEN, "_La Vie de Hiouen-Thsang_," Paris, 1853, pp. 192--198.]

[Footnote 2: A.D. 711, A.D. 746, A.D. 750, and A.D. 762. _Ts[)i]h-foo yuen-kwei,_ b. dcccclxxi. p. 17. On the second occasion (A.D. 746) the king, who despatched the emba.s.sy, is described as sending as his envoy a "Brahman priest, the anointed graduate of the threefold repository, bearing as offerings head-ornaments of gold, precious neck-pendants, a copy of the great Prajna Sutra, and forty webs of fine cotton cloth."]

[Footnote 3: See the _Kawia-sakara_, written about A.D. 1410.]

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the only records of intercourse relate to the occasional despatch of public officers by the emperor of China to collect gems and medical drugs, and on three successive occasions during the earlier part of the Yuen dynasty, envoys were empowered to negotiate the purchase of the sacred alms-dish of Buddha.[1]

[Footnote 1: "In front of the image of Buddha there is a sacred bowl which is neither made of jade, nor copper, nor iron; it is of a purple colour and glossy, and when struck it sounds like gla.s.s. At the commencement of the Yuen dynasty, three separate envoys were sent to obtain it."--_Taou-e che-leo_ "Account of Island Foreigners," A.D. 1350, quoted in the "_Foreign Geography_", b. xviii. p. 15. This statement of the Chinese authorities corroborates the story told by MARCO POLO, possibly from personal knowledge, that "the Grand Khan Kublai sent amba.s.sadors to Ceylon with a request that the king would yield to him possession of 'the great ruby' in return for the 'value of a city.'"--(_Travels,_ ch. xix.) The MS. of MARCO POLO, which contains the Latin version of his Travels, is deposited in the Imperial Library of Paris, and it is remarkable that a pa.s.sage in it, which seems to be wanting in the Italian and other MSS., confirms this account of the Chinese annalists, and states that the alms-dish of Buddha was at length yielded by the King of Ceylon as a gift to Kublai Khan, and carried with signal honour to China. MARCO POLO describes the scene as something within his own knowledge:--"Quando autem magnus Kaan scivit quod isti ambaxiatores redibant c.u.m reliquis istis, et erant prope terram ubi ipse tune erat, scilicet in Cambalu (Pekin), fecit mitti bandum quod omnes de terra obviarent reliquis istis (quia credebat quod essent reliquiae de Adam) et istud fuit A.D. 1284."]

The beginning of the fifteenth century was, however, signalised by an occurrence, the details of which throw light over the internal condition of the island, at a period regarding which the native historians are more than usually obscure. At this time the glory of Buddhism had declined, and the political ascendency of the Tamils had enabled the Brahmans to taint the national worship by an infusion of Hindu observances. The _Se-yih-ke foo-choo,_ or "Description of Western Countries," says that in 1405 A.D. the reigning king, A-lee-koo-nae-wurh (Wijaya-bahu VI.), a native of Sollee, and "an adherent of the heterodox faith, so far from honouring Buddha, tyrannised over his followers."[1]

He maltreated strangers resorting to the island, and plundered their vessels, "so that the envoys from other lands, in pa.s.sing to and fro, were much annoyed by him."[2]

[Footnote 1: B. xviii. p. 15.]

[Footnote 2: _Ming-she_, b. cccxxvi, p. 7.]

In that year a mission from China, sent with incense and offerings to the shrine of the tooth, was insulted and waylaid, and with difficulty effected an escape from Ceylon.[1] According to the _Ming-she_, or History of the Ming Dynasty, "the Emperor _Ching-tsoo_, indignant at this outrage on his people; and apprehensive lest the influence of China in other countries besides Ceylon had declined during the reign of his predecessors, sent _Ching-Ho_, a soldier of distinction, with a fleet of sixty-two ships and a large military escort, on an expedition to visit the western kingdoms, furnished with proper credentials and rich presents of silk and gold. Ching-Ho touched at Cochin-China, Sumatra, Java, Cambodia, Siam, and other places, proclaiming at each the Imperial edict, and conferring Imperial gifts." If any of the princes refused submission, they were subdued by force; and the expedition returned to China in A.D. 1407, accompanied by envoys from the several nations, who came to pay court to the Emperor.

