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[[Image:Kentosen.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Reproduction ''kentôsen'' ship, at the site of the [[Heijo Imperial Palace|Heijô Imperial Palace]].]]
*''Japanese'': 遣唐使 ''(kentoushi)''
*''Japanese'': 遣唐使 ''(kentoushi)''
Roughly twenty missions were sent in the 7th-9th centuries. Though their number was few, their impact was huge, and some of the people involved are today among the greatest names in Japanese pre-modern history. [[Abe no Nakamaro]] traveled to China on a ''kentôshi'' mission, passed the [[Imperial examinations]], and remained there for decades as a Tang official, cavorting with the likes of [[Li Bai]] and [[Wang Wei]]. The monk [[Ganjin]] traveled to Japan with one of the returning envoys, and later founded [[Toshodaiji|Tôshôdai-ji]]. [[Kibi no Makibi]] led missions to Tang on several occasions; a fictionalized version of the story of his first journey to China is related in [[Kibi Scroll|a 12th century handscroll painting]] today in the collection of the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]].
Roughly twenty missions were sent in the 7th-9th centuries. Though their number was few, their impact was huge, and some of the people involved are today among the greatest names in Japanese pre-modern history. [[Abe no Nakamaro]] traveled to China on a ''kentôshi'' mission, passed the [[Imperial examinations]], and remained there for decades as a Tang official, cavorting with the likes of [[Li Bai]] and [[Wang Wei]]. The monk [[Ganjin]] traveled to Japan with one of the returning envoys, and later founded [[Toshodaiji|Tôshôdai-ji]]. [[Kibi no Makibi]] led missions to Tang on several occasions; a fictionalized version of the story of his first journey to China is related in [[Kibi Scroll|a 12th century handscroll painting]] today in the collection of the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]].
==The Missions==
==The Journey==
The early ''kentôshi'' missions followed the coast of the Korean Peninsula as they made their way to China, but in the Nara period (8th c.), they began to travel from Kyushu, directly across the sea to an area north of the Yangtze. The journey is generally regarded today as having been quite risky, and dangerous. Lacking sea charts or compasses, the missions navigated chiefly by watching the sun and stars, by sighting land and deciding whether that was their destination. When all went well, and there were no delays or disasters as a result of inclement weather, the journey across the East China Sea could take as little as a week. However, many missions did encounter storms, and other considerable obstacles, and become castaway or shipwrecked; there are a number of famous examples of prominent individuals who never returned to Japan. That said, of the 18 ships which left from Kyushu in the Nara period, 14 did return to Japan relatively safely, and even of those ships that did not return, some of their passengers did survive and later return to Japan. As a result, some have argued that perhaps sailing - and the level of navigational techniques & technology - should not be seen as having been quite that dangerous a prospect.<ref name=heijo>Plaques on-site at reproduction ''kentôsen'' (Tang mission ship) at [[Heijo Imperial Palace|Heijô Imperial Palace]].</ref>
Goods were gathered as taxes from the various parts of Japan, including quicksilver, precious stones such as crystal, pearls, agate and the like, steel for sparking fires, camellia oil, and lacquer, to send as goods to present to the Emperor of Tang.<ref name=heijo/>
Goods received in turn from the Tang Emperor included such things as bronze mirrors, silver objects, drinking glasses, lapis lazuli, Tang three-color ceramics, and silks, while students and monks studying abroad often returned with books, Buddhist sculptures, and sutras; ambassadors and others were also sent to China specifically to learn new skills and trades, and brought back valuable knowledge, techniques, and technology. Of those objects brought back at this time, a number are still held today in the [[Shosoin|Shôsôin Imperial Treasury]].<ref name=heijo/>
===The Ships===
The ships used for these journeys are known as ''kentôsen'' ("ships dispatched to Tang"). While official records do survive of the embassies to Tang, there are nearly no documents about the ships they sailed round-trip, and no numerical records of the scale of the ship. One Nara period document provides a hint as to the estimated size of the ship, as it indicates that roughly 600 people were dispatched on four ships. Assuming these ships to be roughly the same size, each would have to be big enough for roughly 150 people. At any given time during the voyage a number of people would have to be awake, so considering a space large enough for 100 to sleep at once, it was determined that the ship would have to be about 25-30 meters long, and since the width would be about 1/3 to 1/4 of that, it would be roughly 7-10m wide. If it was this size, there would also be enough space for 150 people's worth of water, food, and other possessions.
