Chapter 20 Chapter 19 Huang Zunxian and Yuan Huisheng——Communications and written talks between Chinese and Japanese literati in modern times

In 1868, Japan's Meiji Restoration overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate regime and established a new regime headed by Emperor Meiji.While carrying out bourgeois reforms at home, the Meiji government also tried to establish diplomatic relations with China. In September 1871, Li Hongzhang, Minister of Plenipotentiary of China and Japan, and Date Zongcheng signed the "Sino-Japanese Repair Regulations" after talks.It was decided to formally establish diplomatic relations, open ports to each other, conduct business and trade, send diplomats to each other, and set up embassies and consulates.This created favorable conditions for cultural exchanges between China and Japan. Since then, there have been frequent exchanges between Chinese and Japanese personnel, officials and literati of the two countries, and many touching stories have been left behind.

After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1871, Japan continued to send envoys and diplomats to China. It was not until January 1877 that the Qing government officially appointed He Ruzhang, Minister of the Imperial Academy, as the first Minister to Japan. On November 27, He Ruzhang led the first mission to Japan to depart from Shanghai on the Haian ship and arrived in Nagasaki on November 30. Yantai, Nagasaki fired 21 gun salutes and raised the dragon flag to pay tribute.In Nagasaki, Kobe and other places, the mission was warmly welcomed by overseas Chinese and Japanese people. On December 28, the letter of credence was officially submitted to Emperor Meiji.Soon, the quiet and beautiful environment of the Tsukikai Monastery in Shibayama, Tokyo was chosen as the temporary site of the Chinese Legation to carry out various diplomatic and cultural exchange activities.

In the first Chinese Mission to Japan, the person who contributed the most to Sino-Japanese culture and exchanges and had the greatest influence was not Minister He Ruzhang, but the first Counselor Huang Zunxian. He was not only an outstanding modern Chinese diplomat, He is also a famous patriotic poet, reform thinker and politician. Huang Zunxian (AD 1848-1905), courtesy name Gongdu, was born in Jiaying Prefecture, Guangdong (now Meixian County, Guangdong).He had great ambitions in his youth, dissatisfied with the feudal imperial examination system, and hoped to do a vigorous career in the vast world.He has been to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Yantai and other commercial ports, and has a wide range of knowledge and vision.Huang Zunxian was full of patriotic enthusiasm, paid attention to current affairs, advocated reform, and explored ways to save the country and the people. In 1876, he passed the examination and was recommended by He Ruzhang as the first Counselor of the Mission in Japan the following year.Regardless of the obstruction and regrets of his relatives and friends, Huang Zunxian resolutely abandoned the imperial examination career and chose to engage in diplomatic work overseas.He was the most active core figure in the first mission to Japan. Not only was he responsible for contacting the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and people from all walks of life, but he was also often drafted by the mission to negotiate with Japan and report to the Qing government.

As a diplomat, Huang Zunxian advocated that China and Japan treat each other as equals, live in friendship, learn from each other, each seek prosperity and strength, and jointly resist foreign aggression.At the same time, he resolutely opposed all kinds of acts of the Japanese ruling clique that undermined the friendship between China and Japan and violated China's sovereignty, and always fought hard with reason.In a poem, he pointed out the two countries of China and Japan: As a friendly envoy and an outstanding poet, Huang Zunxian traveled all over Japan, attending various gatherings and making friends with people from all walks of life.He also often sang and poems with Japanese poets, and promoted Sino-Japanese friendship, carried forward Chinese culture, and carried out cultural exchanges through oral and written talks, reciting poems and inscriptions.And forged deep friendship with many Japanese people, there are dozens of Japanese friends mentioned in his poems alone.

Huang Zunxian's greatest achievement during his stay in Japan was the creation of "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems" and the compilation of "National History of Japan".After Huang Zunxian came to Japan, he carefully inspected Japan's history and geography, carefully studied the reform system, visited famous mountains and rivers, became familiar with folk customs, understood crafts and products, compared Chinese and Japanese cultures, and successively created more than 100 "miscellaneous poems".Each capital is a seven-character quatrain, with a wide range of content, short and lively, lively and interesting.Each poem is followed by white notes of varying lengths to explain or supplement the lack of poetry.His "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems" was first published by the Prime Minister's Office of the Qing Dynasty in 1877, and included 154 poems.Afterwards, there were various versions. In 1890, when he was the counselor in London in London, he revised it into a final version, with a total of 200 poems. It was published by Changsha Fuwentang in 1898. The first volume of "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems" mainly writes about Japanese history, geography, politics, literature, etc., while the second volume focuses on customs, clothing, skills, products, etc.As the first poem vividly summarizes Japanese history and geography:

There is a poem describing Mount Fuji, a scenic spot in Japan, which is also very vivid: Another poem describing the scene of Japanese viewing cherry blossoms is also very moving: In addition to "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems", Huang Zunxian also wrote a long poem "Cherry Blossom Song" chanting Japan's national flower, "Doudo Song" recording the traditional customs of Kyoto, and "Modern Patriots Song" praising reformers and many other works about Japan. Poems are included in "Human Jinglu Poems and Grass".Huang Zunxian communicated the hearts of the Chinese and Japanese people through his poems, deepened mutual understanding and friendship, and was deeply loved by the Chinese and Japanese people.

