In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the north and south of Japan were unified, and the Goryeo kingdom changed its doors and named it Korea, and throughout East Asia, it was in the tide of change. In order to strengthen themselves, Japan and Korea began to establish diplomacy with the Ming Dynasty, the most important of which was the use of the Tripitaka, which was manifested in the rebuilding of temples in various places and the popularization of Buddhist culture.
At the same time, the Ming Dynasty resumed canonization of East Asian states, and China's relations with Japan and Korea became closer. Many scholars believe that in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, in order to rely on the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, Japan and Korea used a kind of Tripitaka diplomacy, aiming to use a Buddhist culture to develop a new layout of foreign relations, and this Tripitaka diplomacy had certain forward-looking significance for the initial establishment of the international order of the Ming Dynasty.
At the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, East Asian countries were in a period of alternation of old and new regimes, Zhu Yuanzhang had just established the Ming Dynasty, and Japan was unified in 1392 after a long period of division, and the Korean Peninsula, the Korean Lee family overthrew the Goryeo Dynasty, which ruled for centuries, and then began to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty.
At this time, the Wokou problem became the most important contradiction in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and in order to solve the Wokou problem, the Ming Dynasty spent a lot of financial, material and manpower resources from top to bottom. It was not until the middle and late Ming Dynasty that the Wokou problem was completely solved by the famous general Qi Jiguang.
Around 1400, Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to Japan to establish diplomatic relations with Japan. In the fourth year of the founding of Emperor Wen, the Ming Dynasty sent the abbots of Tianning Temple and Tianzhu Temple to Japan to preach Buddhism. At this point, after severing diplomatic relations between China and Japan for hundreds of years, diplomatic relations were restored, and Japan once again paid tribute to China.
In Sino-Japanese diplomatic activities, monks in monasteries played an indelible role, so this period of historical diplomacy is called monastic diplomacy, also known as Tripitaka diplomacy. So why did the Ming Dynasty use monks or Buddhism as a diplomatic tool? Analytically, there are the following reasons:
First of all, Japan has always been wary of China, and the first few envoys sent by them were detained or killed, and in order to remove the resistance of the Japanese state, Zhu Yuanzhang changed his diplomatic strategy and became more flexible and cultural.
Second, before the restoration of diplomatic relations, Japan also sent an envoy to China, and this envoy was a monk and made the Ming Dynasty orthodox. China has had the custom of courtesy and exchange since ancient times, so Zhu Yuanzhang repaid Japan in the same way and canonized Japanese envoys who came to China.
Third, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, the emperors in their country believed in Buddhism and had great respect for the monks.
It is reported that Emperor Enrong, who held power at that time, was himself the head of the temple and was called "Prince Seiyinfa" by the Japanese people. In order to ease relations with China, they used monks as envoys. This reflects that Japanese Buddhist culture was already strong at that time.
Zhu Yuanzhang is flexible in his use of personnel, and he will certainly not be rigid in foreign affairs. After several attempts, he felt that the method of sending monks was the most suitable, which was conducive to the submission of high-level Japanese officials, and the Japanese emperor was keen on Buddhist and Zen culture, which objectively allowed Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations to go further.
Compared with Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, the diplomacy between North Korea and Japan is more diverse, and after the Lee family of Korea came to power, they were also harassed by the Wokou, and in order to suppress the Wokou, the North Korean rulers were left empty.
Later, the Japanese shogun quelled civil war and established diplomatic relations with Korea. In this process, the Japanese imperial court also used monk diplomacy, relying on the temple to send monks to Korea, and North Korea was very happy to see this kind of diplomatic relations and welcomed it very much. At this point, China, Japan and the DPRK began a century-long Tripitaka diplomacy.
In 1394, the Japanese envoy sent envoys to Korea and returned more than 600 people stolen by the Wako, and later sent monks to the dynasty to request the Tripitaka. In gratitude, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Yong-so presented the two copies of the Tripitaka with Japanese envoys and asked them to cooperate in the capture of the Wako.
Over the past 100 years, Japan has repeatedly sought the Tripitaka, and the DPRK has given the Tripitaka many times, and Japan and the DPRK have established long-term and stable diplomatic relations in the course of foreign exchanges that have been sent one by one. Buddhist cultural and economic exchanges between the two countries laid the political foundation.
The Tripitaka, also known as the All Sutras, gathers many Buddhist classics and is a general term for many scriptures, including three parts: sutras, laws and treatises, and among all Buddhist scriptures, the Tripitaka plays an important role. Why did Japan ask for this book? To sum up, there are several possible factors:
First, the Japanese regime has just been established, it is not very stable, and the temples of the local government have a strong desire for the Tripitaka, and if they have the Tripitaka at this time, they can stabilize people's hearts, stabilize the regime, and facilitate rule.
In addition to the government, the imperial family and aristocracy in Japan also wanted to obtain the scripture, not only for it, but also for Buddhist bells and seals for temples. According to historical records, in order to obtain the Buddha bell, there was an incident in which the Japanese envoy drew his sword and injured people, although the impact was very bad, but to a certain extent, it showed how strong the demand for scriptures and Buddhist bells was in society at that time.
Compared with the Buddha bell, the seal is like an official seal, which is a certificate for customs clearance between countries, and once obtained, it can be successfully cleared. In addition to these, the seal is also a symbol of submission to the state. During the Ming Dynasty, China was the largest country in East Asia, with many tributes. According to historical records, in the first year of Yongle, Ming Chengzu canonized the Japanese shogun as king and awarded the seal.
