An important and rare silk brocade Imperial edict, Dated Xuande 1st year, corresponding to 1426 | 宣德元年（1426年） 昝卜巴冊封誥命文書

Geng Zhi Tang Collection.

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This important document is an exquisitely preserved example of an early Ming dynasty imperial mandate. This mandate was for officials of the highest ranks, known as gaoshu, which is indicated by the use of five-colored brocades, the inscription 'Huangdi zhi yue' (imperial mandate) in the second line, along with the seal mark of the same characters at the end.

During the early Ming period, influence of the central court over the Tibet region was comparatively weaker than during the Yuan dynasty. To maintain control, the Ming court granted official titles to various local military, political and religious figures. This mandate, written in both Chinese and Tibetan, appoints Zan Buba, a local military leader, as Assistant Commander (Du zhihui qianshi). This appointment is also documented in Ming Shilu, Xuanzong Shilu (1399-1435) juan 22, which makes it a significant physical document of early Ming imperial history.

Imperial mandates of the early Ming period are extremely rare, and most are in museum collections. Compare a closely related example, dated 1413, for conferring the Zanshan Prince title to Lingzang Guanding Guoshi, Zhusibar Gyaincain (d. circa 1425), now in the Management Committee of Cultural Relics of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, illustrated in Wen Zhu, 'Xizang defang Ming feng bawang de youguan wenwu [A survey of cultural relics related to the grant of religious titles to eight kings by the Ming court in Tibetan regions]', Wenwu, September 1985, fig. 7, p. 93. Compare also a late Ming example dated 1606, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th November 2017, lot 3029.