5,205
edits
Imperial Tallies (Daxia): Difference between revisions
m
no edit summary
mNo edit summary Tag: 2017 source edit |
mNo edit summary Tag: 2017 source edit |
||
| Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
References in extant Imperial bibliography provide a description of the tallies: The scrolls were fashioned of durable paper made from the bark of mulberry trees, which is resistant to mold, moth, creasing and corrosion. The scrolls were approximately five meters high and two and a half across, with two handles of worked bronze or copper at either end. Each scroll was housed between two columns, in a niche dedicated to a specific nation. | References in extant Imperial bibliography provide a description of the tallies: The scrolls were fashioned of durable paper made from the bark of mulberry trees, which is resistant to mold, moth, creasing and corrosion. The scrolls were approximately five meters high and two and a half across, with two handles of worked bronze or copper at either end. Each scroll was housed between two columns, in a niche dedicated to a specific nation. | ||
==Use== | ==Use== | ||
When a nation lost a war with [[Daxia]] it was typical for it to enter into a tributary arrangement with the Daxians. The defeated monarch was made to travel to the capital before a group of imperial bureaucrats and there, he would have to engage in a negotiation to determine what and how much he would have to submit as tribute in order to keep his crown. | When a nation lost a war with [[Daxia]] it was typical for it to enter into a tributary arrangement with the Daxians. The defeated monarch was made to travel to the capital before a group of imperial bureaucrats and there, he would have to engage in a negotiation to determine what and how much he would have to submit as tribute in order to keep his crown. From surviving sources, the format of the negotiation was not very formal and rulers were encouraged to haggle (as a form of ritual humilliation). The terms of the negotiation (which never were disadvantageous to Daxia) were then written | ||
[[Category:Daxia]] | [[Category:Daxia]] | ||