101

JAPAN

During the first centuries of their mutual acquaintance, the Chinese referred to Japan as the Wo kuo or “Country of the Dwarfs” and to its inhabitants as the “Dwarf Slaves”. Only from 702 do the Chinese sources adopt the name of Jih-pen (Nippon). According to T’ang hui-yao 99:13a, the Japanese had requested this change of name themselves. The Chinese historians did not at first realize that Wo and Jih-pen were the same country, because Chiu T’ang shu 199A:14a has con- secutive entries for them and states that the Jih-pen were a separate tribe of the Wo. Trade between the Japanese and Chinese had been lively as early as Former Han times, but no official missions are recorded. The first mission from the “king of the Wo slaves” is recorded for A.D.57. The next mission arrived in 107, presenting 160 slaves.1 During the Six Dynasties, Japan sent ten missions to Eastern Chin and Liu Sung from 413 to 478.2 The Chinese sources throughout refer to the Japanese as king. In 600, envoys from the “king” of the Wo State arrived at the Sui court.3 The letter they brought addressed the Chinese emperor as “my younger brother”. Emperor Wen ordered the responsible authorities to question the envoys about their customs. They stated that their king considered Heaven as his elder brother and the sun as his younger brother. Emperor Wen remarked: “This is utterly improper”. He had the envoys admonished and “ordered” them to change the terminol- ogy (Sui shu 81:13b; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 324:46a). This naturally had no effect. In 607, envoys from the “king” of the Wo State led by Ono-no- Imoko again brought gifts to the Sui court. The envoys were received on Apr.9, 608. They supposedly stated that they had been sent because China was ruled by a who was a Bodhisattva uphold-

1 See my Restoration, vol.III, pp. 145, 148. 2 See my Six Dynasties, vol.II, pp.91-92. The entry for “460, 12th month” is there inadvertently given twice. 3 This mission is not mentioned in the Japanese accounts. For Chinese-Japanese relations see Tsunoda and Goodrich, Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories, pp.31-82. 102 japan ing the dharma. Several tens of monks accompanied this mission to study Buddhism in China. The letter addressed to the Chinese ruler said: “The Son of Heaven of the place where the sun rises sends this letter to the Son of Heaven of the Place where the sun sets. May you have no illness”. Emperor Yang was displeased and said to the Her- ald: “The letter of the barbarian is impolite”. He ordered that such a letter should not again be presented to him (Sui shu 3:11b; 81:15a; Pei shih 12:11a-11b; 94:28a-28b; T’ung-tien 185:56a). The letters of 600 and 607, presumably written at the behest of Prince ShÙtoku, are of unusual interest. They obviously are origi- nals, composed at the Japanese court, and not translated and suitably rephrased at the Chinese court, and they allow us to see how a self- conscious foreign ruler or his deputy addressed his Chinese coun- terpart. It can also be seen that the Herald, the official in charge of envoys, read the letter before submitting it to the emperor, since he otherwise could not withhold one which was deemed to be improper. The flattering comparison of Emperor Yang to a Bodhisattva, on the other hand, is no doubt a sino-centric embroidery of the interview with the envoys. When Ono-no-Imoko returned to Japan in 608, Emperor Yang, sent with him the Gentleman of the Forest of Literature P’ei Ch’ing as Chinese envoy. They sailed via Paekche. On arrival in Japan, Ch’ing was welcomed by several 100 men with drums and horns. He was conveyed to the palace by 200 horsemen and received in audience by the “king”. According to Ch’ing’s report to Emperor Yang, the “king” was greatly pleased and said:”I have heard that to the west of the sea there is the Great Sui, a country of propriety and righteous- ness. Therefore, I have sent [envoys] to pay court and . We are barbarians and live secluded at a cove of the sea, and we have not learned about propriety and righteousness. Therefore, we have been kept within our borders and have not been able to call on you...” Ch’ing said in his response:”The virtue of our emperor combines Heaven and Earth, and his kindness overflows the Four Seas. Because of Your Majesty’s desire for civilization, [the emperor] has sent an envoy to come here.” Subsequently, Ch’ing was given a banquet. The “king” then sent envoys to follow Ch’ing back to China and present regional objects (Sui shu 3:11b; 81:15a-15b; T’ung-tien 185:56a). P’ei Ch’ing’s report cannot have any basis in facts. If by “king” he meant ShÙtoku, it is perfectly possible that the latter expressed a wish that the Japanese should learn from China, but certainly not in the terms