Chapter 5 Chapter Four: Sending Envoys to the Tang Dynasty——A grand event of learning Chinese culture

In the two and a half centuries from the beginning of the 7th century to the end of the 9th century, Japan sent more than a dozen missions to the Tang Dynasty in order to learn Chinese culture.Secondly, the large number, large scale, long time, and rich content can be described as an unprecedented event in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.The mission to the Tang Dynasty made great contributions to promoting the development of Japanese society and the promotion of friendly exchanges between China and Japan, bearing fruitful results and becoming the first climax of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.

In 618 AD, the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Sui Dynasty and established Chang'an (now Xi'an) as its capital.The economy and culture of the Tang Empire was unprecedentedly prosperous, and it became the most powerful empire in East Asia.However, Japan sent envoys to the Sui Dynasty four times, and the ruling and opposition parties became more admiring and yearning for Chinese culture, and there was an upsurge of learning and imitating Chinese culture. In 623, Hui Qi, Hui Ri and others who were sent to study abroad in the Sui Dynasty returned to China after studying in China for many years. They reported to the emperor that the Tang Dynasty was the country with the most complete legal system, and suggested sending envoys to study in Tang Dynasty.In order to achieve the purpose of learning the advanced system and culture of the Tang Dynasty more directly and effectively, the Japanese government decided to organize a large-scale mission to the Tang Dynasty, send outstanding figures as envoys, and bring overseas students and monks to China. In 630, Emperor Shumei sent the first envoy to the Tang Dynasty. During the 260 years from 630 to 895, the Japanese courts in the Nara and Heian periods appointed a total of 19 envoys to the Tang Dynasty. 16 times.However, once only arrived in Baekje on the Korean peninsula, and twice as a special envoy sent back to the Tang Dynasty as a "Tang guest envoy", and another time a special envoy was sent to greet him because the envoy who entered the Tang Dynasty did not return for a long time "Welcome the envoy of Tang Dynasty".Therefore, in fact, the number of envoys sent to Tang Dynasty that truly lived up to the name was 12 times.

These more than a dozen missions to the Tang Dynasty can be roughly divided into three periods: Early period: 630-669, appointed seven times.The scale of the mission is small, with one or two ships and one or two hundred members.The route is along the North Road along the coast of the Korean Peninsula, the main purpose of which is to learn the system of the Tang Dynasty. Mid-period: 702-752, the heyday, with four appointments.The scale of the mission has expanded, with more than 500 people each time, divided into four ships, and the harvest is also the greatest.Most of the routes pass through the Nandao Road of the southern islands.In order to comprehensively and in-depth study the civilization of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and realize the overall transformation of Tang Dynasty, a large number of overseas students and monks stayed in Tang Dynasty for a long time.

Late period: 759-874, a period of gradual decline, with a total of nine appointments and only six trips.During this period, the Tang Dynasty gradually declined after the Anshi Rebellion, so Japan’s enthusiasm for learning from the Tang Dynasty decreased, the size of the missions shrank, and the time for foreign students and monks to stay in Tang Dynasty was also reduced to one or two years.The route is mainly the Great Ocean Road that directly crosses the East China Sea. The size of the missions sent to the Tang Dynasty was about 100 to 200 people in the early stage, with only one or two ships. In the middle and late stages, the scale was large, generally about 500 people, and four ships.Members of the mission include ambassadors, deputy envoys, judges, recorders and other officials, as well as various entourages such as clerks, doctors, translators, painters, musicians, and craftsmen and sailors.In addition, each time there are several foreign students and monks of learning.Most of the envoys selected by the Japanese imperial court were first-class talents who were proficient in classics and history, had outstanding talents, had a high level of Sinology, and were familiar with the situation of the Tang Dynasty.Their looks, demeanor and speech are also extraordinary, even the attendants have at least one skill. As for the foreign students and the monks, they are all outstanding young people.The reason why the Japanese government chose such a strong lineup of missions to Tang Dynasty is to better absorb the civilization imported from China, and at the same time to improve Japan's international status.When Tang Xuanzong summoned the 11th ambassador to the Tang Dynasty, Fujiwara Qinghe, he said: "I have heard for a long time that Japan has a virtuous king, and now I see the demeanor of the envoy. It really deserves to be a country of etiquette." He also ordered the painter to paint the appearance of the Japanese envoy as a souvenir.

