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Cultural Crossings - Tang Art and the Japanese Envoys

  • Image of "Epitaph of Jing ZhenchengCulture and Museology Department in Northwest University, China"

    Epitaph of Jing Zhencheng
    Culture and Museology Department in Northwest University, China

    Japanese Archaeology and Special Exhibition (Heiseikan) Special Exhibition Gallery 1 & 2
    July 20, 2005 (Wed) - September 11, 2005 (Sun)

    In autumn 2004, the startling discovery was made in the Chinese city now known as Xian - site of Changan, the former capital of the Tang dynasty - of a stone tablet inscribed with the epitaph of a member of an eighth-century Japanese mission to Tang. Jing Zhencheng (the Chinese reading of the three characters of his Japanese name) died at an early age while still in China. He was buried there, and it is the tablet bearing the epitaph written by his hosts that provides the focal point for the exhibition. Together with the epitaph, the exhibition reaches back to the earliest days of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange by placing on display a wide variety of fine and decorative art representing the brilliant culture of the Tang period.

 General Information
Period Wednesday, July 20 - Sunday, September 11, 2005
Venue Special Exhibition Gallery 1 & 2, Heiseikan, Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park)
Hours 9:30 am. - 5:00 pm.
Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays until 6:00 pm, Fridays until 8:00 pm.
(last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed Mondays (Except for Monday, August 15, 2005)
Admissions
Adult 1,300 (1,200/1,100) yen
University students 900 (850/800) yen
High-school students   800 (750/700) yen
Junior high-school students and below admission free  
* Prices shown in ( ) indicate advance-discount/group (more than 20 persons) tickets
* Persons with a disability are allowed free entry with one companion. Valid identification requested upon entry
Advance sales From June 20, 2005 at Ticket PIA, CN Playguides, e-plus (e+), Lawson Tickets, Circle K, Sankusu, JR East Japan stations
Access 10 minutes walk from JR Ueno Station (Park exit) and Uguisudani Station
15 minutes walk from Keisei Ueno Station and Tokyo Metro Ueno Station and Nezu station
Organizers Tokyo National Museum, Japan-China Friendship Association, Asahi Shimbun, China Cultural Property Promotion Association
With the Special Sponsorship of   Samsung Japan Corporation
With the Assistance of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan, Agency for Cultural Affairs Japan, Embassy of the People's Republic of China, State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China, Art Exhibitions China, People's Daily
With the Cooperation of All Nippon Airways
General Inquiries +81-3-5777-8600 (Hello Dial: in Japanese)
 Related lecture (in Japanese only)
  Commemorative lecture
Encounters with Tang Art - The Missions and their Japanese Students
by Touno Haruyuki (Professor at Nara University)
Auditorium, Heiseikan
Saturday, August 6, 2005 at 13:30 - 15:30
 Symposium
(Presentations will be given in both Japanese and Chinese. Sorry, English is not available.)
"Thoughts on Cultural Exchanges in East Asia" - a joint Sino-Japanese symposium to mark the discovery of the epitaph of a Japanese envoy to Tang.
Yurakucho Asahi Hall, Marion 11th fl., Yurakucho, Tokyo
Friday, July 29, 2005
Part 1: 13:45 - 16:00; Part 2: 16:20 - 18:35 *Hall opens at 13:00, proceedings begin at 13:30.
 Other Exhibitions
   
Passing Traditions in Japanese Art - Study, Copy, Create
Special Exhibition Gallery 4, Heiseikan
Wednesday, July 20 - Sunday, September 11, 2005
Free with Museum admission
 Next Venue
Nara National Museum  Tuesday, September 20 - Monday, October 10, 2005 (National Holiday)
 Major Works on Display  
The Epitaph of Jing Zhencheng
 
Epitaph of Jing Zhen-Cheng
Epitaph of Jing Zhencheng
Culture and Museology Department in Northwest University, China
(Detail)
(Detail)
  Epitaph of Jing Zhencheng
Tang dynasty, dated 734
Culture and Museology Department in Northwest University, China
H. 40.3cm, W. 39.2cm, D. 10.5cm


In October 2004 a stone funerary tablet was discovered inscribed with the epitaph of a Japanese who, in the first half of the 8th century, was sent, along with others including the Manyo poet Abe no Nakamaro, to study in the Tang capital of Changan, where the modern city of Xian now stands. It was the first discovery in China of the epitaph of a Japanese from this period. The text also includes the earliest example of what is now the present name of Japan, written with the Chinese characters still in use for it today. As such, it affords valuable new information about international exchanges in Asia and the sending of Japanese envoys to China. A translation of the epitaph is given below.
Inscription of the Epitaph

