Japan, known as the Uighur Kingdom in ancient times, sent envoys to the Dprk as early as the Time of emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and has a long history of exchanges with China. Japanese cultural practices are heavily influenced by China. At the time of the Sui and Tang dynasties, Japan was developing from slavery to feudalism. China, which is adjacent to it and has a highly developed feudal system, is in line with the needs of Japan to learn from. Therefore, this period formed a climax of Sino-Japanese exchanges. Through the dispatch of Sui envoys and envoys to the Tang Dynasty to comprehensively learn China's advanced system and knowledge, Japanese society underwent tremendous changes.
Send tang envoys to cross the sea
During the Reign of the Sui Dynasty, the Han Chinese clothing and crown system was introduced to Japan. "Give his people a crown of brocade thread, decorated with gold and jade, cloth as cloth, and wear silver flowers on the left and right, eight inches long, with as many as you can see." In the twentieth year of the Sui Kai Emperor (600), the Japanese king Doris bi sent an envoy to Sui, and Emperor Wen of Sui ordered Yousi to visit his customs. In the third year of Daye (607), he also sent an envoy, Ono Meizi, to pay tribute to the Sui Dynasty, "and dozens of people from Shamen came to learn Buddhism."
Japanese diplomat Ono Meizi during the Sui Dynasty (left)
The following year, the Sui Emperor sent Wenlin Lang Pei Qing on an envoy to Japan, and Japan held a grand welcoming ceremony. When Pei Qing returned to China, the King of Japan sent Ono to sui with him, and sent gao xiangxuanli and four other international students and four scholarly monks to study in China. Some international students lived in China for 20 or 30 years, and after they returned to China, they played a role in promoting the political reform of Japan at that time, as well as the development of economy and culture.
Send Tang envoys to China route
After the Sui Dynasty, the friendly exchanges and cultural exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Japan entered a period of unprecedented prosperity. From the fifth year of Zhenguan (631), japan sent Inugami Anda and others to tang for the first time, and to the last time Fujiwara Tsukiji and others came to Tang in the third year of Kaisei (838), Japan sent a total of 18 tang envoys. Its largest scale and number of times are rare in previous dynasties. In addition to ambassadors, deputy envoys, judges, recorders and translators, there were also professional talents such as doctors, yin and yang teachers, and painters. Among the envoys of the Tang Dynasty were also international students and learned monks. Every time they came to China, they were warmly received by the Tang Dynasty. In China, the envoys sent the Tang Dynasty to comprehensively study the advanced systems and knowledge of the Tang Dynasty's politics, economy, science and technology, culture and art. After their return to Japan, they contributed to the development of feudalization in Japan.
The continuous import of Tang culture into Japan has had a multi-faceted and extensive and in-depth impact on Japanese society.
The prelude to the Daehwa reform - the Otomi coup d'état
Politically, in the nineteenth year of Zhenguan (645), Japan carried out the Dahua Reform, and Gao Xiangxuanli and Sangmin, who had studied for a long time in the Tang Dynasty, were appointed as doctors of the state, participated in state affairs, and played a great role in the reform. They referred to the Sui and Tang Dynasties' system of equalization and renting; they implemented the Bantian Method and the Rent-Mediocrity System; they imitated the Tang system and promoted the centralized emperor system and the official system from the central to the local level; and with reference to the Tang Dynasty's Yonghui Law, they formulated Japan's first written legal code, the Great Treasure Law. After the Daiwa reform, Yamato officially changed its name to Japan, which means "the country where the sun rises", and Japan began to enter a feudal society.
In terms of education, Japan imitated the education system of the Tang Dynasty and set up a university in Kyoto, and the disciplines were divided into Subjects such as Ming Classics, Ji Chuan, Ming Fa, Ming Shu, and Ming Arithmetic. Pharmacology has medicine, acupuncture, massage and other subjects. Yin and Yang Liao has yin and yang, calendar, astronomy and other subjects. Doctors and teaching assistants are taught in each subject, and the content of the study is roughly similar to that of the Tang Dynasty.
