Who traveled to Japan in the Tang Dynasty and who went to the West in the Ming Dynasty?

Monk Jian Zhen: From the 7th century to the 9th century, China in the Tang Dynasty was in the flourishing stage of feudal system, while Japan in Japan was in the period of social transformation from slavery to feudalism. China's complete system of laws and regulations, advanced production technology and cultural knowledge have a strong charm for emerging Japan. The Japanese believe: "A person in the Great Tang Dynasty, with French-style preparation, is also a valuable country, which often needs to be achieved." Therefore, following the example of the Tang Dynasty Empire, we encouraged the studious Japanese to come to China through Pusi despite difficulties and obstacles, and sent twelve official envoys to the Tang Dynasty successively. These overseas students and learned monks have made great contributions to the spread of China culture. In the Sino-Japanese Buddhist communication, there appeared the story of Abe Ma Zhong coming to the west and Jian Zhen going to the east. Jian Zhen, a famous monk in Yangzhou, was the abbot of daming temple. He is proficient in laws and precepts and enjoys high prestige among the people in Jianghuai. In October of the first year of Tianbao in Tang Dynasty (742), he accepted the appointment of Rong Rui and Pu Zhao, the monks who sent envoys from Japan to the Tang Dynasty, and went to Japan to set up an altar to preach the teachings in order to clean up the religious plans. From then on, in 12 years, Jian Zhen and others were ambitious, experienced hardships and suffered setbacks, and failed to cross the sea five times. It was not until November, the 12th year of Tianbao (753) that Jian Zhen and other talents successfully embarked on a trip to Japan to preach the law. During the period of 10 in Japan, Jian Zhen brought the Buddhist precepts and the essence of Tang Wenhua to Japan with selfless spirit, and made great contributions to spreading the seeds of friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people, which are still remembered and admired by the Chinese and Japanese people.

Zheng He: Ma was born in Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty. When the eunuch gave his surname Zheng, he sailed to Nanyang, India, Persia, the east coast of Africa and other places, opening up the farthest sea route at home and abroad, publicizing and helping Ma Jianguo, and overseas countries competed to pay tribute. At that time, people said that eunuch Sambo's voyage to the West was a great event in the early Ming Dynasty.

During the short period from 1405 to 1433, the treasure ship fleet led by company commander Zheng He made seven heroic voyages, covering the Sea of China and the Indian Ocean, from Taiwan Province Province to the Persian Gulf, as far as Huang Jinguo-Africa in China's mind. Although China learned about the existence of Europe from Arab businessmen, he didn't want to go there. Europe, a "far west" place, can only provide wool and wine, which is not attractive to them. During these thirty years, foreign goods, medicines and geographical knowledge have been imported into China at an unprecedented speed. On the other hand, China has also extended its political space and influence to the whole Indian Ocean. At that time, half of the world was in China's hands, and with the invincible navy, the other half could easily become China's sphere of influence if China wanted. One hundred years before the era of great adventure and expansion in Europe, China had the opportunity to become a world colonial power.

But China didn't!

Shortly after the treasure ship's last voyage, Emperor China banned sailing and stopped the construction and repair of all ocean-going sailboats. Businessmen and sailors who violated the ban were executed. Over the past century, the unparalleled navy has gone to the road of self-destruction, which has caused the Japanese pirates to wreak havoc along the coast of China. The era of China's external expansion was followed by a period of absolute isolation. /kloc-At the beginning of the 5th century, China, the world leader in science and technology, quickly withdrew from the stage of world history. At the same time, the germination of international trade and the beginning of the industrial revolution pushed the western world to modernization.

1498, when vasco da gama and his fleet of three broken sailboats landed in East Africa on the way around the Cape of Good Hope to India, local residents boasted of their blue embroidered silk hats with exquisite edges. Africans laugh at the gadgets invented by the Portuguese-beads, bells, coral necklaces, washbasins-and don't seem to like their boats very much. The elders in the village said that a long time ago, a white "ghost" wore silk and drove a big boat to their coast to play. However, no one knows who these people are and where they come from. The treasure ship was thus forgotten from the consciousness of the world.

Zheng He and D 'Gama arrived in Africa 80 years apart. Maybe someone wants to know: what will happen if we meet? Knowing the extraordinary power of the Ming imperial navy, does D 'Gama dare to continue crossing the Indian Ocean with his 85-to 100-foot-long ship? After seeing Portugal's wrecked ship, will the commander of the Chinese fleet want to crush the snails that get in the way and prevent Europeans from opening a channel for East-West trade?

China people are by no means land people often mentioned in history. At the beginning of civilization, the Chinese Empire was a boatman with superb skills and adventurous spirit. Even before the name "China" or "China people" appeared, the Neolithic people from the Asian continent, that is, the ancestors of all ethnic groups in Oceania, conquered the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean 1000 years ago. Most people think so. Before Columbus, there were traces of Asians in the New World, and many evidences showed that they had frequent contact, more than once.

Why didn't China colonize?

Why should China give up its power when it has absolute hegemony at sea? For a long time, the emperors of the Chinese Empire regarded themselves as life-giving fathers, not only for small city-states, but also for all nationalities in the world. This cognition responds to China's inherent ideas. Of course, the son of heaven is also the ruler of the whole world. As early as a few centuries after A.D., people in China have been familiar with the concept that the world is all within the territory of China, and there is no so-called boundary. Is this the king's land? If it already has everything, what reason is there to conquer it? The aggression of European powers has gone beyond the initial requirements of opening up a favorable environment for East-West trade. This bellicose and crusade-style colonialism completely violates the China people's ideal of an omnipotent and demigod son of heaven. Therefore, the concept of Europe cannot be found in imperial China. Of course, I can't see this idea from Ming, and the return of surrender to China is its own prosperity. Treating uncivilized nations in this way can enhance their loyalty to the Chinese empire, which is far more effective than strengthening the garrison. In any case, Ming Chengzu came to the conclusion that it is foolish to try to maintain a garrison half a world away, so Ming Chengzu has never made such an attempt. However, it will take another 400 years for the European colonial powers to reach the same conclusion.