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Imperial Embassies To China
The Japanese missions to Imperial China were diplomatic embassies which were intermittently sent to the Chinese imperial court. Any distinction amongst diplomatic envoys sent from the Japanese court or from any of the Japanese shogunates was lost or rendered moot when the ambassador was received in the Chinese capital. Extant records document missions to China between the years of 607 and 839 (a mission planned for 894 was cancelled). The composition of these imperial missions included members of the aristocratic '' kuge'' and Buddhist monks. These missions led to the importation of Chinese culture, including advances in the sciences and technology. These diplomatic encounters produced the beginnings of a range of schools of Buddhism in Japan, including Zen. From the Sinocentric perspective of the Chinese court in Chang'an, the several embassies sent from Kyoto were construed as tributaries of Imperial China; but it is not clear that the Japanese shared this view. China seem ...
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Kentoshi Route
The Japanese missions to Imperial China were diplomatic embassies which were intermittently sent to the Chinese imperial court. Any distinction amongst diplomatic envoys sent from the Japanese court or from any of the Japanese shogunates was lost or rendered moot when the ambassador was received in the Chinese capital. Extant records document missions to China between the years of 607 and 839 (a mission planned for 894 was cancelled). The composition of these imperial missions included members of the aristocratic ''kuge'' and Buddhist monks. These missions led to the importation of Chinese culture, including advances in the sciences and technology. These diplomatic encounters produced the beginnings of a range of schools of Buddhism in Japan, including Zen. From the Sinocentric perspective of the Chinese court in Chang'an, the several embassies sent from Kyoto were construed as tributaries of Imperial China; but it is not clear that the Japanese shared this view. China seems t ...
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Japanese Missions To Tang China
represent Japanese efforts to learn from the Chinese culture and civilization in the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. The nature of these contacts evolved gradually from political and ceremonial acknowledgment to cultural exchanges; and the process accompanied the growing commercial ties which developed over time. Between 607 and 838, Japan sent 19 missions to China. Knowledge and learning was the principal objective of each expedition. For example: Priests studied Chinese Buddhism. Officials studied Chinese government. Doctors studied Chinese medicine. Painters studied Chinese painting. Approximately one third of those who embarked from Japan did not survive to return home.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. See also * Sinocentrism * Japanese missions to Sui China * Japanese missions to Ming China * ...
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Shingon
file:Koyasan (Mount Koya) monks.jpg, Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Known in Chinese as the Tangmi (; the Esoteric School in Tang Dynasty of China), these esoteric teachings would later flourish in Japan under the auspices of a Buddhist monk named Kūkai (), who traveled to Tang China to acquire and request transmission of the esoteric teachings. For that reason, it is often called Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism. The word ''shingon'' is the Kan-on, Japanese reading of the Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese word ('), which is the translation of the Sanskrit word ("mantra"). History Shingon Buddhist doctrine and teachings arose during the Heian period (794-1185) after a Buddhist monk named Kūkai traveled to China in 804 to study Esote ...
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Daidō
was a after ''Enryaku'' and before '' Kōnin.'' This period spanned the years from May 806 through September 810. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * November 16, 806 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in ''Enryaku'' 25, on the 18th day of the 5th month of 806. Events of the ''Daidō'' era * April 9, 806 (''Daidō 1, 17th day of the 3rd month''): In the 25th year of Emperor Kammu's reign (桓武天皇25年), he died, and despite an ensuing dispute over who should follow him as sovereign, contemporary scholars then construed that the succession (''senso'') was received by his son. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Heizei is said to have acceded to the throne (''sokui''). * May 18, 809 (''Daidō 4, 1st day of the 4th month''): In the 4th year of Emperor Heizei's reign (平城天皇4年), he fell ill and abdicated, and the succession (''senso'') was received by his second son, the eldest ...
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Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese monk Saichō ( posthumously known as Dengyō Daishi). The Tendai school, which has been based on Mount Hiei since its inception, rose to prominence during the Heian period (794-1185). It gradually eclipsed the powerful ''Hossō'' school and competed with the rival Shingon school to become the most influential sect at the Imperial court. By the Kamakura period (1185-1333), Tendai had become one of the dominant forms of Japanese Buddhism, with numerous temples and vast landholdings. During the Kamakura period, various monks left Tendai (seeing it as corrupt) to establish their own "new" or "Kamakura" Buddhist schools such as Jōdo-shū, Nichiren-shū and Sōtō Zen. The destruction of the head temple of Enryaku-ji by Oda Nobunaga in 1571, ...
