In 654 AD, Japan hoped to cooperate with China to study abroad and learn about China's imperial power system, so she sent envoys to China to send two Japanese princesses to the emperor. Unexpectedly, after serving in bed, the emperor was furious and put him in a cage.
"Looking back at Chang'an, the embroidery is piled up, and thousands of doors on the top of the mountain are opened in sequence." This sentence is a description of the prosperous scene of Du Mu in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was a period of great prosperity in Chinese history, with clear and peaceful seas, stable politics, diverse cultures, and frequent foreign exchanges.
The Tang Dynasty at that time had many small affiliated countries around it. These small countries admired the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty, and Japan was one of them. The open and diverse Tang Dynasty was also willing to benefit small neighboring countries and carry out active communication and learning.
Dahua reform, studying in the Central Plains
In the first Japan, the regime was arbitrary by the great families, and the Emperor's family actually had no power at all, but they just had a skin. In 645 AD, the new nobles joined forces with the Emperor family to launch a coup, assassinate the powerful ministers of the great tyrants. In the end, the royal family successfully seized power, and Emperor Xiaode ascended the throne.
At the beginning of Emperor Xiaode's ascension, the political situation was very unstable, the people were displaced, the land annexed was serious, the social security was chaotic, the people were in vain, and even other families in Japan were ready to fight for the throne.
For this reason, in order to consolidate the regime, stabilize the situation, and improve people's livelihood, emerging aristocrats unite with the emperor and prepare to carry out a complete change. In 1646, a reform edict was issued and the reform was officially launched, which is known in history as the "Great Reform".
At that time, Japan was just a small affiliated country of the Central Plains dynasty, and relied on the Tang Dynasty everywhere. "Great Reform" aims to learn from China's imperial political system, strengthen centralization, follow China, and make Japan a feudal country.
However, if you want to learn China, someone must understand China, at least you can understand Chinese in order to study Chinese characters. However, at that time, not many people in Japan could speak Chinese. So Emperor Xiaode decided to form a team of international students and send them to China for study.
Excellent diplomat
If you want to send international students to study in China, you must cooperate with China . So, in 654, Emperor Xiaode sent an excellent Japanese diplomat Gao Xiangri to China to lead a team to China to pay homage to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Gao Xiangxuanli is the descendant of the naturalized people of the Han people. His grandfather is Chinese. During the Sui Dynasty, in order to avoid the war, he followed a group of people to Japan. This group of people settled in Japan and became Japanese farmers, bringing advanced farming technology to Japan, and was welcomed by the Japanese.
After two generations of hard work, this group of people has become well-known aristocratic figures in Japan. Gao Xiangxuanli was born in such a family, with a wealthy family, and had read poetry and books since childhood, and learned advanced knowledge and technology.
Because my grandfather is Chinese, under the influence of his family, Gao Xiangxuanli has a good understanding of China's , has a familiar understanding of China's politics, economy, society, culture, etiquette, etc., and has unique insights into China's imperial system.
608, Gao Xiangxuanli came to China as an envoy to send Tang Dynasty. After staying in China for decades, he returned to China in 648. After returning to China, he happened to catch up with the Dahua Revolution. With advanced ideas, he received the attention of Emperor Xiaode. was appointed as a doctor of the country and served as an advisor to the Japanese court.
He has lived in China for decades and has a rich knowledge of Chinese culture and can also familiarize himself with China's national conditions. In addition, he is a naturalized descendant of the Han people, and he grew up under the influence of Chinese culture, so it is perfect to send him to take the lead in China.
The Anger of Emperor Gaozong of Tang
In 654 AD, carrying the mission of Emperor Xiaode, Gao Xiangxuanli once again embarked on a journey to China. Not only did he bring rare treasures for tribute, but in order to win the favor of Emperor Gaozong of Tang of the Tang Dynasty, he also brought two Japanese princesses to the emperor.