There are three air routes for sending Tang missions to China.In the early days, we took the north route, starting from Hakata Bay in Kyushu, passing through Tsushima Island, then along the coast of the Korean Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula, landing in Dengzhou or Laizhou on the Shandong Peninsula, and then going to Chang'an by land.This road has a long history and is relatively safe, but the voyage is long and takes dozens of days.Later, due to the deteriorating relationship between Silla on the Korean peninsula and Japan, they were forced to open up a new way to enter the Tang Dynasty.In the mid-term, we will mainly take the second South Island Road, that is, from Kyushu to the southern islands, such as Tanegashima, Yakushima, and Amami Island.Stopped along the way, then crossed the East China Sea, to China's Mingzhou (now Ningbo) and other places.This route is risky and the voyage is not short.In the later period, the Great Ocean Road was opened up, that is, sailing from Bodo, waiting for the wind in the five islands west of Nagasaki, and then crossing the East China Sea to Yangzhou, Mingzhou and other ports.This route has the shortest voyage and can be reached within 10 days with a downwind, but it is the most risky and accidents often occur.

The missions sent to the Tang Dynasty had to fight against the wind and waves on the way to the Tang Dynasty and on the way back to the country, and experienced all kinds of difficulties and dangers.During the 16 round-trip trips, 10 ships were destroyed when they were hit by storms or hit rocks.For example, when the Tang mission was sent back to Japan for the 10th time in 734 AD, the four ships encountered a storm shortly after setting out to sea. The first ship drifted to Tanegashima, the second ship was blown back to China, and the third ship drifted to the Kunlun Kingdom on the Indochina Peninsula. Most of the crew were killed or died of illness.The fourth ship was missing and its whereabouts are still unknown.Many members of the missions sent to the Tang Dynasty and the envoys sent by the Tang Dynasty were killed on the way.It can be said that they built this bridge of friendly exchanges between China and Japan at sea with their own blood and lives.

The Japanese government attached great importance to the mission to Tang Dynasty.One month before the departure of the Tang envoy, the ambassador and other envoys will go to the court to pay homage to the emperor.The emperor granted festival swords face to face, gave wine and rewards, and told the envoys to abide by Tang laws, respect Tang customs, and restrain subordinates.The envoys also went to the shrine to pray for safety.On the eve of departure, the imperial court gave the envoys a banquet, and sometimes prepared a special Chinese banquet for farewell.The emperor also wrote impromptu poems to show his favor.For example, when Empress Xiaoqian bid farewell to the Tang Dynasty envoy Fujiwara Kiyokawa, she blessed them: "Water flows like land, and boats are like sitting on a bed. Cross the ocean safely."Since foreign students need to study and live in the Tang Dynasty for a long time, the gift is almost the same as that of the deputy envoy.Once the envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty return home safely, they will immediately report to the court and hold a grand welcome ceremony after entering Beijing.The envoys returned the saber, indicating that the mission was completed, and the emperor promoted the envoys, rewarded them with awards, and gave sympathy to the victims.