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Kūkai
Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sect (Hakeda, 1972 p. 14). Accordingly, Kūkai's birthday is commemorated on June 15 in modern times. This lunar date converts to 27 July 774 in the Julian calendar, and, being an anniversary date, is not affected by the switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Similarly, the recorded date of death is the second year of the Jōwa era, on the 21st day of the third lunar month (Hakeda, 1972 p. 59), i.e. 22 April 835.), born Saeki no Mao (佐伯 眞魚), posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the esoteric Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) under the monk Huiguo. Upon returning to Japan, he founded Shingon—the Japanese branch of ...
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Saichō
was a Japanese Buddhist monk credited with founding the Tendai school of Buddhism based on the Chinese Tiantai school he was exposed to during his trip to Tang China beginning in 804. He founded the temple and headquarters of Tendai at Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei near Kyoto. He is also said to have been the first to bring tea to Japan. After his death, he was awarded the posthumous title of Dengyō Daishi (伝教大師). Life Early life Saichō was born in the year 767 in the city of Ōmi, in present Shiga Prefecture, with the given name of Hirono. According to family tradition, Saichō's ancestors were descendants of emperors of Eastern Han China; however, no positive evidence exists for this claim. The region where Saichō was born did have a large Chinese immigrant population, so Saichō likely did have Chinese ancestry. During Saichō's time, the Buddhist temples in Japan were officially organized into a national network known as the provincial temple system, and at the ...
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Enryaku
was a after ''Ten'ō'' and before ''Daidō''. This period spanned the years from August 782 through May 806. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 12 November 782 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series of events. The previous era ended and the new one commenced in ''Ten'ō '' 2, on the 19th day of the 8th month of 782. Events of the ''Enryaku'' era * 782 (''Enryaku 1, 6th month''): The ''sadaijin'' Fujiwara no Uona was removed from his office and exiled to Kyushu. Some time later, the emperor did permit him to return to the capital where he died. In the same general time frame, Fujiwara no Tamaro was named ''udaijin''. During these days in which the offices of ''sadaijin'' and ''udaijin'' were vacant, the major counselors (the ''dainagon'') and the emperor assumed responsibilities and powers which would have been otherwise delegated.Titsingh p.86./ref> * 783 (''Enryaku 3, in the 3rd month''): The ''udaijin'' Tamaro died at the age of 62 years. * 783 (''En ...
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Emperor Kanmu
, or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the scope of the emperor's powers reached its peak. Traditional narrative Kanmu's personal name (''imina'') was .Brown, p. 277
He was the eldest son of Prince Shirakabe (later known as ), and was born prior to Shirakabe's ascension to the throne. According to the , Yamabe's mother, Yamato no Niigasa (later called

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Emperor Kōtoku
was the 36th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 孝徳天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. The years of his reign lasted from 645 through 654. Traditional narrative Before Kōtoku's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (''imina'') was or . He was a descendant of Emperor Bidatsu. He was a son of Chinu no ōkimi (Prince Chinu, 茅渟王) by Kibitsuhime no ōkimi (Princess Kibitsuhime, 吉備姫王). Empress Kōgyoku was his elder sister from the same parents. Chinu was a son of Prince Oshisaka hikohito no ōe, whose father was the Emperor Bidatsu. He had at least three consorts including his Empress, Hashihito no Himemiko (Princess Hashihito), the daughter of Emperor Jomei and his sister Empress Kōgyoku. In the 3rd year of Kōgyoku''-tennō''s reign (皇極天皇三年), the empress abdicated; and the succession (''senso'') was received by her younger brother. Shortly thereafter, Emperor Kōtoku is sai ...
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Takamuko No Kuromaro
was a Japanese scholar and diplomat of the Asuka period. The Takamuko clan are descended from Cao Pi. Karumauro traveled to China with Ono no Imoko as ''kenzuishi'' representing Empress Suiko in 608.Nussbaum, "Kentōshi" at He remained in China for thirty-two years.Nussbaum, "Takamuko no Kuromaro (No Genri)" at Following his return in 640, he was awarded the title ''Kuni no hakase'' (国博士, "National Scholar"). Karumauro helped write the Taika Reforms in 645. He was sent again as an ambassador to China ('' kentōshi''). Takamuko died upon his arrival in Chang'an in 654. Notes References * Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem .... OCLC 48943301*Sansom, ...
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