As we all know, before 1500 years ago, Japan was still isolated in the eastern ocean and remained unknown. After hundreds of years of constant melee, it was not until the beginning of the 5th century that the slave country "Yamato" unified the whole country. At this time, China is about to usher in the heyday of feudal society. When Japan just got rid of the savage and ignorant primitive society and looked around the vast sea, it realized that it was at a disadvantage of isolation. They gradually realize the importance of communicating with the outside world and learning from the outside world for their own survival and development. According to China's history book "The History of the Later Han Dynasty", in 57 AD, the Japanese slave king of Kyushu sent an envoy to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Liu Xiuqin, Emperor Guangwu, awarded the golden seal. 1784 In February, the farmer Jinbei of Shiga Island in Fukuoka City, Kyushu discovered the golden seal of the "King of Hanbono" under the stone in his field. In the 5th century, with the gradual deepening of Sino-Japanese exchanges, Japanese courts began to use Chinese characters. In the third year of the great cause of the Sui Dynasty (AD 607), Japanese Shoto Kutaishi appointed Sister Xiao Ye as the envoy to the Sui Dynasty for the second time. In the second year, Gao Xiang, Hyunri and others were sent to China. Japanese envoys did not return to China until the early Tang Dynasty. Shortly after he returned to Japan, he was appointed as a "consultant"-Dr. Guo, who, together with monks and others, transformed Japan into a centralized feudal country according to the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty. This can be compared with the Meiji Restoration. Since then, Japanese enthusiasm for absorbing Tang Wenhua has been even higher. Every year, the government sends hundreds of envoys to the Tang Dynasty, including official envoys of the imperial court, sons Gui Jie, businessmen, overseas students and learned monks. Under the conditions at that time, they braved the wind and waves and came to China not far from Wan Li. Many of them were killed by waves in the East China Sea, but their companions and latecomers were not afraid and kept sailing again and again. After arriving in China, they studied their own majors. Some stayed in the Tang Dynasty for several years, while others lived for twenty or thirty years.
According to Chinese and Japanese documents, in the Tang Dynasty, Japan * * * sent envoys to China 19 times, of which 16 times was successful, and the activities of sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty reached a climax in the prosperous years of Kaiyuan and Tianbao. The Japanese who came to the Tang Dynasty not only marveled at the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but also realized their own shortcomings, so they cherished this rare opportunity and studied very hard. They can copy the buildings of the Tang Dynasty back to Japan. They modeled themselves on Chang 'an, Tang Dou, and built Pingcheng Well and Pingan Well. They also have Suzaku Street, East City and West City in Kyoto. So many things lost or extinct in China today have been preserved or developed in Japan. For example, Sun Simiao, the drug king of China in the early Tang Dynasty, once published a book from Japan. There is another thing called "black tail", which we can often see in ancient figure paintings. Scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties often hold it when talking. Later generations often mistake it for flying over the eaves, and it was not until China scholars saw the real thing hidden in Nara, the ancient Japanese capital.
In the process of learning from the Tang Dynasty, in the initial stage, Japan did not subjectively "choose" or "abandon" according to its own likes and dislikes, but learned in a wide range and in all directions. It is similar to the "description" and "copying" of children in the first and second stages of learning calligraphy, and then after a period of time, they digest, understand and absorb to a certain extent, so as to achieve the creation without template. So today we see that there are many shadows of China in the Tang Dynasty in Japan today, but more of them are mixed with their own things. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty gradually declined. From 894 AD, Japan stopped sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty. Sugawara no michizane, an envoy to the Tang Dynasty, was regarded as the "God of Culture" by the Japanese. He first put forward the viewpoint of "harmony between soul and talent", that is, the Japanese spirit is the body and China's wisdom and technology are used.