Illustrated Treatise on Foreign Lands: Volume 22

It takes over ten days of travel to finally reach this kingdom. The land is majestic and vast, and the customs are luxurious and elegant, surpassing all other foreign nations. The weather is mostly cold. Their King wears brocade robes and jade belts, and steps in golden shoes. On the new moon and the full moon, he wears a crown fashioned from pure gold and set with a hundred precious jewels.

His residence uses agate for pillars, green ornamental stone original: 綠甘 (lvgan); likely a green marble or malachite for walls, crystal for roof tiles, and giant clam shell 硨磲 (chequ): the iridescent shell of the Tridacna gigas, highly valued in Buddhist and royal traditions for bricks. The curtains and hangings are made of "hundred-flower" brocade. The government officials include a Prime Minister and a Grand Marshal, each commanding over thirty thousand soldiers and horses. The horses stand seven feet high, and the strong soldiers are brave and valiant. The houses and buildings of the common people are roughly similar in style to those in China. The marketplaces are filled with gold, silver, damask, and brocade. The skills and techniques of the craftsmen are all exceptionally refined.

In the third year of the Jianyan era [1129 CE], they brought pearls, jade, and treasures to offer as tribute. The Emperor Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song said: "During the Daguan [1107–1110] and Xuanhe [1119–1125] eras, the 'Tea and Horse' trade policy was neglected and military preparedness was not maintained, which led to the disaster of the Jin invasion. Now, if we again spend hundreds of thousands of strings of coins 緡 (min): a string of 1,000 copper coins to exchange for these useless pearls and jade, would it not be better to save our wealth to support our warriors?"

Consequently, he rejected the tribute, yet bestowed generous gifts in return to acknowledge the goodwill of these people from afar. At the beginning of the Shaoxing era [1131–1162], they again offered patterned rhinoceros horn and ivory as tribute, and the Imperial Court likewise rewarded them with generous gifts.