Wang Zhenping(王貞平), Ambassadors from the islands of immortals : China-Japan relations in the Han-Tang period
〔王貞平《漢唐之間的中日關係》（英語版）〕
Ann Arbor : Association for Asian Studies ; Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, 2005,9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches,ISBN: 0824828712.
版主按：九○年代臺北文津出版社曾出版了王先生的另一部同主題專書《漢唐中日關係論》，1997，ISBN: 957-668-418-8 。不過尚未得見此英語新版，與舊書的取徑與見解是否有何不同。王先生原書取徑大抵循西嶋定生的冊封體制論，可參考甘懷真先生引述討論的論文（《皇權、禮儀與經典詮釋 : 中國古代政治史研究》，臺北：臺大出版中心，2004，ISBN: 957-01-7255-x）。
內容簡介
Using recent archaeological findings and little-known archival material, Wang Zhenping introduces readers to the world of ancient Japan as it was evolving toward a centralized state. Competing Japanese tribal leaders engaged in "ambassador diplomacy" and actively sought Chinese support and recognition to strengthen their positions at home and to exert military influence on southern Korea. They requested, among other things, the bestowal of Chinese insignia: official titles, gold seals, and bronze mirrors. Successive Chinese courts used the bestowal (or denial) of the insignia to conduct geopolitics in East Asia.
Wang Zhenping brings diplomatic history to life in his descriptions of the diplomats and their personalities and literary talents as well as their ambitions and frustrations. He explains in detail the rigorous criteria of the Chinese and Japanese courts in the selection of diplomats and how the two prepared for missions abroad. He journeys with a party of Japanese diplomats from their tearful farewell party to hardship on the high seas to their arrival amidst the splendors of Yangzhou and Changan and the Sui-Tang court. The depiction of these colorful events is combined with a sophisticated analysis of premodern diplomacy using the key concept of mutual self-interest and a discussion of two major modes of diplomatic communication: court reception and the exchange of state letters. Wang reveals how the parties involved conveyed diplomatic messages by making, accepting, or rejecting court ceremonial arrangements. Challenging the traditional view of China’s tributary system, he! argues that it was not a unilateral tool of hegemony but rather a game of interest and power in which multiple partners modified the rules depending on changing historical circumstances.
In addition to its masterful analysis of the role of language manipulation, Ambassadors from the Island of Immortals distinguishes itself from other works on China-Japan relations with its "people-centered" approach to diplomatic history, thus revealing the human face of diplomatic institutions. (Front cover)
"This splendid work, with its well-selected illustrations and copious and stylish translations, covers in detail the relations between China and Japan during the long period from late Han until the end of the Tang. It presents a new and convincing interpretation of the "Chinese Tribute System," which the author sees not as a system of submission to the Chinese ruler, but as a relationship voluntarily accepted and based on mutual self-interest. It lets us see medieval diplomacy between the two countries, and the individuals involved, in vivid detail and with a new clarity."—Denis Twitchett, professor emeritus, Princeton University, co-editor of The Cambridge History of China
"Ambassadors from the Islands of the Immortals provides, in wonderful detail, the inside story of a series of important embassies sent from the Japanese islands to Sui and Tang China. These missions shaped the future course of Japanese history. Through them Japan learned the details of Chinese imperial rule, government institutions, tax systems, Buddhist and Confucian ideas, art, and architecture. Zhenping Wang, who is equally fluent in the Japanese and Chinese documentary sources, weaves from a wide range of texts the clearest analysis yet of these missions. Challenging the standard approach, which emphasizes the Chinese rulers insistence on tributary relations, Professor Wang stresses the importance of reciprocity and mutual self-interest in the international relations of the period."—Martin Collcutt, Princeton University (Back cover)
目 次
1 The islands of immortals 7
2 Chinese insignia in East Asian politics 17
3 The messenger of the emperor 33
4 The voyage to China 66
5 The journey of Changan 86
6 Diplomacy in the Tang capital 103
7 Weight and nuances in state letters 139
8 Information gathering 180
9 Acquiring foreign talent 202
10 The multipolar nature of the international system in Asia 216
App. 1 A chronology of China-Japan relations from the first to the ninth centuries 229
App. 2 The letter to the surveillance commissioner at Fuzhou drafted for the ambassador 233
App. 3 Components of Japanese state letters 237
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