The Cham of Vietnam: History, Society and Art

“Mandala Champa” Seen from Chinese Sources

120 c฀h฀a฀p฀t฀e฀r฀ 5 “Mandala Champa” Seen from Chinese Sources Momoki Shiro Studies on Chinese sources related to Champa appeared only sporadically in the late twentieth century. Even with the dramatic revival of Champa studies since the 1980s — first in France, then in Vietnam and other countries — there has been no systematic review of the “classical” studies on Chinese sources by such scholars as Paul Pelliot, Georges Maspero, George Cœdès and Rolf Stein, all of which were done earlier in the century within the conceptual framework of Indianization and Sinicization.1 However, many new sources have become available since the 1960s, the two most important being the Song Huiyao Jigao 宋會要輯稿 (Draft of the Collected Statutes of the Song) and Daming shilu 大 明實録 (Veritable Records of the Great Ming). When combined with recent archaeological findings and/or analyzed from new perspectives concerning Southeast Asian polities, intra-Asian trade, the Chinese world order, the bias of Chinese texts, and so on, Chinese sources can shed new light upon the history and historical geography of Champa.2 This chapter will offer some new arguments about the diplomatic and geographic information found in Chinese sources from the fifth to the fourteenth centuries. 05 ChamViet.indd 120 1/17/11 11:29:33 AM “Mandala Champa” Seen from Chinese Sources 121 LINYI-CHINA RELATIONS As demonstrated by Yamagata Mariko, recent archaeological findings from the early centuries CE in the Quảng Nam area cast doubt on Stein’s hypothesis that the polity of Linyi first emerged to the North of Hải Vân Pass (located between present-day Đà Nẵng and Huế).3 It is more likely that Linyi was established in Quảng Nam based on the Sa Huỳnh culture. Archaeological evidence such as Chinese-style roof tiles and Daoist seals found in Quảng Nam, however, do seem to support Stein’s understanding (based on literary sources) that Linyi was founded under the strong influence of the expansion of the ancient Chinese empire. In other words, Linyi’s emergence as an “independent” polity in Xianglin 象林 (Viet. Tượng Lâm), the southernmost district of the Eastern Han empire, did not occur as a phenomenon of the so-called “First Indianization” of Southeast Asia, as has been traditionally understood.4 The gradual process of Linyi’s “self-Indianization” — its metamorphosis into Indianized Champa — took place only from the late fourth to the seventh centuries. The first phase of this “self-Indianization” was parallel with its territorial expansion to the North (at the expense of China’s commandery of Rinan 日南, Viet. Nhật Nam, at the southern limits of its territory in present-day Vietnam) and successive warfare with China. In 446, however, Tan Hezhi 檀和之, the governor of Jiaozhou 交州 (Viet. Giao Châu), sacked the Linyi capital, which may have been at Trà Kiệu in Quảng Nam. After that, Linyi apparently became an obedient vassal of the Celestial Empire (at that time, specifically the southern part of China); among the southern countries, it was the most frequent to send tribute to the Six Dynasties (221–589) and the Sui-Tang (589–907) (see Table 1). Nevertheless, the significance of the tributary relationship between Linyi and China has yet to be adequately studied. The modern historiography of Southeast Asian “Indianized” states tends to emphasize the commercial aspect of their relationship with China, while scholarship on Vietnam usually explains Đại Việt’s tributary relationship in terms of political and military security.5 Both explanations are in my view too simplistic. Chinese sources record more than 17 missions from Linyi between 446 and 589, when the Chinese Empire’s period of division between separate Northern and Southern dynasties ended with the unification by the Sui in the North. Particularly noteworthy is the drowning death of King Fan Zhunong 范諸農 (r. 491–8) at sea during a storm on his way to the Chinese court.6 Such frequent tribute missions brought not only trade profits but also political recognition. In 491, the Qi court invested 05 ChamViet.indd 121 1/17/11 11:29:33 AM Momoki Shiro 122 King Fan Danggenchun 范當根純 (r. ? –491) with the titles of Chijie 持節 (Commissioner with Special Powers), Dudu Yanhai Zhujunshi 都督沿海諸 軍事 (Commander-in-Chief of all Military Affairs in the Coastal Region), Annan Jiangjun 安南將軍 (General of Pacification of the South), and Linyi Wang 林邑王 (King of Linyi...