Sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty: From the beginning of the 7th century to the end of the 9th century, in order to learn the culture of China, the Japanese sent more than a dozen missions to the Tang Dynasty. Its high frequency, large scale, long time and rich content are unprecedented in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange. The envoys to the Tang Dynasty made great contributions to the development of Japanese society and the friendly exchanges between China and Japan, bearing rich fruits and becoming the first climax of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges. In the middle of the 4th century, the Yamato court unified the Japanese archipelago to a great extent, and the Japanese king paid tribute to the Southern Dynasties regime in China many times and demanded titles. In 589 AD, the Sui Dynasty unified China, ending nearly four centuries of separatist turmoil in China since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the social economy and culture developed rapidly. At that time, Shoto Kutaishi was the Regent of Japan, and he made great efforts to reform. In order to directly absorb China's advanced culture, he sent envoys to China four times (AD 600, AD 607, AD 608, AD 6 14), which was the beginning of formal exchanges between China and China as two unified countries, and also the beginning of Japanese rulers taking an active leading and helping attitude and sending large-scale cultural missions to directly absorb's advanced civilization. The envoys of Sui Dynasty can be said to be the pioneers of the envoys of Tang Dynasty. In 6 18, the Tang Dynasty destroyed the Sui Dynasty and established Chang 'an (now Xi 'an) as its capital. The economic and cultural prosperity of the Tang Dynasty Empire was unprecedented, and it became the most powerful empire in East Asia, with high prestige and great attraction to Japan and Asian countries. However, through four missions to the Sui Dynasty, the Japanese government and people paid more and more attention to China culture, and there was an upsurge of learning to imitate China culture. In 623. Hui Qi, who had been sent to China to study in the Sui Dynasty for many years, returned to Japan and others and reported to the emperor that Datang was a country with the most complete legal system. It is suggested that envoys be sent to study in the Tang Dynasty. In order to learn the advanced system and culture of the Tang Dynasty more directly and effectively, the Japanese government decided to organize large-scale missions to the Tang Dynasty, send outstanding figures as envoys, and bring overseas students and monks to China. In 630 AD, Shu Ming finally sent his first envoy to the Tang Dynasty. During the more than 260 years from 630 to 895, the Japanese royal family appointed 19 envoys of the Tang Dynasty during the period of Nara and Heian, of which 3 were suspended for some reason, and 16 actually happened. But once he only went to Baekje on the Korean peninsula, twice as a "farewell envoy" to the Tang Dynasty, and once as a "welcome envoy" to the Tang Dynasty because of his long time in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, in fact, the number of ambassadors from Tang Xiao whose names have been corrected is 12. These dozens of envoys to the Tang Dynasty can be roughly divided into three periods: the initial period: 630-669 AD, seven. Small task, one or two ships, one or two hundred members. The main purpose of this route is to learn the system of the Tang Dynasty. Mid-term: 702-752 AD, the heyday, four terms. The scale of missionary work has expanded, reaching more than 500 people at a time, which has gained the most. Most of the routes are South Island Road, which passes through the southern islands. In order to comprehensively and deeply study the civilization of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and realize the whole of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, a large number of foreign students and monks studying abroad stayed in the Tang Dynasty for a long time. Later period: A.D. 759-874 was a declining period, with nine dates and actually only six trips. During this period, due to the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty gradually declined. As a result, Japan's enthusiasm for studying the Tang Dynasty decreased, the size of the mission decreased, and the time for international students and monks studying abroad to stay in the Tang Dynasty also decreased to one or two years. The route is mainly the Dayang Road that directly crosses the East China Sea. At the beginning, the scale of the mission to the Tang Dynasty was about one or two hundred people, with only one or two ships. In the middle and late stage, the scale is huge, with about 500 people and 4 ships. At most, it reached 65 1 person for the 18th time in 838. Members of the mission include ambassadors, ambassadors, judges, clerks and other officials, as well as clerks, doctors, translators, painters, musicians and other attendants, craftsmen and sailors. In addition, there are a group of foreign students and learned monks. Most of the envoys selected by the Japanese imperial court are first-class talents who are familiar with