Japanese missions to Sui-Tang China and the Contact of Buddhism
Benning in the 7th century, the Japanese started to send missions to China. By the Chinese records, the missions aimed to bring tribute and study Buddhism as well as the great civilization in China. Between 607 and 838, the Japanese sent 19 missions to China. However, because of the inadequate technology of navigation, only two-thirds of the missions returned to Japan successfully. In these missions, each people had his own goal. The official diplomats (Kentōshi) aimed to pacify China and learned the structure of government. In addition to official missionaries, there were other people accompanies with Kentoshi to study various skills in China. The Buddhist monks learned Buddhism and brought the Buddhist texts back to Japan. The doctor learned Chinese medicines, and the painters learned Chinese paintings.[1]
Among all the Buddhist Students, Ennin (794-864) was one of the most famous Buddhist priests. He wrote diaries, The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law, in classical Chinese when he studied Buddhism in China. Ennin was a Buddhist priest in Tendai school. In 838, Ennin began his trip to China. However, he met the anti-Buddhism persecution launched by Emperor Wuzong, in 842. Then he had to go back to Japan in 847. Although China in the 9th century was in an age of dynastic decline, Ennin’s record showed that China was still in the greatest periods of development and growth in economy and culture. Ennin’s diary is an important primary source for the research of Tang China and Buddhism.[2] It recorded the capture of Japanese troops in the 7th century Korean War, and the anti-Buddhism persecution and the picture of life of the times.[3] For the Japanese, even if Tang China was declined, it is still an advanced state compared to Japan. Ennin’s mission was the last mission to Tang China. Because of the internal wars in China, the Japanese stopped their missions to China in Heian Period.[4] Buddhism in Japan and China started to have divergences after the stop of missions. The importance of Buddhism in China started to decline while Buddhism was still important in Japan.[5]
From the missions to Tang China, the Japanese learned various aspects, including culture, religion, technology, aesthetics and political structures. They used what they learned to adopt the models of China. Japan also expanded trade with China through these missions. After the Tang dynasty falls, even if the cultural contact still existed, the Japanese never send as many missions as they did in the Tang dynasty. One possible explanation from Chinese historians is that the following Song dynasty was ruled by non-elites, while Japan was ruled by aristocracy. The other sound explanation was that every other dynasty of China was less friendly to foreigners compared to the Tang dynasty.[6] In the Tang dynasty, the Sino-Japanese relation reached its one of the highest level in history.
author: cundaoli
References
[1] Michael Hoffman, “Cultures Combined in the Mists of Time: Origins of the China-Japan relationship,” Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. (February 3, 2006); reprinting article in Japan Times, (January 29, 2006). https://apjjf.org/-Michael-Hoffman/1911/article.html
[2]Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin’s Travels in Tʻang China. (New York: Ronald Press Company, 1955), 8-17.
[3] Edwin O. Reischauer, Ennin’s Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law. (New York: Ronald Press Company, 1955), 354-389.
[4] Joshua A. Fogel, Articulating the Sinosphere: Sino-Japanese Relations in Space and Time. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2009), 20.
[5] Hoffman, Cultures Combined.
[6] Fogel, Articulating the Sinosphere, 21-22.
Bibliography
Fogel, Joshua A. Articulating the Sinosphere : Sino-Japanese Relations in Space and Time. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2009. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.muhlenberg.idm.oclc.org/lib/muhlenberg/reader.action?docID=3300790
Hoffman, Michael. “Cultures Combined in the Mists of Time: Origins of the China-Japan relationship,” Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. February 3, 2006; reprinting article in Japan Times, January 29, 2006. https://apjjf.org/-Michael-Hoffman/1911/article.html
Reischauer, Edwin O. Ennin’s Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law. New York: Ronald Press Company, 1955.
Reischauer, Edwin O. Ennin’s Travels in Tʻang China. New York: Ronald Press Company, 1955.
