Chapter 38 The most cosmopolitan dynasty

Walking on the broad avenue of Chang'an, where cars are like flowing water and horses are like swimming dragons, you will not only meet people from the Tang Dynasty. You will meet Turkic people, Western Regions people, Persian (Iranian) people, Dashi (Arab) people, Fushi (Eastern Roman) people, Japanese, Silla people, Tianzhu (India) people, Chenla (Cambodia) people , Pyu (Myanmar) people... Among them are heads of state, ministers, envoys, soldiers, businessmen, scholars, overseas students, monks, artists, craftsmen, singers, and even black people with "black as ink, red lips and white teeth" There are all kinds of Kunlun slaves, and there are many.

In the 7th and 8th centuries A.D., you must come to Chang’an if you want to feel what it means to be an international metropolis; For the grand occasion of political, economical and cultural exchanges, you must come to Chang'an. Because the Tang Empire at that time was the most advanced, civilized, and developed country in the world, and Chang'an, the imperial capital of the Tang Dynasty, was the economic and cultural center of the entire Asia.Mr. Xiang Da, a historian, said that in the Tang Dynasty, "all cultural relics were restored to the same extent. Chang'an, from the seventh century onwards, was almost an international city. All kinds of people and religions were in Chang'an. Got it."

The famous British historian Toynbee said: "Chang'an is the city with the most worldwide significance among all the cities in the civilization center of the old continent. In this respect, it surpasses the contemporary Constantinople. And it is appreciated and emulated by Japan farther afield, which shows China's prestige." According to statistics, the Tang Dynasty had contacts with more than 300 countries and regions in the world.In order to receive envoys and guests from various countries, the Tang Dynasty specially set up the Honglu Temple, and the international political experts in the court at that time served as the officials in charge.There is even a "Fanfang" in Chang'an City for foreigners to live in for a long time.Many foreign students studied in the Tang Dynasty, then took the imperial examination, and finally served as officials in the Tang Dynasty for life.For example, the Japanese Abe Nakamaro, whose Chinese name is Chao Heng, came to Chang’an to study at Taixue in the fifth year of Kaiyuan (717 A.D.) of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. He was only 19 years old at the time and stayed in the Tang Dynasty after completing his studies. Que, Secretary Supervisor, Zuo Sanqi Changshi and so on.

Chao Heng became friends with famous poets Li Bai and Wang Wei in Chang'an.In the twelfth year of Tianbao (AD 753), Chao Heng, as the envoy of the Tang Dynasty to visit Japan, returned to Japan with the Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty. Unexpectedly, he was in distress on the way and the ship drifted to Vietnam. His friends mistakenly thought that he had died, and he was extremely sad. Li Bai wrote He wrote a song "Crying Chao Qingheng": "Chao Qing of Japan resigned from the imperial capital, sailing around the pot. The bright moon does not return to Shen Bihai, and the white clouds are full of sorrow." Later, Chao Heng returned to Chang'an, until the Tang Dynasty He died in the fifth year of calendar (AD 770) and lived in China for a total of 53 years.

Some foreign envoys also stayed after their missions to the Tang Dynasty.For example, the great chief of Persia, Aluohan, stayed in the Tang Dynasty as an official after he went to China in the third year of Emperor Gaozong Xianqing (AD 658), and then went to Fufu (Eastern Rome) and other countries as an envoy of the Tang Dynasty. Because of his meritorious service, he was awarded the title of General Youtunwei, Shangzhu Kingdom, and Founding Duke, and he lived in China until he was 95 years old. Joseph Needham, a famous Western sinologist, said: "The Tang Dynasty was indeed a period when any foreigner was welcomed in the capital. Chang'an, like Baghdad, became a place where famous international figures gathered."

In addition to foreign students and envoys, the largest number of settlers in the Tang Dynasty were businessmen.In the Tang Dynasty, the Mutual Market Supervisor and the Ship Ship Department were specially set up to manage foreign trade.At that time, Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Lanzhou, Liangzhou, and Dunhuang all became important cities for foreign trade in the Tang Dynasty.At the time of Zhenguan, "nearly ten thousand families settled in Chang'an" from various countries in the Western Regions, and thousands of businessmen from various countries opened stores in Chang'an West City and lived there for a long time.Guangzhou was the largest trading port in the world at that time. During the Tang Dynasty, a large number of foreign businessmen settled in Guangzhou and engaged in various trade activities. In the Huangchao Uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty alone, more than 120,000 foreign businessmen died in the war.

In order to meet the needs of international exchanges, the external transportation of the Tang Dynasty was quite developed.Starting from Chang'an by land, passing through the Hexi Corridor, leaving Dunhuang and Yumen Pass to the west, it can directly reach Central Asia, West Asia and Eastern Europe. This is the famous "Silk Road".In terms of sea routes, you can go to the Korean Peninsula and Japan from Dengzhou, Chuzhou or Mingzhou; in addition, you can start from Yangzhou, Mingzhou, Quanzhou or Guangzhou, pass through the coast of Vietnam, cross the Strait of Malacca at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, and cross the Indian Ocean. It reaches Sri Lanka, India and other places; and then crosses the Arabian Sea to reach the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and as far as the Red Sea, to the ports of Egypt and East Africa. This is the "Maritime Silk Road".

