In my humble opinion, an imperial edict of Genghis Khan (1162-1227) sent to Qiu Chuji, or 丘处机 (1148-1227) in Chinese, a renowned Taoist master and who once served as the leader of Quanzhen Order, or 全真教 in Chinese, is quite interesting. Usually speaking, in ancient China, the content of an imperial edict was written in Classical Chinese, whose style is more formal. But this one was written in a colloquial way and sounds more spontaneous.
Before I mention this content, I need to give a short introduction about interactions between Genghis Khan and Qiu Chuji. Qiu Chuji, a famed Taoist practitioner, was invited by Genghis Khan in 1219 to meet him and have dialogues with him. Later, in 1220, Qiu Chuji began his journey to the west, since he was notified that Genghis Khan back then led troops fighting against Khwarazmian Empire (1077–1231), whose boundary encompassed nowadays Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran.
After a long and arduous trip, Qiu Chuji met Genghis Khan near Hindu Kush in nowadays Afghanistan on April 5th, 1222 in Chinese lunisolar calendar, which was May 17th, 1222 in Gregorian calendar. He had conversations Genghis Khan. When asked by Genghis Khan about elixir, Qiu Chuji told Genghis Khan that there was no such thing as that. Genghis Khan was impressed by honesty of Qiu Chuji. Later, Qiu Chuji was conferred a title as Spirit Immortal, or 神仙 in Chinese, by Genghis Khan.
Here is a picture showing a painting portraying Genghis Khan and Qiu Chuji in a Mongolian tent.
On March 10th, 1223 in Chinese lunisolar calendar, which was April 12th, 1223 in Gregorian calendar, Qiu Chuji started his journey back to China. And on his way to China, he received an imperial edict from Genghis Khan, who sent it to him on November 15th, 1223 in Chinese lunisolar calendar, which was December 8th, 1223 in Gregorian calendar.
Here is the content of this edict: "Spirit Immortal Qiu, you started your journey in this spring, and you were on the road in hot summer days. I hope that you are equipped with fine horses stationed at posts on the road. I hope that you are supplied with bountiful food on the road. When you went to Xuande Prefecture or other places on the road, were you treated well by officials? How were common folks in these places? I often think about you. I never forget you and you should not forget me.”
And here is the original excerpt written in Chinese:”宣差都元帅贾昌传奉成吉思皇帝圣旨:丘神仙, 你春月行程别来至夏日, 路上炎热艰难来, 沿路好底铺马得骑来么？路里饮食广多不少来么? 你到宣德州等处, 官员好觑你来么? 下头百姓得来么? 我这里常思量著神仙你, 我不曾忘了你, 你休忘了我者. 癸未年十一月十五日.”
By the way, Xuande Prefecture, or 宣德州 in Chinese, referred to a prefecture whose administrative center was in nowadays Xuanhua District, or 宣化区 in Chinese, a district in Zhangjiakou, or 张家口 in Chinese, a city in the northwestern part of Hebei, or 河北 in Chinese, a northern province in China. And Zhangjiakou is adjacent to Inner Mongolia.
The content of this imperial edict was included in a book 长春真人西游记, which could be translated in English as Taoist Master Changchun’s Journey to the West, by Li Zhichang, or 李志常 (1193-1256) in Chinese, who was a disciple of Qiu Chuji and who accompanied Qiu Chuji on this journey. By the way, Qiu Chuji is also known as Master Changchun. Changchun in this context refer to 长春, which literally means Eternal Spring.