history, outstanding talents, high level of Sinology and familiar with the situation of the Tang Dynasty. Even the appearance, manners and conversation are extraordinary, and even the attache has at least one skill. As for foreign students and monks, they are all excellent young people. Some of them have made their mark in China before studying abroad, and generally have made some achievements after returning home. The reason why the Japanese government chose such a strong lineup of envoys in Tang Dynasty is to better absorb the life of study, and the gifts given are almost the same as those given by ambassadors. As soon as the diplomatic envoys in Tang Dynasty returned to China safely, they immediately reported to the imperial court and held a grand welcoming ceremony. The envoy returned the sword, indicating that the mission was completed. The emperor promoted the envoy, rewarded him and showed kindness to the victims. The envoys of the Tang Dynasty were warmly welcomed in China. After receiving the report of the arrival of the mission, the state government of the Tang Dynasty immediately welcomed the building, arranged accommodation and flew to the court. The local government sent a special envoy to escort the main members of the mission who were allowed to enter Beijing to Chang 'an, and all expenses on the way were borne by the China government. After the envoys of Tang Dynasty arrived in Chang 'an, the envoys of Tang Dynasty led horses out to meet them, offered wine and meat, got on the horses, were introduced to Beijing by the envoys, and lived in Sifang Pavilion, where the supervisor was responsible for the reception. According to the envoys in Tang Dynasty, they presented tributes, Tang Gaozong issued letters of commendation, received Japanese envoys, hosted a banquet in the inner hall, and conferred the title of envoy. Envoys in the Tang Dynasty usually stay in Chang 'an and the mainland for about a year, so they can visit around, buy books and shop, and fully appreciate the customs of the Tang Dynasty. As usual, there was a farewell ceremony, with banquets, drinks and gifts, before sending the Tang envoys home. In addition to the preferential treatment for envoys, the Tang government also presented a large number of gifts to the Japanese court, showing the demeanor of a big country. Finally, the Tang envoys and their party were sent to the coast by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and returned with full loads. Minister Tang Xiao's contribution first introduced the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty, which promoted the innovation of Japanese social system. When he sent Tang to Chang 'an, he eagerly studied and read a lot of books. After returning to China, he joined the central government and imitated the Tang system. For example, the Dabao Law was formulated according to the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty. It also imitated the educational system of the Tang Dynasty and set up various schools to teach Chinese studies and cultivate talents. In 8 18, Emperor Emei, on the advice of the envoy to the Tang Dynasty, Sugawara Kiyohara, issued a decree to change the etiquette, ordering that "all men's and women's clothes should be made in the Tang Dynasty" (Great Japanese History, Volume 123), and even calendars, festivals and customs should be imitated by China as much as possible. The second is to learn from the culture of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and improve the level of Japanese culture and art. Every time he sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, he brought back a large number of Buddhist scriptures in Chinese, and officials and people competed to praise and write Tang poems in Chinese. The poems of Bai Juyi, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, are widely circulated in Japan. The student monks studying in the Tang Dynasty also created Japanese pseudonyms with Chinese radical or cursive script. The envoys also introduced calligraphy, painting, sculpture, music, dance and other arts from the Tang Dynasty, which were digested and transformed into Japanese national culture. Even techniques such as Go and sumo and polo were introduced from the Tang Dynasty. Japanese painters, musicians and even Go experts often come to the Tang Dynasty to learn skills and watch games. In 895 AD, the envoy to Tang Dynasty was abolished. The reason is not only the political turmoil in the Tang Dynasty, but also the attraction and transplantation of Tang Wenhua for more than 200 years, thus basically completing the political reform. On this basis, the national culture with Japanese characteristics began to sprout, so the demand for learning China culture is not so urgent. Moreover, the cost of sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty is very high and the road is difficult, which also makes the envoys feel afraid of the road. The trade between the Tang Dynasty and Japan also increased, which also made up for the past demand for Tang goods by sending Tang envoys. In 894 AD, Emperor Yudo accepted the invitation of the appointed but yet-to-leave ambassador 19, and officially announced that he would stop sending ambassadors to Tang in the following year.