The mission to the Tang Dynasty received a warm reception in China.After receiving the report of the arrival of the embassy, ​​the relevant state capitals of the Tang Dynasty immediately welcomed them into the embassy, ​​arranged for board and lodging, and played the imperial court.The local government sent special envoys to escort the main members of the missions who were allowed to enter Beijing to Chang'an, and all expenses on the way were borne by the Chinese government.After the envoys from the Tang Dynasty arrived in Chang'an, the envoys of the Tang court led horses out to greet them, and offered wine and meat to comfort them. Afterwards, the envoys got on the horses and were led into the capital by the envoys.Then the Tang envoys were sent to present the tribute, and the Emperor Tang issued an edict to reward them. He received the Japanese envoys, gave a banquet in the inner hall, and conferred titles on the envoys.Envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty usually stay in Chang'an and the mainland for about a year, where they can visit and buy books and shopping, and fully appreciate the customs and customs of the Tang Dynasty.Before sending Tang envoys back to the country, there is a farewell ceremony as usual, with banquets and drinks, gifts, and farewells.In addition to giving preferential treatment to envoys, the government of the Tang Dynasty also presented a large number of gifts to the Japanese court, which showed the demeanor of a great country.Finally, the Tang envoy and his party were sent to the coast by the internal envoy supervisor, and returned with a full load.

The contribution of the envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty was first of all to introduce the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty and promote the innovation of the Japanese social system.The envoys of the Tang Dynasty were sent to Chang'an to study and study eagerly, read a lot of books, and after returning to China, they participated in key events and imitated the Tang system.For example, the Dabao decree was formulated based on the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty.It also imitated the education system of the Tang Dynasty and opened various schools to teach Sinology and cultivate talents. In 818, Emperor Saga issued an edict to revise the etiquette according to the suggestion of Sugawara Kiyoshi, the envoy sent to Tang Dynasty, and ordered that "the clothes of men and women should follow the Tang system." .

The second is to absorb the culture of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and improve the level of Japanese culture and art.The envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty brought back a large number of Chinese Buddhist scriptures each time, and the ruling and opposition parties competed to read and write Tang poems in Chinese. Poetry collections of famous Tang Dynasty poets such as Bai Juyi were widely circulated in Japan.Students and monks studying in the Tang Dynasty also borrowed the radicals or cursive scripts of Chinese characters to create Japanese kana characters.The envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty also imported calligraphy, painting, sculpture, music, dance and other arts of the Tang Dynasty, which were digested and transformed into Japanese national culture.Even skills such as Go and sports such as Xiangpu and polo were introduced from the Tang Dynasty.Japanese painters, musicians, and even Go masters often visited Tang teachers to learn skills and watch games in the missions sent to Tang Dynasty.

In addition, it also absorbs material civilization such as various Chinese technologies and crafts to promote the development of the Japanese economy and enrich the lives of the Japanese people.The missions sent to Tang Dynasty exchanged materials between Japan and Tang Dynasty through tribute trade and exchanging gifts.Import advanced agricultural tools from the Tang Dynasty such as Tang hoe and Tang plow, as well as tea planting, weaving and dyeing, woodblock printing and other technologies, and make ceramics, lacquerware and other crafts.For example, Nara Sancai imitates Tang Sancai.In terms of architecture, the capitals of Japan, Heijo-kyo (Nara) and Heian-kyo (Kyoto) in the 8th century, were built in imitation of Chang'an City, the capital of Tang Dynasty, and many temples were also imitated buildings of Tang Dynasty. The envoy to the Tang Dynasty was abolished in 895 AD. The reason was not only the political turmoil in the Tang Dynasty, but also the fact that after more than 200 years of absorbing and transplanting the Tang culture, Japan has basically completed the reform of imitating the Tang Dynasty, and on this basis began to sprout a national style with Japanese national characteristics Therefore, the requirement for learning Chinese culture is not so urgent.Moreover, sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty cost a lot of money every time, which caused economic difficulties. In addition, the journey was difficult and dangerous, which made the envoys feel afraid of the road.After the middle of the 9th century, Tang Dynasty merchants continued to trade with Japan, which was able to make up for the demand for Tang goods that was only solved by sending Tang envoys in the past. In 894, Emperor Uta accepted 19 requests from Sugawara Michizane, who had been appointed but not departed, to send ambassadors to Tang Dynasty, and officially announced the suspension of dispatching Tang ambassadors the following year.