japan 107at a temple of the T’ien-t’ai sect. He was ordered to proceed to the
Sung court, where he presented a silver incense brazier, a Buddhist
rosary made of sapindus seeds, white opaque glass, rock crystal, red
sandalwood, amber, and silken fabrics (Sung shih 491:11a-11b; Wen-
hsien t’ung-k’ao 324:47b).
On Dec.26, 1077, Ming reported that the Buddhist priest Chåkai
and others, six men, had arrived from the Jih-pen State. In 1078,
they presented 200 bolts of thin silk and 5000 ounces of mercury
(Sung shih491:11b;Hsü Tzu-chih t’ung-chien ch’ang-pien p.2698; Wen-hsien
t’ung-k’ao 324:47b).
Meanwhile, the Japanese kept their communications open with
Liao. On Oct.28, 1091, a mission of 28 men from Jih-pen, including
Teigen, Teishin, the Buddhist priest Ohan, and others offered gifts
to the Liao. On Oct.30, 1092, envoys from the Jih-pen State again
offered gifts to Liao (Liao shih 25:4b).
In 1169, unnamed Japanese envoys offered regional objects to the
Southern Sung (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 324:48a).
The Japanese missions sailed to China on small flotillas of ships,
with crews and personnels of hundreds of individuals. They either
navigated along the Korean coast or, especially later, made directly for
the Yangtze delta. The sea captains preferred the winter and spring
for the voyage to China, since during these seasons the winds from
Japan and Korea blow in a southwesterly direction. But losses could
be heavy. The mission returning from China in 778, consisted of four
ships. Some 65 dignitaries and their attendants were washed overboard.
One of the ships was wrecked. Another broke into two halves which
both drifted to Kyåshå with few survivors.^13 The Chinese sources
mention wrecks and forced landings of Japanese merchant vessels in
1176, 1183, 1190, 1193, and safe landings in 1200, and 1202. (Sung
shih 491:12a; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 324:48a).
From the Japanese point of view, the most important aim of the
missions was to seek knowledge. This is why students, scholars, Bud-
dhist priests, persuers of statecraft, and artisans were attached to the
missions and why they brought back books on religious and secular
subjects. This contrasts sharply with the relations to China of the coun-
tries of continental South Asia and the islands. With the exception of
Chiao-chih, these showed no interest in Chinese culture. Chiao-chih
(^13) See Sansom, Japan, pp.87-88.