mpire was suggested to the great Khan by a Korean
traveller in 1265. Kublai immediately acted on the suggestion. He
sent an embassy by way of Korea, ordering the Koma sovereign to make
arrangements for the transport of the envoys and to re-enforce them
with a Korean colleague. A tempest interrupted this essay, and it was
not repeated until 1268, when the Khan's messengers, accompanied by a
Korean suite, crossed safely to Chikuzen and delivered to the
Dazai-fu a letter from Kublai with a covering despatch from the
Korean King. The Korean sovereign's despatch was plainly inspired by
a desire to avert responsibility from himself. He explained that in
transporting the embassy he acted unavoidably, but that, in sending
it, the Khan was not actuated by any hostile feeling, his sole
purpose being to include Japan in the circle of his friendly
tributaries.

In short, the Koma prince--he no longer could properly be called a
monarch--would have been only too pleased to see Japan pass under the
Mongol yoke as his own kingdom had already done. Kublai's letter,
however, though not deliberately arrogant, could not be construed in
any sense except as a summons to send tribute-bearing envoys to
Peking. He called himself "Emperor" and addressed the Japanese ruler
as "King;" instanced, for fitting example, the relation between China
and Korea, which he described at once as that of lord and vassal and
that of parent and child, and predicated that refusal of intercourse
would "lead to war."

The Japanese interpreted this to be an offer of suzerainty or
subjugation. Two courses were advocated; one by Kyoto, the other by
Kamakura. The former favoured a policy of conciliation and delay; the
latter, an attitude of contemptuous silence. Kamakura, of course,
triumphed. After six months' retention the envoys were sent away
without so much as a written acknowledgment. The records contain
nothing to show whether this bold course on the part of the Bakufu
had its origin in ignorance of the Mongol's might or in a conviction
of the bushi's fighting superiority. Probably both factors were
operative; for Japan's knowledge of Jenghiz and his resources reached
her chiefly through religious channels, and the fact that Koreans
were associated with Mongols in the mission must have tended to lower
the affair in her estimation. Further, the Japanese had been taught
by experience the immense difficulties of conducting oversea
campaigns, and if they understoo