In terms of language and writing, Japan did not have a script before the 5th century. At the beginning of the 5th century, Japan began to develop methods of writing Japanese with the sounds and meanings of Kanji (called "real names"), and referred to this phonetic script as "Kana". During the Tang Dynasty, international student Yoshibei Makoto created the Japanese letter "Katakana" based on the side of the Kanji script. During the reign of Tang Zhen, the learned monk Kukai modeled on the Chinese cursive script and created the Japanese cursive letter "Hiragana". Since then, Japan has had its own script, which has greatly promoted the development of Japanese culture. At the same time, Japanese vocabulary and grammar were also influenced by the Chinese language.
Yoshibei Makoto and Kukai created the Japanese script
Literaryly, the rich and colorful literature of the Tang Dynasty is deeply appreciated by the Japanese people. For example, Japan's earliest poetry collection "Manyo Collection" was written in imitation of the "Book of Poetry"; the Heian period poetry collection "Hehan Lang Yong Collection" contained 589 Tang poems, of which Bai Juyi's poems had 137, which showed that the clear image and popular language of Bai Juyi's poems were especially loved by the Japanese people. International student Abe Zhongmalu (Han name Chao Heng) is particularly good at poetry, and has a deep friendship with famous poets such as Li Bai and Wang Wei. When he was ordered to return to China, he crossed the sea in distress and was mistakenly rumored to have drowned, and Li Bai was very sad and wrote a eulogy poem called "Crying Chao Qingheng":
"Japan's Chao Qing resigned from the imperial capital, and the sails were wrapped around the pot. The bright moon does not return to the blue sea, and the white clouds are full of sorrow. ”
Li Bai and Chao Heng have sung harmony
It expresses the sincere friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples. Later, Chao Heng escaped from danger and returned to Chang'an, continued to serve in the Tang Dynasty, and never left, until he died of illness in Chang'an in the fifth year of the Gregorian calendar (770). Chao Heng has been in China for 54 years and has devoted his life to the cause of Sino-Japanese friendship.
Artistically, music, painting, sculpture, calligraphy, arts and crafts of the Tang Dynasty were also introduced to Japan. Japan absorbed the music system of the Tang Dynasty, and the court also invited Tang musicians to teach music, and many music books and musical instruments from the Tang Dynasty were successively introduced to Japan. Tang Dynasty paintings were also deeply loved by the Japanese people, and Tang paintings were imitated by Japanese painters and called "Tang paintings".
Kano School Tang Dynasty
In terms of science and technology, the advanced production technology, astronomical calendar, medicine, mathematics, architecture, engraving and printing of the Tang Dynasty were successively introduced to Japan. Chinese-style plows and large hoes began to be widely used in Japan. The Japanese also modeled on the water wheels of the Tang Dynasty and built different types of water wheels such as hand pushes, ox pulls, and pedals. Chinese medical books such as Su Qing, Difficult Classics, and Pulse Sutras have been introduced to Japan. The Japanese combined their own medical practices to create "Kampo Medicine". Japan also imitated Chang'an Castle, and successively built two capital cities, Heijo-kyo (present-day Nara) and Heian-kyo (present-day Kyoto), and the brick and tile decoration used in the construction of the castle was the same as that of the Tang Dynasty.
Heijokyo
In terms of living customs, the Tang people's favorite sports activities such as polo, horn and Go have been introduced to Japan. Tea was introduced to Japan during the Nara period and began to be used as a medicine, and by the Heian period, the trend of drinking tea had risen. Tangfu was also introduced to Japan and was deeply loved by the Japanese people. In terms of festivals, the Dragon Boat Festival, obon festival, Chongyang Festival, etc. were also introduced to Japan by the Tang Dynasty.
At the time of the Sui and Tang dynasties, Japan comprehensively studied China's advanced system and knowledge by dispatching Sui envoys and tang envoys many times, which brought about tremendous changes in Japanese society. People can't help but recall the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and openness is undoubtedly an important label of the Tang Dynasty. Only by opening up to the outside world can we have extensive exchanges with the outside world and improve our own development. If we stand still and close ourselves off to the country, we will only end up with decay and backwardness and eat our own evil consequences, just like the Qing Dynasty.