[Footnote 1: _Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, b. xviii. p. 15. This Chinese invasion of Ceylon has been already adverted to in the sketch of the domestic history of the island, Vol. I. Part IV. ch xii. p. 417.]

In the following year Ching-Ho, having been despatched on a similar mission to Ceylon, the king, A-lee-ko-nae-wah, decoyed his party into the interior, threw up stockades with a view to their capture, in the hope of a ransom, and ordered soldiers to the coast to plunder the Chinese junks. But Ching-Ho, by a dexterous movement, avoided the attack, and invested the capital[1], made a prisoner of the king, succeeded in conveying him on board his fleet, and carried him captive to China, together with his queen, his children, his officers of state, and his attendants. He brought away with him spoils, which were long afterwards exhibited in the Tsing-hae monastery at Nankin[2], and one of the commentaries on the _Si-yu-ke_ of Hiouen Thseng, states that amongst the articles carried away, was the sacred tooth of Buddha.[3] "In the sixth month of the year 1411," says the author of the _Ming-She_, "the prisoners were presented at court. The Chinese ministers pressed for their execution, but the emperor, in pity for their ignorance, set them at liberty, but commanded them to select a virtuous man from the same family to occupy the throne. All the captives declared in favour of Seay-pa-nae-na, whereupon an envoy was sent with a seal to invest him with the royal dignity, as a va.s.sal of the empire," and in that capacity he was restored to Ceylon, the former king being at the same time sent back to the island.[4] It would be difficult to identify the names in this story with the kings of the period, were it not stated in another chronicle, the _Woo-he[)o]-peen_, or Record of the Ming Dynasty, that Seay-pa-nae-na was afterwards named _Pu-la-ko-ma Ba-zae La-cha_, in which it is not difficult to recognise "Sri Prakrama Bahu Raja," the sixth of his name, who transferred the seat of government from Gampola to Cotta, and reigned from A.D. 1410 to 1462.[5]

[Footnote 1: Gampola.]

[Footnote 2: _S[)u]h-Wan-heen tung-kaou_, book ccx.x.xvi p. 12.]

[Footnote 3: See note at the end of this chapter.]

[Footnote 4: _Ming-she,_ b. cccxxvi. p. 5. M. STANISLAS JULIEN intimates that the forthcoming volume of his version of the _Si-yu-ki_ will contain the eleventh book, in which an account will be given of the expedition of Ching Ho.--_Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales_, tom.

i. p. 26. In antic.i.p.ation of its publication, M. JULIEN has been so obliging as to make for me a translation of the pa.s.sage regarding Ceylon, but it proves to be an annotation of the fifteenth century, which, by the inadvertence of transcribers, has become interpolated in the text of _Hiouen-Thsang_. It contains, however, no additional facts or statements beyond the questionable one before alluded to, that the sacred tooth of Buddha was amongst the spoils carried to Pekin by Ching Ho.]

[Footnote 5: _Woo-he[)o]-peen_, b. lxviii p. 5. See also the _Ta-tsing y[)i]h-tung_, a topographical account of the Manchoo empire, a copy of which is among the Chinese books in the British Museum. In the very imperfect version of the _Rajavali_, published by Upham, this important pa.s.sage is rendered unintelligible by the want of fidelity of the translator, who has transformed the conqueror into a "Malabar," and ante-dated the event by a century. (_Rajavali_, p. 263.) I am indebted to Mr. De Alwis, of Colombo, for a correct translation of the original, which is as follows: "In the reign of King Wijayo-bahu, the King of Maha (great) China landed in Ceylon with an army, pretending that he was bringing tribute; King Wijayo-bahu, believing his professions (because it had been customary in the time of King Prakrama-bahu for foreign countries to pay tribute to Ceylon), acted incautiously, and he was treacherously taken prisoner by the foreign king. His four brothers were killed, and with them fell many people, and the king himself was carried captive to China." DE COUTO, in his continuation of DE BARROS, has introduced the story of the capture of the king by the Chinese; but he has confounded the dates, mystified the facts, and altered the name of the new sovereign to Pandar, which is probably only a corruption of the Singhalese _Banda_, "a prince."--DE COUTO, _Asia, &c_., dec. v. lib. i.

c. vi. vol. ii. part i. p. 51. PURCHAS says: "The Singhalese language is thought to have been left there by the Chinois, some time Lord of Zeilan."--_Pilgrimage_, c. xviii. p. 552. The adventures of Ching Ho, in his emba.s.sy to the nations of the Southern Ocean, have been made the ground-work of a novel, the _Se-yung-ke_, which contains an enlarged account of his exploits in Ceylon; but fact is so overlaid with fiction that the pa.s.sages are not worth extracting.]

