Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/168

matters relating to foreign trade were carefully regulated. Further, it is established that the route through Yunnan was utilised in that era by Persians, Arabs, and other nations, who sent merchants disguised as ambassadors carrying tribute to the Chinese Emperor, and received from him gifts three or four times the value of the tribute, such munificence being required by His Majesty's dignity. Subsequently the Government adopted measures to verify the authenticity of so-called "tribute-bearers," and it certainly cannot be blamed for protecting itself against manœuvres of the above character. Towards the end of the ninth century, when the Empire lapsed into a state of anarchy preceding the fall of the Tang rulers, the various factories established by foreign traders had to be closed, with the exception of Canton; and throughout the greater part of the tenth century—that is to say, the period separating the fall of the Tang dynasty and the rise of the Sung—merchants from oversea encountered many obstacles owing to the unsettled state of the coast. From the twelfth century, however, they were enabled to prosecute their calling in complete tranquillity, the Government not only extending to them general protection, but also granting special facilities by abolishing all the internal taxing stations. The state of affairs at the beginning of the thirteenth century is thus described by Parker: "The Chinese had acquired a knowledge of the African coast