Japanese missions to Imperial China


The Japanese missions to Imperial China were diplomatic which were intermittently sent to the Chinese court. Any distinction amongst diplomatic envoys sent from the Imperial 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. The composition of these Imperial missions included members of the aristocratic kuge and Buddhist priests. 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. Sui Emperor Yangdi dispatched a message in 605 which read:
The sovereign of Sui respectfully inquires about the sovereign of Wa.

The court of Empress Suiko responded by sponsoring a mission led by Ono no Imoko 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 to the sovereign of the land of the setting sun."

The Japanese missions to Sui China included representatives sent to study government and technology.
The Japanese missions to Tang China are the best known; 19 missions were completed. A 20th mission had been planned for 894, 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:
Japanese envoys to the Tang court were received as ambassadors:
Three missions to the Tang court were dispatched during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku.
Emperor Kanmu's planned mission to the Tang court in 804 included three ambassadors and several Buddhist priests, including Saichō and Kūkai; but the enterprise was delayed until the end of the year. The ambassadors returned in the middle of 805. They were accompanied by the monk Saichō, also known by his posthumous name Dengyō Daishi, whose teachings would develop into the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism. In 806, the return of the monk Kūkai, also known posthumously as Kōbō-Daishi, 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.
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 culture. The Tang folks referred to Wa as 東夷.
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:
Japanese envoys to the Ming court were received as ambassadors.
During Japan's self-imposed isolation in the Edo period, Japan's vicarious relationships with China evolved through the intermediary of the Kingdom of Ryukyu. Japan's view of external relations was ambivalent.