As one of the most powerful dynasties in history, the Tang Dynasty created many splendid cultures that not only shocked the Chinese people but also influenced the world. The magnificent Chang'an City and the magnificent Daming Palace of the Tang Dynasty showed the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, which deeply shocked the Japanese. So how does Japan learn Chinese culture?
From 710 AD, Japan in the Nara period had been learning Chinese culture thoroughly, and when the Tang envoys returned to Japan, they brought with them a large number of classics and precious works of art. Some craftsmen of the Great Tang were sent by the imperial court to Japan with Tang envoys to assist the Japanese in building temples and palaces. The Japanese modeled on the planning of Chang'an Castle, established the capital Heiankyo, and built Heisei Palace for the Japanese emperor according to the design style of the Daming Palace. The Great Pole Hall of Heisei Palace is not only a miniature version of the Great Tang Hanyuan Hall, but even the name is derived from the Great Tang. These influenced the history of Japan for thousands of years and are regarded as the origin of the spirit of Japanese culture. The Tang Dynasty was also the spiritual home of Japan.
Not only that, in the Tang Dynasty, the style of wearing clogs, tatami mats, sashimi, moth eyebrow makeup and painting was prevalent, and Japan followed suit one by one, sending international students to the Tang Dynasty many times to study advanced civilization, bringing back a large number of Tang Dynasty classics and Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works, and highly respected the way of Kong and Meng. The first Japanese code of law was formulated by Prince Shotoku based on the Analects, and The Tale of Genji also mentions Shirai's "Song of Long Hate" many times. The Japanese people are even more familiar with Yang Guifei's love story. There is also the enthronement ceremony, which has been passed down from the Tang Dynasty to the present day, and draws inspiration from Chinese classics. In addition, many names like the Showa period are derived from Chinese classics, such as the Book of Martial Emperors and the Book of Shangshu. In Japan, these artifacts and cultures originating from China are regarded as honor, not shame, because they represent a complete cultural heritage. Japan has even set up an expert committee to work on the chronology to keep the tradition alive.
These Tang Dynasty cultural relics, traditional ritual sources, and cultural heritage come from China, but they are highly valued in Japan, why is it difficult to find traces of them in China?
In fact, in addition to Chinese characters and ancient classics, in fact, many of the traditional cultures that Japan is proud of now have been eliminated by the mainland. For example, sashimi, which we have had since the Zhou Dynasty, is clearly recorded in the Book of Rites and was called Yujian in ancient times. Due to the lack of effective cooking methods in ancient times, sashimi was popular for a long time, but due to the problem of parasites, deaths from eating sashimi occurred from time to time in ancient times. Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, our iron smelting technology has been greatly developed, iron pot oil refining technology has been popularized, frying and frying various cooking methods came into being, therefore, after years of development, mainstream Chinese cuisine has reached a higher level of cooking, while Japan is only a small island country surrounded by the sea, coal and iron ore and other resources are scarce, cuisine only stays in the stage of simple seasoning.
Another example is that ancient Chinese did sit on the ground and choose the place to lie down, a way of life called mating. Work, rest, and eating are all done on the mat. Later chairs were introduced to China. We gave up kneeling, the chair was not our invention at the beginning, but we absorbed it and carried it forward, so it is also part of our excellent traditional culture, so the process of cultural development is the process of taking the essence and removing the waste. People in every country and in every era will choose the culture according to their own needs, take the good ones, and discard the bad ones.
How do you think about Japan's comprehensive study of Chinese culture?
Japanese people learn Chinese culture, such as Japanese elementary school students learn Chinese characters, memorize Analects, in fact, from ancient times to the present, Japan has been learning with Chinese as a learning object, they study Chinese culture in order to absorb advantages, due to their own weak foundation, but also to better target. Their people are actually very contradictory, they are usually gentle and humble, but when they start a war, they become like inhuman beasts.
As a resource-poor Pacific island nation, Japan has always had expansion ambitions. If Japan were placed on other continents, they would likely have a chance to grow. Unfortunately, their neighbors are us, and every time they want to move, they will be suppressed, and this is probably their fate.