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*''Japanese'': 遣隋使 ''(kenzuishi)''
The ''kenzuishi'', literally "ambassadors dispatched to [[Sui]]", were formal missions to China organized by the Imperial Court in the early seventh century, for the purposes of trade, and in order to learn about, adapt, and adopt Chinese technologies, legal systems, political systems, and the like. After the fall of the Sui dynasty, the [[Yamato state]]<ref>Used here interchangeably with [[Wa]]. Both terms refer to the Japanese state; the term "Japan" itself is avoided as the extent to which the term should be applied to any period prior to [[1868]], let alone to this early period, is controversial.</ref> continued for roughly two centuries to send missions, now called ''[[kentoshi|kentôshi]]'' (lit. "envoys dispatched to [[Tang]]") to China (now under the Tang dynasty).
Roughly three to six ''kenzuishi'' missions were sent to Sui dynasty China between the years [[600]] and [[614]]. These missions generally consisted 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==
A mission to Sui in [[607]] was led by [[Ono no Imoko]]. He was dispatched by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in the 7th month of that year, and met with Empress Yang in Luoyang in the 3rd month of [[608]]. It was during this meeting that he is said to have conveyed a message containing the phrase 「日出づる処の天子、書を日没する処の天子にいたす。恙なきや。」 (“The Son of Heaven in the Land where the Sun Rises sends this message to the Son of Heaven in the Land where the Sun Sets. Are you well?”), today a very famous and very early use of the term "Land of the Rising Sun" to refer to Japan. Imoko returned to the Japanese islands shortly afterwards, arriving in Kyushu in the 4th month of 608, along with Pei Shiqing, a Chinese envoy, and arriving in [[Asuka]] in the 8th month. The following month he turned around and escorted Pei back to China, where he remained for roughly one year, returning once again to [[Yamato province|Yamato]] in the 9th month of [[609]].
==References==
*Gallery labels. [http://kentoushi.exh.jp/ Imperial Envoys to Tang China : Early Japanese Encounters with Continental Culture] Exhibition. Nara National Museum. April through June 2010.
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
[[Category:Diplomats]]
[[Category:Asuka Period]]
The ''kenzuishi'', literally "ambassadors dispatched to [[Sui]]", were formal missions to China organized by the Imperial Court in the early seventh century, for the purposes of trade, and in order to learn about, adapt, and adopt Chinese technologies, legal systems, political systems, and the like. After the fall of the Sui dynasty, the [[Yamato state]]<ref>Used here interchangeably with [[Wa]]. Both terms refer to the Japanese state; the term "Japan" itself is avoided as the extent to which the term should be applied to any period prior to [[1868]], let alone to this early period, is controversial.</ref> continued for roughly two centuries to send missions, now called ''[[kentoshi|kentôshi]]'' (lit. "envoys dispatched to [[Tang]]") to China (now under the Tang dynasty).
Roughly three to six ''kenzuishi'' missions were sent to Sui dynasty China between the years [[600]] and [[614]]. These missions generally consisted 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==
A mission to Sui in [[607]] was led by [[Ono no Imoko]]. He was dispatched by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in the 7th month of that year, and met with Empress Yang in Luoyang in the 3rd month of [[608]]. It was during this meeting that he is said to have conveyed a message containing the phrase 「日出づる処の天子、書を日没する処の天子にいたす。恙なきや。」 (“The Son of Heaven in the Land where the Sun Rises sends this message to the Son of Heaven in the Land where the Sun Sets. Are you well?”), today a very famous and very early use of the term "Land of the Rising Sun" to refer to Japan. Imoko returned to the Japanese islands shortly afterwards, arriving in Kyushu in the 4th month of 608, along with Pei Shiqing, a Chinese envoy, and arriving in [[Asuka]] in the 8th month. The following month he turned around and escorted Pei back to China, where he remained for roughly one year, returning once again to [[Yamato province|Yamato]] in the 9th month of [[609]].
==References==
*Gallery labels. [http://kentoushi.exh.jp/ Imperial Envoys to Tang China : Early Japanese Encounters with Continental Culture] Exhibition. Nara National Museum. April through June 2010.
[[Category:Political Institutions]]
[[Category:Diplomats]]
[[Category:Asuka Period]]