Inscription of the Epitaph
Translation

His family name was Jing, his given name Zhencheng, and his native country is known as Japan. He was gifted with outstanding ability. Commanded to join a mission to distant parts, he set forth enthusiastically for this country. He familiarized himself with Chinese manners and customs, and blended in well with Chinese society. In time, he became a court official; seen at court in his formal robes, he stood out even among those about him. He was diligent in his studies but - alas, who could have foreseen it? - he died suddenly and without warning before those studies could bear full fruit. He died on the (illegible) day of the first month of 734, at the age of 36. The emperor himself, grieving, pronounced the customary eulogy, issuing an imperial edict bestowing on him a high official rank, and had a funeral ceremony carried out at the court. He was buried on the fourth day of the second month of that year, in a grave in open country to the east of a river near Changan. A sad sight indeed - the red banners at dawn, raised in mourning over a funeral procession with a coffin drawn on a plain wooden carriage... Lonely in a distant land, he was to die at sunset and to grieve in a tomb in a desolate spot away from the capital. "To die," he seems to be saying, "is the will of Heaven, but more sad still is to die in a distant land. Though my body has been buried in foreign soil, may my soul return to the land that is my home."
Lid of the Epitaph
  Lid of the Epitaph
H. 37.9cm, W. 37.3cm
Culture and Museology Department in Northwest University, China


Inscription of the Lid
Inscription of the Lid
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  note note Note : The Envoys to Tang China   note note Note : Epitaph Tablets in Ancient China  
 
 
These official envoys were dispatched to Tang China over a period of two to two-and-a half centuries from 630 on, in order to study the culture and international situation of the continent. Some twenty voyages were planned, but in practice some of the crossings were never made, and there are various views as to how they should be counted. From the eighth century on, four vessels carried a total of approximately 500 persons on each voyage. Along with the crews went large numbers of scholar-monks, among them the celebrated Saicho (Dengyo Daishi) and Kukai (Kobo Daishi), lay students and technicians, who brought back the latest in continental culture to Japan. It appears that Jing Zhencheng joined one of these missions, which also included Abe no Nakamaro and Kibi no Makibi and the priest Genbo, at the age of 19 in 717.
 
 
When a figure of high standing died in ancient China, it was customary to place in the tomb a stone tablet carved with information concerning his name, ancestors, official positions, family, and so on. The custom began in the late fifth century, under the Northern Wei dynasty, and the number discovered from the Tang dynasty, when they were produced in particularly large quantities, is approximately 6,500. Ranging from about 80-40 square centimeters in size, they were partly religious in nature - a certificate of social position for use in the next world, as it were - and partly a safeguard to make identification possible even if the tomb were rifled. With the ordinary official, it was usual for an account of his life to be submitted to the local office, which then had the inscription engraved. In the case of upper-grade officials, it seems that the engraving was usually entrusted to a well-known calligrapher.
 
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 The Arts of the Tan Dynasty  
Horse
  Horse
Three-color glaze
H. 71.2 cm
Tang dynasty, 8th century
Tokyo National Museum
Phoenix-head Ewer
  Phoenix-head Ewer
White porcelain
Overall H. 28.1 cm
Tang dynasty, 7th century
Tokyo National Museum
(Important National Property)
Plate in Shape of Peach
  Plate in Shape of Peach
Vermeil with tortoise
H.1 cm, mouth D. 12.3 cm
Unearthed at Hejia village, Xi'an city, Shaanxi
Tang dynasty, 8th century
Shaanxi History Museum, China
Dragons
  Dragons
Gold
H. 2.1 cm, L. 4.1 cm / H. 2.7 cm, L. 4.2 cm
Unearthed at Hejia village, Xi'an city, Shaanxi
Tang dynasty, 8th century
Shaanxi History Museum, China
Bowl Bowl
View of inside
  Bowl
Vermeil with mandarin ducks and fish in dragon pond
H. 5.2 cm, mouth D. 14 cm
Tang dynasty, 7th century
Hakutsuru Fine Art Museum, Hyogo
(Important Cultural Property)
Mirror
  Mirror
Bronze with flowers and birds in mother-of-pearl inlay
D. 24.5 cm
Unearthed from the tomb of Li Cui in Xi'an University of technology
Tang dynasty, 8th century
Institute of Archaeology, Shaanxi Province, China
Woman
  Woman
Three-color glaze
H. 43.7 cm
Tang dynasty, 8th century
Tokyo National Museum