For fifty years after this untoward event the subjection of Ceylon to China appears to have been humbly and periodically acknowledged; tribute was punctually paid to the emperor, and on two occasions, in 1416 A.D., and 1421 A.D., the kings of Ceylon were the bearers of it in person.[1]

In 1430 A.D., at a period of intestine commotion, "Ching-Ho issued a proclamation for the pacification of Ceylon," and, at a somewhat later period, edicts were promulgated by the Emperor of China for the government of the island.[2] In 1459 A.D., however, the series of humiliations appears to have come abruptly to a close; for, "in that year," says the _Ming-she_, "the King of Ceylon for the last time sent an envoy with tribute, and after that none ever came again."

[Footnote 1: _Ming-she_, b. vii. pp. 4, 8.]

[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., b. cccxxvii. p. 7.]

On their arrival in Ceylon early in the sixteenth century[1], the Portuguese found many evidences still existing of the intercourse and influence of the Chinese. They learned that at a former period they had established themselves in the south of the island; and both De Barros and De Couto ventured to state that the Singhalese were so called from the inter-marriage of the Chinese with the Gallas or Chalias, the caste who in great numbers still inhabit the country to the north of Point de Galle.[2] But the conjecture is erroneous, the derivation of Singhala is clearly traced to the Sanskrit "_Singha_;" besides which, in the alphabet of the Singhalese, _n_ and _g_ combine to form a single and insoluble letter.

[Footnote 1: A.D. 1565.]

[Footnote 2: "Serem os Chijis senh.o.r.es da costa Choromandel, parte do Malabar e desta Ilha Ceilo. Na qual Ilha leixaram huma lingua, a que elles chamam Chingalla, e aos proprios povos Chingallas, princ.i.p.almente os que vivem da ponta de Galle por diante na face da terra contra o Sul, e Oriente: e por ser pegada neste Cabo Galle, chamou a outra gente, que vivia do meio da ilha pera cima, aos que aqui habitavam _Chingilla_ e a lingua delles tambem, _quasi como se dissessem lingua ou gente dos Chijo de Galle"_--DE BARROS, _Asia, &c._, Dec. iii. lib. ii. c. i. DE COUTO'S account is as follows: "E como os Chins formam os primeiros que navegaram pelo Oriente, tendo noticia da canella, acudiram muitos 'juncos' aquella Ilha a carregar della, e dalli a levaram aos portos de Persia, e da Arabia donde pa.s.sou a Europa--de que se deixaram ficar muitos Chins na terra, e se misturaram por casamentos com os naturaes; _dantre quem nasceram huns mistcos que se ficaram chamando Cim-Gallas; ajuntando o nome dos naturaes, que eram Gallas aos dos Chins_, que vieram por tempos a ser to famosos, que deram o seu nome a todos os da Ilha."--_Asia, &c._ Dec. v. lib. ch. v.]

In process of time, every trace disappeared of the former presence of the Chinese in Ceylon--emba.s.sies ceased to arrive from the "Flowery Kingdom," Chinese vessels deserted the harbours of the island, pilgrims no longer repaired to the shrines of Buddha; and even the inscriptions became obliterated in which the imperial offerings to the temples were recorded on the rocks.[1] The only mementos which remain at the present day to recall their ancient domestication in the island, is the occasional appearance in the mountain villages of an itinerant vender of sweetmeats, or a hut in the solitary forest near some cave, from which an impoverished Chinese renter annually gathers the edible nest of the swallow.

[Footnote 1: _S[)u]h-Wan-heen tung-kaou_, book ccx.x.xvi. p. 12.]

NOTE.