It is through the two "golden channels" of land and sea that people from all over the world come to China. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (AD 643), Eastern Roman Emperor Bo Duoli sent envoys to Tang Dynasty to present red glass, green gold essence and other objects. Tang Taizong replied to the book and presented silk fabrics such as silk and silk.The emperors, nobles and women of Eastern Rome all loved Chinese silk fabrics very much, and Fusu became an important transshipment point for silk fabrics of the Tang Dynasty to be introduced to other countries. In the early 7th century, Muhammad, the founder of Islam, unified the Arabian Peninsula.Muhammad himself was very yearning for Chinese culture. He once said to his disciples: "Although learning is far away in China, you should seek it." , In the following one and a half centuries, Dashi sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty a total of 36 times.As a result, the culture of the Tang Dynasty was introduced into the Arab world in large quantities, the most important of which was papermaking.

Chinese papermaking was later introduced to Europe from here, which greatly promoted the development of Western civilization.In the late Tang Dynasty, nitrate, the main ingredient of gunpowder, was also introduced to Arabia.Arabs call it "Chinese Snow".At the same time, Arabic astronomy, calendar, mathematics, architecture, and medicine also had a certain influence on the Tang Dynasty.Arab medicine is the foundation of modern European medicine, and its surgical skills were introduced to China at this time. In the middle of the 7th century, Persia was destroyed by the Great Food. The Persian king Belus and his son Nines settled in Chang'an successively, and died as guests of the Tang Dynasty.At that time, many Persian businessmen also fled to the Tang Dynasty and settled in China one after another.In Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Guangzhou and other places, there were "Hu shops" opened by Persian merchants, famous for their gems, corals, agates, spices and medicinal materials.Through trade activities, Persian spinach and Persian dates were introduced to the Tang Dynasty, and silk, porcelain, and paper from the Tang Dynasty were also introduced to Persia.

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were collectively called Tianzhu at that time.At the beginning of Tang Dynasty, Jieri King of Zhongtianzhu conquered Wutianzhu and unified the Indian peninsula, and immediately sent envoys to communicate with Tang Dynasty.Since then, the trade between Tianzhu and the Tang Dynasty has become increasingly frequent.On the east and west sides of the Indian peninsula, merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty often berthed in ports, and merchant ships from Tianzhu also went to Guangzhou and Quanzhou for trade.The goods exported to Tianzhu in the Tang Dynasty included musk, silk, colored silk, porcelain, and copper coins; the items imported from Tianzhu included gems, pearls, cotton cloth, and pepper.The introduction of Chinese paper and papermaking technology to India ended the era of writing with birch bark and bay leaves in India.Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty also sent people to Zhongtianzhu to learn sugar-making technology. It is said that the sugar produced after returning to China is better in color and taste than that produced in India.

