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The Japanese missions to Imperial China were
diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...
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 A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics (" nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...
. 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 to have taken the initiative in opening relations with Japan. The Emperor Yang of Sui dispatched a message in 605 which read:
The sovereign of Sui respectfully inquires about the sovereign of Wa.
The court of
Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 推古天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Suiko reigned from 593 until her death in 628. In the history of Japa ...
responded by sponsoring a mission led by
Ono no Imoko was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century, during the Asuka period. Ono was appointed by Empress Suiko as an official envoy ( Kenzuishi) to the Sui court in 607 (Imperial embassies to China), and he delivere ...
in 607. A message carried by that mission, believed to have been written by Prince Shōtoku, contains the earliest known written instance in which the Japanese archipelago is referred to by a term meaning "land of the rising sun." The salutation read, in part:
From the sovereign of the land of the rising sun (''hi izuru tokoro'') to the sovereign of the land of the setting sun."
The included representatives sent to study government and technology. The are the best known; 19 missions were completed. A 20th mission had been planned for 894 ('' Kanpyō 6, 8th month''), including the appointment of ambassadors. However, shortly before departure, the mission was halted by Emperor Uda because of reports of unsettled conditions in China. The emperor's decision-making was influenced by the persuasive counsel of Sugawara no Michizane.


Envoys to the Sui court

Japanese envoys to the Sui court were received as ambassadors: *607: The first diplomatic mission was led by Japan's first ambassador to China. This Japanese envoy,
Ono no Imoko was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century, during the Asuka period. Ono was appointed by Empress Suiko as an official envoy ( Kenzuishi) to the Sui court in 607 (Imperial embassies to China), and he delivere ...
, had the title ''kenzuishi''. The delegation was received in the Imperial Court.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Ono no Imoko''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
.
*608: Ono no Imoko leads a returning embassy to China. This mission included two others with the title ''kenzushi'':
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 ...
(no Genri) and Minabuchi no Shōan. Kuromaro and Shōan, along with the Buddhist monk Sōmin remained in China for 32 years before returning to Japan.


Envoys to the Tang court

Japanese envoys to the Tang court were received as ambassadors: Three missions to the Tang court were dispatched during the reign of
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 ascen ...
. Emperor Kanmu's planned mission to the Tang court in 804 ('' Enryaku 23'') included three ambassadors and several Buddhist priests, including and ; but the enterprise was delayed until the end of the year. The ambassadors returned in the middle of 805 (''Enryaku 24, 6th month''). They were accompanied by the monk Saichō, also known by his posthumous name , whose teachings would develop into the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism. In 806 ('' Daidō 1, 8th month''), the return of the monk Kūkai, also known posthumously as , marks the beginning of what would develop into the Shingon school of Japanese Buddhism. New ambassadors to China were appointed by Emperor Ninmyō in 834, but the mission was put off. *836–839: The mission was postponed by a typhoon; but the ambassadors did eventually travel to the Tang court, returning in 839 with a letter from Emperor Tang Wenzong. In China, a steady and conservative Confucianist Song dynasty emerged after the end of the Tang dynasty and subsequent period of disunity during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. During this time, although travel to China was generally safe, Japanese rulers believed there was little to learn from the Song, and so there were no major embassy missions to China.


Adopting Tang models

Ancient Japan was called Wa, which had a primitive culture when compared to
Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...
culture. The Tang folks referred to Wa as 東夷 (Eastern barbarians). From 630 onward, Wa sent large groups of monks, students and government officials, up to 600 each time, to the Tang capital of Chang'an to learn the then advanced production technology, social system, history, philosophy, arts and architecture. Among many items adopted by Wa: *Tang political system * Heian-kyō, the new Japanese capital established in 794, and was a laid out in a grid similar to that of Chang'an, the Tang capital. * Culture, many Han Chinese characters (漢字) were borrowed from Tang civilization to build the Japanese culture. *Tang dress codes (known today as Wafuku 和服), eating habits were the fashion which was imitated and popularized.


Envoys to the Ming court

Japanese envoys to the Ming court were received as ambassadors.Mizuno, Norihito. (2003)
''China in Tokugawa Foreign Relations: The Tokugawa Bakufu’s Perception of and Attitudes toward Ming-Qing China,'' pp. 109-112.
/ref> *1373-1406 ('' Ōan 6'' – ''
Ōei was a after ''Meitoku'' and before ''Shōchō''. This period spanned the years from July 1394 through April 1428. Reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1394 : The new era name was created because of plague. The previous era ended and a ...
13''): Embassies between China and Japan. *1397 (''Ōei 4, 8th month''): an Imperial ambassador is dispatched from
Emperor Go-Komatsu was the 100th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後小松天皇 (100) retrieved 2013-8-28. and the sixth and final Emperor of the Northern Court. He is officially consi ...
to the Ming Court. *1401 (''Ōei 8''): Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sends a diplomatic mission to China as a tentative first step in re-initiating trade between Japan and
Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. The formal diplomatic letter conveyed to the Emperor of China was accompanied by a gift of 1000 ounces of gold and diverse objects. *1402 (''Ōei 9''): A letter from the Jianwen Emperor of China was received by Yoshimitsu; and this formal communication mistakenly accords the title "king of Japan" to the Japanese shōgun.Titsingh
p. 324.
/ref>


Envoys to the Qing court

During Japan's self-imposed isolation in the Edo period (1603–1868), Japan's vicarious relationships with China evolved through the intermediary of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. Japan's view of external relations was ambivalent. *1853 ('' Kaei 6''): Hayashi Akira completed '' Tsūkō ichiran''. The work was created under orders from the bakufu to compile and edit documents pertaining to East Asian trade and diplomacy; and, for example, it includes a detailed description of a Ryukyuan tribute embassy to the Qing Chinese court in Beijing.Smits, Gregory. (1999). ''Visions of Ryukyu: Identity and Ideology in Early-Modern Thought and Politics,'' p. 37.


See also

* History of China * History of Japan *'' Iki no Hakatoko no Sho'', 7th-century text * Little China (ideology) * Chinese influence on Japanese culture * Japanese missions to Joseon


Notes


References

* Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron.'' Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. * Goodrich, Luther Carrington and Zhaoying Fang. (1976)
''Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644'' (明代名人傳), Vol. I''Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644'' (明代名人傳), Vol. II.
New York: Columbia University Press. ;
OCLC 1622199
* Kitagawa, Hiroshi and Bruce T. Tsuchida. (1977)
''The Tale of the Heike.''
Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. ; *Mizuno, Norihito. (2003)
''China in Tokugawa Foreign Relations: The Tokugawa Bakufu’s Perception of and Attitudes toward Ming-Qing China,'' p. 109.
excerpt from ''Japan and Its East Asian Neighbors: Japan's Perceptionf of China and Korea and the Making of Foreign Policy from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Century,'' Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 2004, as cited in Tsutsui, William M. (2009)
''A Companion to Japanese History,'' p. 83.
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 48943301
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). '' Nihon Odai Ichiran''; ou
''Annales des empereurs du Japon.''
Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Varley, H. Paul. (1973)
''Japanese Culture: A Short History.''
New York: Praeger Publishers
OCLC 590531
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980)
''Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns.''
New York: Columbia University Press.
OCLC 59145842
* Yoda, Yoshiie. (1996). ''The Foundations of Japan's Modernization: a comparison with China's Path towards Modernization.'' Leiden: Brill.
OCLC 246732011


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese Missions To Imperial China Ancient international relations China–Japan relations Diplomacy Foreign relations of Imperial China History of the foreign relations of Japan