As it may be interesting to learn the opinions of the Chinese at the present day regarding Ceylon, the following account of the island has been translated for me by Dr. Lockhart, of Shanghae, from a popular work on geography, written by the late lieutenant-governor of the province of Fokhien, a.s.sisted by some foreigners. The book is called Ying-hw[)a]n-che-ke, or "The General Account of the Encircling Ocean."

"Se[)i]h-lan is situated in Southern India, and is a large island in the sea, on the south-east coast, its circ.u.mference being about 1000 le (300 miles), having in the centre lofty mountains; on the coast the land is low and marshy. The country is characterised by much rain and constant thunder. The hills and valleys are beautifully ornamented with flowers and trees of great variety and beauty, the cries of the animals rejoicing together fill the air with gladness, and the landscape abounds with splendour. In the forests are many elephants, and the natives use them instead of draught oxen or horses. The people are all of the Buddhistic religion; it is said that Buddha was born here: he was born with an excessive number of teeth. The grain is not sufficient for the inhabitants, and they depend for food on the various districts of India.

Gems are found in the hills, and pearls on the sea coast; the cinnamon that is produced in the country is excellent, and much superior to that of Kw.a.n.g-se. In the middle of the Ming dynasty, the Portuguese seized upon Se[)i]h-lan and established marts on the sea coast, which by schemes the Hollanders took from them. In the first year of Kia-King (1795), the English drove out the Hollanders and took possession of the sea coast. At this time the people of Se[)i]h-lan, on account of their various calamities or invasions, lost heart. Their city on the coast, called Colombo, was attacked by the English, and the inhabitants were dispersed or driven away; then the whole island fell into the hands of the English, who eventually subjected it. The harbour for rendezvous on the coast is called Ting-ko-ma-le."

To this the Chinese commentator adds, on the authority of a work, from which he quotes, ent.i.tled, "A Treatise on the Diseases of all the Kingdoms of the Earth:"--

"The Kingdom of Se[)i]h-lan was anciently called Lang-ya-sew; the pa.s.sage from Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), with a favourable wind, is twelve days and nights; the country is extensive, and the people numerous, and the products abundant, but inferior to Kiva-wa (Java). In the centre are lofty mountains, which yield the A-k[)u]h (crow and pigeon) gems; after every storm of rain they are washed down from the hills, and gathered among the sand. From Chang-tsun, Lin-yih in the extreme west, can be seen. In the foreign language, the high mountain is called Se[)i]h-lan; hence the name of the island. It is said Buddha (Sh[)i]h-ka) came from the island of Ka-lon (the gardens of Buddha), and ascended this mountain, on which remains the trace of his foot. Below the hill there is a monastery, in which they preserve the nee-pwan (a Buddhistic phrase, signifying the world; literally rendered, his defiling or defiled vessel) and the Shay-le-tsze, or relics of Buddha.

"In the sixth year of his reign (1407), Yung-l[)o], of the Ming dynasty, sent an amba.s.sador extraordinary, Ching-Ho and others, to transmit the Imperial mandate to the King A-l[)e]e-j[)o]-nai-wah, ordering him to present numerous and valuable offerings and banners to the monastery, and to erect a stone tablet, and rewarding him by his appointment as tribute bearer; A-l[)e]e-j[)o]-nai-wurh ungratefully refusing to comply, they seized him, in order to bring him to terms, and chose from among his nearest of kin A-pa-nae-na, and set him on the throne. For fourteen years, Teen-ching, Kwa-wa (Java), Mwan-che-kea, Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), and other countries, sent tribute in the tenth year of Chin-tung, and the third year of Teen-shun they again sent tribute."[1]

[Footnote 1: There is here some confusion in the chronology; as Teen-shun reigned before Ching-tung.]

"I have heard from an American, A-pe-le[1], that Se[)i]h-lan was the original country of Teen-chuh (India), and that which is now called Woo-yin-too was Teen-ch[)u]h, but in the course of time the names have become confused. According to the records of the later Han dynasty, Teen-ch[)u]h was considered the Shin-t[)u]h, and that the name is not that of an island, but of the whole country. I do not know what proof there is for A-pe-le's statement."

[Footnote 1: Mr. Abeel, an American missionary.]