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certainly were not commissioned by the sovereign. As for their paying tribute, the statement is due to the inordinate vanity of the Chinese, who fancy themselves superior to all surrounding nations, whereas they are no better than barbarians themselves, and are bound to acknowledge the supremacy of Japan. The Nihongi speaks also of the despatch of Japanese to China in 464 and 468, but Motoori thinks that they were not accredited to any Chinese sovereign. One of the Chinese histories has an account of the mission sent by Suiko, and gives what purports to a letter from that Empress, in which appears the famous phrase, “The Tenshi (son of Heaven) of the place where the sun rises sends a letter to the Tenshi of the place where the sun sets.” If the Empress Suiko really sent such a letter, she treated the Chinese sovereign with far too much civility, and if she had addressed him with some such phrase as, “The Heavenly Emperor notifies (choku) to the king of Go (Wu),” he ought to have been filled with gratitude, instead of which he is represented by the Chinese historiographer as having been offended at being treated as an equal. But the truth is that Suiko Tennô wanted to get something from him, and therefore condescended to flatter his vanity. The Nihongi relates that this Empress showered civilities upon the envoy who brought the Chinese Emperor’s answer, but Motoöri does not care to dwell on this fact.
Uninterrupted intercourse seems to have continued between the two Courts for about two centuries, and then to have ceased during a period of about thirty years. It was unworthy of Japan to enter into relations with a base barbarian state, whatever might be the benefits which she expected to obtain. It resulted in too many cases to the shipwreck of the vessels and the profitless deaths of the envoys by drowning. Had the Chinese ruler paid due reverence to the Mikado as a being infinitely superior to himself, the objection would have been less. After the end of the tenth century the Mikados appear to have ceased sending envoys to China, and Motoöri remarks that “so long as Japan wanted anything from China, she
