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Forgotten Friendships honored in Aichi
In a gesture of friendship and the shared history between China and Japan, a recently discovered epitaph to Sei Shinsei, Japanese scholar who studied and died in China, has been put on display as part of the 2005 World Exposition being hosted in 愛知県 (Aichi Prefecture), Japan.
The epitaph (墓碑銘), a 40 centimeter polished stone tablet engraved with a Sei’s name and title, as well as a list of his accomplishments, was discovered on a building site in 陕西省 (Shaanxi Province), China, in October 2004, and obtained by the Northwest University, Xian, before being donated to the exposition for display.
The tablet will be briefly shown in the Chinese Pavilion before being moved to the Global House in the main exposition pavilion. It will remain on display until 3 June.
Sei’s epitaph is a strong reminder of the historic friendship and ties that existed between China and Japan.
Despite modern hostilities, many Japanese still feel extremely close to China and hold their country’s historic ties to China, and to Chinese culture, close to them, something that is not widely known in China; which often misrepresents post war Japan as being hostile towards China.
Sei Shinsei?
Little is known about Sei Shinsei, but it is thought that his family name at birth was probably Fujii or Inouse, because there are no records of man named Sei being sent to China as a scholar.
In China he was known as Jing Zhencheng, thought by some scholars to be a translation of his name.
It is believed that Sei was dispatched to China, during the time of the Tang Dynasty, as part of a mission in the year 717 of the western calander. He is thought to have died in 734, aged 36
According to his Epitaph, Sei was appointed to the position of bureaucrat and, after his death, was awarded a high bureaucrat rank, a rare honor for a foreign scholar in China.
Sei’s epitaph also records that his death was mourned by Xuanzong, the Chinese Emperor of the time.
During the Tang dynasty, Japan sent many representatives to the imperial court in order to study Chinese language, culture and history. It is believed that Sie was part of the a mission that included the scholar AbeNakamaro, a confidant of the Chinese Emperor from Nara, who achieved the position of Governor-General in the Chinese bureaucracy and who, like Sei, also remained in China until his death. These scholars brough many elements of Chinese culture back to Japan where they were integrated with Japan's own culture.
Coincidentally, the loan of Sei's epitaph to the Exposition comes shortly after a number of Japanese universities began initiating schemes to increase their intake of Chinese students; in part to compensate for a shortage in students brought about by Japan's low birth rate, and in part because of the hope that experiencing the realities of modern Japan will expel many of the negative Chinese myths that have grown up about post war Japan; leading to a firmer friendship between the two countries, based on modern realities rather than post war stereotypes, and to a future where Japan and China can act together rather than apart.
Er, that should be Xi'an.
I wonder about the aim of dispelling negative Chinese myths. There are lots of Chinese in Japan already. How many of them come back pro-Japanese? The realities of life in Japan for Chinese are not quite as rosy as for Westerners. Many Chinese end up working in menial jobs, get pawed by dirty old men in bars, meet discrimination looking for apartments, and come up against Japanese attitudes of arrogance towards Asians. I've spoken to a couple of Chinese who've been to Japan. One had a renewed respect for the Japanese, but this had not weakened one iota the bedrock of Chinese thinking that underlies many attitudes towards Japan and other countries (obsession with national sovereignty, national territory, China's ultimate superiority, etc.), which seem, to me to be the underlying cause of the ugly racial hatred we are seeing. Japan is a belated but arrogant upstart that doesn't know its place -- that is its real sin for the Chinese.
How many Chinese workers in the US or EU change their tunes after working
there, not many I would guess, but the aim here is to turn students around
rather than workers overe to the idea that Japan is a nice peace loving
country.
Yes, Chinese workers in Japan get a raw deal, but that is often because they are low paid migrant workers, Chinese migrant workers in Japan get the same treatment as Korean and Philipino migrant workers, and migrant workers in Japan get the same treatment as migrant workers in any country. Just look at Mexican workers and the US. They are treated about the same as Chinese in Japan, as are Chinese workers in the US.
They hope here is that Japanese universities can attract open minded Chinese students, and that rather than simply letting them experience Japan while studying, they can be taught about the good side of Japan as well.
Many Chinese are taught very little about post war Japan, and they hear only bad things on the news, they don't hear about the good things.
Most people in China don't know about Japanese financial aid to China, that the Japanese self defense force has no strike capabilities, or that most people in Japan are very fond of China.
If Japan can help Chinese students to understand that Japan is a very different country today, and that the Japanese are good people, then maybe there will be less animosity, and maybe Japan and China will be able to work together in peace.
ACB
L'ami de mon ennemi est mon ennemi. C'est vrai du tout monde.
princessa
It's been a while since I spoke french,but you are in luck, I have been to
Europe often enough to ask "quel ennemi, Amérique?"
Translation: The friend of my enemy is my enemy also. This is true everywhere in the world.
ACB
Just weeks ago two Sino-Japanese friendship trees in Sendai and some other
location in Japan were chopped in half by 做了好事却不留姓名的 China-loving,
panda-hugging, Japanese citizens. If they have not done that, I have
forgotten what these two wretchedly grown plants are for. Now they remind
me.
Leo
I covered the story, but I'm still not sure what message you're trying to
get across
ACB