In the early days of Japan's founding, if it was a great development of foreign trade, both seals and the Tripitaka were a means for them to strengthen themselves.
Second, Japan's request for the Tripitaka from Korea was conducive to restoring relations between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, so the Ming Dynasty had established diplomacy with Korea at this time, and Japan hoped to mediate through the third party of Korea, so as to re-trade with the Ming Dynasty and open up trade in the future.
In 1460, the King of Joseon granted a request from the Japanese envoy on behalf of Ashikaga Yoshimasa to present Japan with a copy of the Tripitaka, followed by other Buddhist scriptures. In 1482, Ashikaga Yoshimasa asked for a sutra for Yamato Kofukuji Temple, and was subsequently placed by the Tokugawa family at Zojoji Temple.
In 1489, Japan sent envoys to Korea to ask for the Tripitaka, but this time the king of Korea did not fully agree to their request, because there was very little left of the Tripitaka left in Korea. According to historical records, from the shogunate period to the Tokugawa period, Japan asked Korea for the Tripitaka 25 times, and all but two times failed to achieve their wishes.
Third, before Korea, Japan had asked the Chinese dynasties for scriptures.
According to records, during the Tang Dynasty, the Japanese monk Yuanzhen brought back 1,000 volumes of scriptures from the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty merchant ships sent to Japan also brought back some fragmentary copies of scriptures. Later, the Japanese monk Xuanfang brought back 5,000 volumes of Buddhist classics from the Tang Dynasty, many of which were the Tripitaka during the first century.
In the Northern Song Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of Japanese monks entered China, they studied Chinese culture, and stored Buddhist classics brought back from China in monasteries in Kyoto, Nara and other places for local monks to read and view.
In the Yuan Dynasty, although Sino-Japanese relations tended to be tense, the monks of the Japanese Kamakura Jomyo Temple still obtained several copies of the Tripitaka after they went to the Yuan Dynasty, and then stored them in the Jomyo Temple. In 1341 AD, the merchant ships of Japan's Tenryuji Temple passed through the port of the Yuan Dynasty and sent people to obtain many scriptures.
It can be seen from the above that before the Ming Dynasty, China and Japan had ceremonial exchanges in terms of scripture. But unfortunately, during the Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty and Japan had a conflict, and the ancient elders of the Japanese state sent troops to hunt down and kill the Ming envoys, so that the Ming Dynasty and Japan completely broke off diplomatic relations. In order to ease relations with the Ming Dynasty, they could only start with North Korea, which used as a communication link between China and Japan.
Fourth, during the Goryeo period of Korea, there were a large number of Tripitaka scriptures in the imperial court, which were given to neighboring countries by China in the name of canonization during the Song Dynasty to highlight the majesty of the great powers of the Celestial Empire.
As a symbol of diplomatic relations, scriptures can help East Asian countries establish religious prestige and bring more unity to their own people. During the Song Dynasty, printing developed rapidly and books were widely circulated. According to statistics, between 1027 and 1085 AD alone, the Goryeo Dynasty requested or purchased many copies of the Tripitaka and the Huayan Sutra from the Song Dynasty court.
Since the Tripitaka would not involve imperial court secrets and could still exert its prestige, a large number of Buddhist scriptures were shipped to the kingdom of Goryeo, later Korea.
At that time, Goryeo not only shipped back a large number of scriptures, but also learned woodblock printing techniques from the Song Dynasty, and their monks used the "Open Treasure" as the original, and used nearly 80 years to copy a large number of Buddhist scriptures, because it was the first printing in Goryeo, so it was called "Goryeo Zang".
Unfortunately, part of the Tripitaka was lost or burned due to the invasion of the Mongol army, and later Goryeo moved its capital to Ganghwa Island, where another 80,000 copies of the Tripitaka were printed.
By the Ming Dynasty, Goryeo was replaced by Korea, and the North Korean officials preserved and protected the original scriptures, according to rough statistics, the Ming Dynasty Korea had hundreds of thousands of scriptures. Unfortunately, the kings of Joseon showed little interest in Buddhism, and later kings even regarded Buddhism as heresy, so some scriptures were needlessly damaged.
These reasons contributed to the Tripitaka diplomacy between Japan and Korea.
In addition to these, the Korean king's desire to change relations with Japan cannot be ignored. With the help of scriptures, North Korea can establish good diplomatic relations with Japan and exchange trade and commerce. Some scholars believe that after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Korea, at least 6,000 volumes of the Tripitaka flowed from Korea to Japan, and these scriptures laid an important cultural foundation for Japan to promote Buddhism.
In short, both Japan and Korea wanted to integrate domestic power internally through Tripitaka diplomacy, restore centralized power externally, and break away from the tribute of the Ming Dynasty. Both Japan and North Korea want to strengthen themselves diplomatically in order to gain benefits in foreign trade and international status.
In the long run, through monastic diplomacy, Japan has expanded its political influence, condensed the hearts and minds of the people at home, realized centralized power and diplomatic mediation with the Ming Dynasty, and changed its unequal status with the Ming Dynasty with the help of Korean Tripitaka diplomacy, which is of certain progressive significance for the self-confidence of the nation and the development of Buddhist culture in the country.