In 989 or some time during 991–995, Duan Suying sent a letter to
Emperor Taizong of Song pleading the latter to conduct the
fengshan ceremony. Duan's letter is now lost, but the reply written by
Wang Yucheng on the
Song emperor's behalf, which rejected the proposal, has survived as "A Reply to the
Nanzhao King's Request for the Eastern Feng Ceremony" (). Duan likely sent the messenger to better understand the Chinese emperor. In 993, an agrarian rebellion led by Wang Xiaobo () and Li Shun () engulfed the Song
Xichuan Circuit (now
Sichuan), and the Song
huanguan (
eunuch) general
Wang Ji'en led an army to suppress it. Many Chinese refugees crossed the
Jinsha River and entered Dali, and this likely played a major role in Duan Suying's adoption of Confucianism and the imperial examination system. Between 994 and 995, after the Song recovered most of Xichuan, it sent a diplomat named Xin Yixian () to the Dali capital
Yangjumie as part of its counterinsurgency campaign. Xin Yixian later wrote a book titled
Records of Yunnan During the Zhidao
Period (;
zhidao referring to the years 995–997). ==Era names==