Due to the translation of Buddhist classics, Bianwen, which is closely related to Buddhism, came into being in the Tang Dynasty.The murals and sculptures in Dunhuang, Yungang, Maiji Mountain and Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang are all influenced by the artistic style of Gandhara in northern India.In addition, Tianzhu's astronomy, calendar, medicine, phonology, music, dance, painting, and architecture all had a certain influence on the Tang Dynasty.Tianzhu music was included in the "Ten Music" of the Tang Dynasty, and Tianzhu dance was also included in the dance. In the early Tang Dynasty, on the Korean Peninsula, the three kingdoms of Goryeo, Baekje, and Silla were all in contact with the Tang Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Tang Dynasty successively dispatched troops to pacify Baekje and Koryo, and Silla unified the Korean peninsula in 675 AD. Since then, the relationship with the Tang Dynasty has further developed, and trade exchanges have become very frequent.The bezoar, ginseng, seal skin, morning glow, gold, silver and other items transported by Silla merchants to the Tang Dynasty accounted for the first place in the imports of the Tang Dynasty.They also brought back silk, porcelain, tea, books and other items from China. Silla once sent a large number of foreign students to study in Chang'an, and the largest number of foreign students in the Tang Dynasty were from Silla.In the fifth year of Tang Wenzong's founding (840 A.D.), there were 105 Silla students who returned from their studies at a time.Many Silla students also participated in the Jinshi examination in the Tang Dynasty, and stayed in the Tang Dynasty as officials after winning the exam. From the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (AD 639), Silla successively set up doctors in medicine, astronomy, and louke to study medicine, astronomy, and calendars in the Tang Dynasty.In 675 AD, Silla began to adopt the Tang Dynasty calendar. In the middle of the 8th century, Silla imitated the political system of the Tang Dynasty and reformed administrative agencies at all levels from the central to the local.In the fourth year of Emperor Zhenyuan of Tang Dezong (AD 788), Silla adopted the imperial examination system to select officials, with "Zuo Zhuan", "Book of Rites" and "Book of Filial Piety" as the main examination subjects. Criminal Law".In the middle of the 7th century, Silla scholar Xue Cong created the "official reading" method, using Chinese characters as musical notes to mark Korean auxiliary words and auxiliary verbs, which helped to read Chinese and promoted the popularization and development of culture.In the second year of Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty (828 A.D.), envoys from Silla brought back tea seeds and began to grow tea.At the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, woodblock printing was introduced to Silla. (See "Ancient Chinese History Volume II" edited by Shi Jianzhong) There was the Tang Dynasty, and the country that had the closest relationship with China and was most influenced by the Tang Dynasty was Japan. At that time, Japan was still in the period of transition from slavery to feudalism. It yearned for and highly admired the prosperous culture and developed material civilization of the Tang Dynasty.The Japanese eagerly hoped to live a "brilliant cultural life like the Han people", so they continued to send Tang envoys, overseas students, and monks of learning to China.During the 264 years from the fourth year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan (630 AD) to the first year of Emperor Zhaozong's Qianning (894 AD), Japan successively dispatched Tang envoys 13 times and sent ships to welcome and send Tang envoys 6 times, a total of 19 times. It is 15 times to reach Chang'an.At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there were no more than 200 missionaries sent to the Tang Dynasty, but since the beginning of the 8th century, the number has reached more than 550. The envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty brought precious gifts such as pearl silk, amber, agate, and water-woven silk to the Tang Dynasty.The Tang Dynasty gave back high-grade silk fabrics, porcelain, musical instruments, and cultural classics.The mission to Tang Dynasty brought China's laws and regulations, astronomy, calendar, literature, calligraphy, religion, music, art, dance, medicine, architecture, sculpture, arts and crafts, production technology, and living customs to Japan, which promoted Japanese politics, economy, and culture. The comprehensive development of education, science and technology has had a huge and far-reaching impact on Japanese society. Among the Japanese students studying abroad, the most famous is Kibi Mabi, and the most famous monk of learning is Kukai.After Kibi Shinbi returned to China, he created katakana with the cursive radicals of Chinese characters. Kukai, a scholarly monk, not only brought the esoteric doctrine of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism back to Japan, but also created hiragana with cursive cursive radicals of Chinese characters, making Japanese culture gradually independent. development path. (See "Ancient Chinese History Volume II" edited by Shi Jianzhong) The Chinese monks traveled eastward to Japan to spread the Tang culture, the most famous one being the monk Jianzhen. Jianzhen, whose common surname is Chunyu, was born in Yangzhou. He had a profound knowledge of the Vinaya sect of Mahayana Buddhism, and taught the Vinaya and precepts at Daming Temple in Yangzhou.At the request of Emperor Shomu of Japan, he went east to Japan to spread the Dharma. After six efforts and all kinds of hardships, he finally arrived in Japan in the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754 AD).Jianzhen was nearly seventy years old at the time and was blind in both eyes. However, he not only passed the Vinaya sect of Chinese Buddhism to Japan, but also taught the Japanese people various knowledge about Buddhist temple architecture, sculpture, painting, and medicine.The existing Toshodai Temple in Japan was built under the presidency of Jianzhen.He lived in Japan for 10 years and was buried in Zhaodaiji Temple after his death. Before the 7th century, Japan did not have a fixed capital city. It was not until 694 AD that Japan built Fujiwara-kyo, and then Heijo-kyo was built in 710 AD, and Heian-kyo was built in 794 AD.The design concept, urban layout and architectural style of these capitals, without exception, all imitated the Chang'an City of the Tang Dynasty.For example, there are Suzaku Street, East Market, West Market, etc. in the city, and even the brick and tile decorations used in the buildings are exactly the same as those in the Tang Dynasty. Basically, it can be said that the Japanese capital at that time was like a copycat version of Chang'an. In addition to the above-mentioned countries, the Tang Dynasty and South Asia's Linyi (Vietnam), Chenla (Cambodia), Piao (Myanmar), Niboro (Nepal), Lion Kingdom (Sri Lanka) and Central Asia's Tocharo (Afghanistan) Countries such as China have extensive business contacts and diplomatic exchanges. In the centuries-long cultural exchanges, Buddhism, medicine, calendar, linguistics, phonology, music, dance, and fine arts in South Asia, music and dance in East Asia, Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism, and Manichaeism in West Asia and Europe Islam, Islam, etc., were introduced into China from all directions, and had a profound impact on Chinese culture. American Sinologist Yi Peixia said: "Compared with any other era in Chinese history before the twentieth century, the Chinese in the early and middle Tang periods had the strongest self-confidence and were most willing to accept different new things. The Chinese in this period were very Willing to open up to the world." British historian Wells said: "In the seventh and eighth centuries, China was the most stable and civilized country in the world. At that time, the European people were still in the shackles of religion in the huts and walls, but the life of the Chinese people had already changed. Enter the realm of peace and love, freedom of thought, and joy of body and mind.” Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, once said: "Since ancient times, China has been valued and barbarians have been valued, and I have loved them all." (Vol. The Tang Dynasty in the middle of the 8th century could become the most confident, open, broad, tolerant, vigorous and cosmopolitan era in Chinese history. This is called inclusiveness, and learning from others' strengths; this is called tolerance.