For this mission, Emperor Xiaode was very troubled. He specially invited the Han Chinese aunt to teach the two princesses Chinese etiquette, and also collected various high-quality raw materials from all over Japan to customize clothes, accessories and cosmetics for the two princesses.
Gao Xiangxuanli and his group worked hard and finally arrived at Changan . Tang Gaozu held a banquet to greet them, showing friendly and enthusiastic. Amidst the clinking of wine, laughter and joy were endless, and everyone was very happy.
At this time, Gao Xiangxuanli paid tribute to the two carefully dressed princesses. Emperor Gaozu of Tang was even happier when he saw this. Gao Xiangxuan made a smooth progress and proposed the matter of cooperative study abroad. Emperor Gaozu of Tang immediately agreed and Gao Xiangxuanli was overjoyed.
It was late at night. After the banquet, Emperor Gaozu of Tang, who was flushed with drinking, planned to take the two princesses back and spoil them for a while, so he found a reason to send Gao Xiangxuanli away and took the two princesses back to the bedroom.
Gao Xiangxuan breathed a sigh of relief. He thought that the task assigned to him by Emperor Xiaode had been successfully completed, and he felt very happy. However, early the next morning, I received news that the two princesses were locked in cages by the emperor.
The farce caused by cultural differences
It turns out that when I woke up that morning, Emperor Gaozu of Tang was really shocked by the two Japanese princesses. They had no eyebrows, their faces were pale and their teeth were pitch black, like two female ghosts. Emperor Gaozu of Tang was furious. believed that Japan was fooling the emperor by making two princesses pretend to be female ghosts, and anyone else would be angry.
Extremely angry Emperor Gaozu of Tang ordered the two Japanese princesses to be put into prison, put in cages, and all members of the Japanese mission were punished severely.
Gao Xiangxuanli thought about why the carefully dressed up and trained princess scared the emperor and caused anger? It turns out that is due to the great cultural differences between Japan and China, and the aesthetics of the two countries are very different.
All Japanese missions knelt in front of the emperor, silent and no one dared to speak out, which made Emperor Gaozu of Tang even more angry. At this time, only Gao Xiangxuanli stood up at the risk of his life and explained the truth to the emperor in order to pray to the emperor to calm his anger.
Gao Xiangli explained that black teeth is a symbol of high status in Japan. Only women of royal families and nobles can paint their teeth black, and they can only paint their teeth black on very grand occasions. Although black teeth are inconsistent with the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty, they also symbolize Japan's attention to this mission.
Although there are differences in the cultures of the Tang Dynasty and Japan, The aesthetics of Japanese beauty without eyebrows are also closely related to the Tang Dynasty. In the past, the Japanese learned from women in the Tang Dynasty to clone their eyebrows, and gradually evolved into the tradition of "shaving eyebrows", which is also the cultural connection between the two countries. After the explanation was completed, he immediately gave a big gift to Emperor Gaozu of Tang, asking Emperor Gaozu of Tang to forgive the two princesses, and to be lenient with the Japanese mission, and to ensure that the education of the princesses would be strengthened and that similar mistakes would not be made again in the future. He was very sincere.
After hearing this, Emperor Gaozu of Tang disappeared. He added to show the great power of the Tang Dynasty to foreign friends, show China's inclusiveness and openness, and forgave them and ordered the release of two princesses to entertain the Japanese missions perfectly without affecting the cooperation and study abroad matters.
In this way, Gao Xiangxuan took the lead in turning danger into safety, successfully completed the mission mission, and made outstanding contributions to Japan's Dakka Reform.
In this incident, the Japanese side showed a sincere heart. Although there was a misunderstanding, Gao Xiangxuanli's witty explanation and China's open and inclusive attitude made the crisis resolved.
There are different cultural differences between different countries. In cultural exchanges, we must not only do our homework and understand cultural diversity, but also continue the open and inclusive attitude of the Tang Dynasty, and strengthen external exchanges and learning with a broad mind and open mind.