Most of the pictures of ''kentôsen'' that appear in textbooks and the like come from the "Kibi Daijin Scroll," but this scroll, the oldest surviving image of a ''kentôsen'', was painted 400 years after the last mission to Tang. Since that was a time when [[Song Dynasty]] ships were trading at [[Hakata]], there is the possibility that the paintings reflect Song dynasty ships, and not those of Nara period Japan. However, since there are no records of the ships that actually were sent to Tang, lacking anything else to go upon, reproductions and the like have continued to be based upon that scroll. There is no doubt that the early ''kentôsen'', in any case, had two masts, and wickerwork sails. Since the ''Shoku Nihongi'' does record the construction of ships in the style of [[Paekche]], we know that Paekche ships were probably excellent for their time, but unfortunately, other records do not survive.<ref name=heijo/>
A form of ship known as ''junkôzôzen'' (lit. "pure constructed ship"), using dugout canoes as the core, with planks extended out from them, is believed to have been particularly common in Nara period Japan. However, this mode of construction could not have served to produce a suitable ship to carry over a hundred people across the sea to China in a matter of weeks. Further, raising a sail on a ship based around long, narrow dugouts would have created too much danger of the ship tipping over.<ref name=heijo/>
Therefore, it is believed that ''kentôsen'' probably, used thick planks and reinforcing planks on the inside, with beams connecting left and right. In contrast to being carved out of individual longs, then, in a subtractive fashion, these ships were assembled from planks in their entireties. Since there are records indicating that the Japanese used ships from [[Paekche]] (Korea), it is believed they may have constructed ships in the Paekche-style for the Tang envoy journeys.<ref name=heijo/>
In paintings of the ''kentôsen'', such as the "Kibi Daijin Scroll," there are three rooms above decks. Near the tail (stern) of the ship is the cabin of the chief ambassador (大使, ''taishi''); there are paintings in which a ''[[taiko]]'' (a drum) is depicted above this rearmost cabin; the drum would have been used to help keep time when the sail was furled, and the oars were used. It is thought that a smaller room near the center of the ship was where the hearth or furnace was maintained. This would have helped provide heat and light at night, and fire for boiling water, and for cooking rice and other food. There are no definitive records as to what the ambassadors to Tang ate on the ship, but since there are records of provisions of water and dried boiled rice, it is thought that this must have been the core of the diet, supplemented by other dried foods.<ref name=heijo/>
While these three individual cabins were reserved for the captain, and others of particularly high station, everyone else, including guests, slept together in one large cabin, or among the cargo below decks. They might have hung boards from below the deck to sleep on. Below decks, in a cabin, the light from small holes meant that it was quite dim most of the time; shutters and blinds might have been opened, however, at least at some times of day, to allow light in. Students and monks traveling abroad had nothing to do on the ship. They might have gathered around on the floor of the cabin, around the holes that let the sunlight in, gnawing on fruits or nuts and having discussions or debates.<ref name=heijo/>
A large rudder extended out from the center of the ship's stern; several men were required to control it. Some sort of shaft was used, and placed outside of the decks, to help prevent the rudder apparatus from being an obstacle or a danger on deck. The rudder ran quite deep, below the bottom of the ship's hull, in order to help ensure that the rudder never left the water, even in strong winds, or when the ship tilted dramatically. For those occasions, two additional small rudders were attached to the gunwales. Even today, there are Southeast Asian ships which only use these paired gunwale rudders. The single central rudder design is said to have been invented in China.<ref name=heijo/>
The sails are not drawn in the "Kibi Daijin Scroll," but other scroll paintings do show Tang embassy ships with sails. Chinese so-called "wickerwork sails" (''ajiroho'') were made from bamboo or reeds, shaved down, and woven together to form wickerwork, which was then tied to bamboo to form the sails. Since wickerwork sails are relatively hard (as compared to soft, flowing canvas), they are surprisingly effective, but, if the wind comes out through the stitches, it is heavy, and that is its weak point. In China, they continued to use wickerwork sails for a very long time, up until the 19th century. Cloth sails become like a bag, holding the wind in, and are therefore quite effective; nevertheless, even as the bag-style sails became more widely used, the Chinese stuck to bamboo sails, and avoided the bag-style ones. In Japan, they didn't use wickerwork sails, but rather woven straw mats, connected up together to form a sail; yet, nevertheless, in paintings of the ''kentôsen'', and of the ''[[shuinsen]]'' ("red seal ships") of the 16th-17th centuries, it is wickerwork sails which are depicted.
==Chronology==
===Seventh Century===
===Seventh Century===
The missions to T’ang were not the first sent by the Yamato state to China. Roughly three to six ''[[kenzuishi]]'' missions were, in fact, sent to Sui dynasty China between the years [[600]] and [[614]]. Roughly seven were then sent to Tang China between [[630]] and [[669]]. These earlier missions consisted usually of two ships which sailed north from [[Hakata]] (Fukuoka), following the Korean coast before crossing the Yellow Sea and arriving in Shangdong. At this time, the Yamato state refused to submit to Chinese authority, and to pay [[tribute]].
The missions to T’ang were not the first sent by the Yamato state to China. Roughly three to six ''[[kenzuishi]]'' missions were, in fact, sent to Sui dynasty China between the years [[600]] and [[614]]. Roughly seven were then sent to Tang China between [[630]] and [[669]]. These earlier missions consisted usually of two ships which sailed north from [[Hakata]] (Fukuoka), following the Korean coast before crossing the Yellow Sea and arriving in Shangdong. At this time, the Yamato state refused to submit to Chinese authority, and to pay [[tribute]].