During his stay in Japan, Huang Zunxian also made in-depth investigations into Japan’s history and current situation, and collected a large amount of information on Japan’s politics, economy, and culture after the Meiji Restoration, especially various bulletins, decrees, and statistical tables issued by various Japanese government agencies. Material.He started in 1879 and spent more than eight years until 1887 when he completed the masterpiece "National History of Japan".The book has 40 volumes and 500,000 words.It is divided into 12 categories, including national annals, neighborhood annals, astronomical annals, geographical annals, official official annals, food and goods annals, military annals, criminal law annals, academic annals, etiquette and custom annals, product annals, and craft annals.This is a masterpiece of modern Chinese studies on Japan. It has greatly deepened the Chinese people's understanding and understanding of Japan, and occupies an important position in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges.At the same time, it advocates learning from the West and emulating Japan, advocating the Meiji Restoration in Japan as an example, and carrying out reforms in China. It has become an enlightenment reading for the Reform Movement of 1898, shining brilliantly in the history of modern Chinese thought.

In the early years of Meiji, traditional Chinese culture and Chinese literati enjoyed a high reputation in Japan.After the establishment of the Chinese Legation in Japan, people from all walks of life in Japan came to visit one after another, competing to have a chat with the staff of the Chinese mission, or to have fun with poetry and wine.Yuan Huisheng is one of the Japanese who often come here.Yuan Huisheng (AD 1848-1882), named Guige, lived in Dahe Nei, so it is also called Dahe Nei Huisheng or Yuangui Pavilion.He was originally the hereditary lord of the Takasaki domain in Japan. After the Meiji Restoration, the domain was abolished and the prefecture was abolished. He served as the governor of Takasaki.Yuan Huisheng is proficient in Chinese poetry and Sinology, loves calligraphy, and has made friends with scholars. He especially likes to talk with Chinese and Koreans living in Japan, especially officials of Chinese legations in Chinese, and takes pleasure in it.He respects the Chinese people very much, and treats them equally regardless of their age.From ministers and counselors to servants and children, they all talked with him in writing.Even the translator who could speak Japanese in the mission claimed that he was not good at talking, and would rather "exchange a pen for thousands of languages".Because written talks can leave ink marks as a souvenir, every time he goes to the Chinese legation, he prepares paper for written talks, on which he writes his questions and answers, and mounts the papers that night, carefully preserves them, and arranges them in order Bound into a book.These precious manuscripts of written talks have been preserved to this day, and they are collectively referred to as "Dahanoi Documents". There are hundreds of written talks in total, amounting to 96 volumes.

The written conversations of these Chinese and Japanese literati in "Okochi Documents" involve almost everything about politics, academia, culture, customs, and daily life in China and Japan.Since it is a casual conversation in private, there is no restraint, and you can speak freely without any concealment or affectation, which can quite reflect the true thoughts and lives of the writers.Yuan Huisheng also marked the time, place, and people present in many written talks, and sometimes even recorded their actions and expressions. It reads like a script for performances. Watching the written talks is like seeing the person, with a lifelike voice and smile.For example, in a written talk on literature and art, Huang Zunxian praised it as "the first good novel since ancient times to the present", but unfortunately the Japanese do not understand Chinese, "it can't make it as good as possible".Yuan Huisheng introduced that Japan has similar intentions. You write about Rongguo Mansion and Ningguo Mansion, and I write about the love of the court, and the author Zi Shibu is a talented woman. This matter may surprise Cao Xueqin.Huang Zunxian said that he regretted that he did not understand Japanese and had not read it.But seeing that almost every Japanese folk has a copy, I think "there must be something wonderful" in it.In the written talks, it is often seen that Japanese people ask Huang Zunxian for advice on writing poems, compositions, calligraphy, and reading.At the same time, Huang Zunxian and others also often learned about Japanese history, system, customs, and classics from Japanese people, and sometimes asked them to help translate Japanese materials.

Huang Zunxian's "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems" was highly respected and loved by the Japanese, so Yuan Huisheng asked Huang Zunxian to donate some manuscripts for his collection. Huang Zunxian agreed to bury some manuscripts in his yard as a "manuscript grave".So in 1880, a monument was officially erected, and the surface of the monument was engraved with nine characters of "the first manuscript of Japanese miscellaneous poems" written by Huang Zunxian.On the back is engraved "Yin Zhi of the Burial Poetry Tomb Stele" written by Yuan Huisheng, which describes his contacts and friendship with Huang Zunxian and the process of erecting the funeral poem and monument.It records that on the day when the stele was engraved, Yuan Huisheng held a banquet and drank freely. Huang Zunxian personally hid the poem manuscript in a bag and buried it in the soil, and sprinkled wine to recite poems:

Yuan Huisheng then said in a poem: Shizuka used to live in Minamoto’s former residence on the banks of the Mojiang River in Tokyo. Later, after Minato’s death, his son moved to Hirin-ji Temple in Saitama Prefecture, where his father’s tomb was buried. The manuscripts of Chinese poets were buried in Japan. This is really a good story in the history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan, and it shows how sincere and touching the friendship between the people of China and Japan is!