It was precisely noon, the sun hanging at the zenith.
Beside the Hall of Heavenly Favor, the imperial banquet stood ready.
When Great Zhou was first founded, Emperor Taizu remained a warrior at heart. When foreign states came to court, he accepted their tribute but bestowed no banquet.
The tribute went into the storehouses, and the foreign envoys returned to their lodgings, with little further interaction.
Only in the Taizong Era did the court begin to deem this practice too harsh, fearing it undermined the intent to conciliate distant lands.
Thus the custom of the imperial banquet was established: gifts might be accepted, but courtesy must not be neglected.
During the Renzong Era, its particulars grew more elaborate, until it became an established institution.
Thus today's tribute banquet was not meant to entertain guests, but to display imperial favor.
Favor was intangible.
The banquet was tangible.
The intangible won over distant lands; the tangible secured the foundations.
With the foundations secure, foreign states dared not stir rashly; with favor bestowed, tribute flowed in without end.
Such was the deeper purpose of Great Zhou's imperial banquets.
More than a hundred tables stood beside the hall, their vermilion lacquer traced with gold, arranged in an elegant pattern.
Civil and military officials sat in ranks to either side, taking their seats in order of purple, scarlet, blue, and green robes.
The envoys of Various Foreign States sat at the eastern end, facing the officials across a strip of open floor several feet wide.
Neither too close nor too far, the distance perfectly observed the courtesy of "distinction between host and guest."
Emperor Jing of Zhou took the seat of honor, with Crown Prince Jiang Heng standing in attendance beside him.
Wang Cheng held the wine jug and poured, serving the Son of