How backward was Japan in the Tang Dynasty?

1. The first war between China and Japan was the Battle of Baijiangkou in August 663. In 659, Baekje attacked Silla, and Silla asked for help from the Tang Dynasty. Tang Gaozong sent Su Dingfang to lead an army of 130,000 to conquer Baekje. Silla responded with 50,000 elite troops. The combined forces of Tang and Silla quickly defeated Baekje and captured Baekje. King Ji is kind and compassionate. Fuxin, the second son of King Yiji, collected the remnants and attempted to restore the country. In 660, he asked Japan for help and asked for the release of Prince Fengzhang, who was a hostage. Japan's then-reigning Empress Saiming agreed to Fuxin's request and sent Fengzhang back. Prince Zhang went to Kyushu in January 661, intending to personally command the battle with the Tang and Silla coalition forces. However, he died of illness due to overwork, and the expedition plan was shelved.

In 662, Japan organized a large amount of war preparation materials to assist Baekje. In May, Azambirov, the general aiding Baekje, arrived in Baekje with 170 naval divisions. In August 663, Japan sent Lu Yuanjun to lead more than 10,000 reinforcements across the sea to Baijiangkou. At the same time, the allied forces of Tang and Silla decided to attack Zhouliu City where King Fengzhang of Baekje was located. Tang generals Liu Renyuan and Liu Inshi and Silla King Jin Famin led the army to attack. Tang generals Liu Rengui and Du Shuang, Baekje surrendered general Fuyulong and others led The navy went from the Xiongjin River to the mouth of the Baijiang River in the lower reaches of the Jinjiang River, and cooperated with the army to attack Zhouliu City.

On the 13th, King Fengzhang led his naval forces to wait at the mouth of the Baijiang River to welcome Japanese reinforcements. On the 17th, the naval forces of Tang and Silla and the Japanese navy arrived at the same time, and the two armies fought. At that time, there were more than 400 Japanese warships, while the Tang and Silla coalition forces only had 170. Their military strength was also at a disadvantage. In the three rounds of the contest, the two sides failed to achieve decisive results. By the 18th, the two armies joined forces for the fourth time. Due to the Japanese Baekje overestimated its own advantages, underestimated the strength of the Tang and Silla coalition forces, fought blindly, and was defeated. More than 400 warships were burned, most of the soldiers drowned, the remaining troops surrendered, and Baekje was destroyed.

After the victory at the Battle of Baijiangkou, the Tang Dynasty continued to use troops against Goguryeo, so it failed to punish the Japanese and Baekje for joining forces to fight the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty always maintained contact with the Japanese at that time, but the degree of closeness It has been lower than the relationship with China's Sui and Tang dynasties from Prince Shotoku to Emperor Kotoku. As Japan was always worried about the Tang Dynasty using troops against Japan, it also failed to take the initiative to initiate closer ties with the Tang Dynasty on a larger scale. However, all this changed completely after the Japanese Emperor Tenmu ascended the throne. After Japan was defeated by China at the Battle of Baijiangkou Sea, Japan became more enthusiastic about learning from the Tang Dynasty and began to send larger and more frequent envoys to the Tang Dynasty. The period of the most friendly and closest cultural exchanges in the history of China and Japan finally began. It was not until 894 AD that Japan ended sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty alone, and this period of true friendship between China and Japan ended.

The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Baijiangkou made Japan realize that its strength was not enough to compete with China, so in the following hundreds of years, they continued to repair with China and sent more than a dozen batches of "envoys to the Tang Dynasty" , comprehensively studied China's advanced culture and advanced experience and technology in the political and economic fields, and its country has experienced the centralization of power by the emperor, the regency rule (the powerful ministers served as regents, Guan Bai, and actual power), and the imperial government (the emperor gave way to The peace between China and Japan lasted for more than 900 years during the period such as the "Emperor" and "Emperor", and actually still exercised political rights) and the Warring States Period. Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan. All of this was due to the dual reasons of the Sino-Japanese War at Baijiangkou, which created a brand new new order on the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese respect for the Tang Dynasty after their defeat in the war.

2. The Second Sino-Japanese War: The invasion of Japan by the Yuan Dynasty and Goryeo (AD 1274, 1281, the eleventh and eighteenth years of the Yuan Dynasty, the eleventh year of the Japanese Emperor Bunei, Hong'an four years)

The Yuan Dynasty was the only two dynasties in Chinese history where nomadic peoples entered the Central Plains and established an area with Chinese farming as the core area, but also spanned nomadic areas and fishing and hunting areas. , one of the orthodox Chinese dynasties that was completely different from traditional farming China. The Yuan Dynasty was established by the Mongols who originated from the Central European grasslands in northwest China. The Mongols were the most successful nation in the history of the global nomadic people's comprehensive expansion into settled peoples and farming areas. At the peak of their prosperity, they established the The Mongol Empire spanning Europe and Asia. After the Mongol Empire split, its fragmented fragments formed some of the most important countries in today's world system. The Mongols' operations in East Asia actually created an unprecedented situation for China, which was essentially conservative on the issue of territorial expansion. A period of expansion and integration.

Today's large geographical territory of China was first initially formed in Yuan Dynasty China, so Yuan Dynasty China was also a dynasty with orthodox status in Chinese history and left a significant legacy for later generations of China. The Yuan Dynasty was also the only period in Chinese history that took the initiative to expand to surrounding areas and launch a full-scale war in order to establish a unified security order. This alone is enough to make the Yuan Dynasty significantly different from all dynasties in Chinese history. the difference. From the perspective of modern countries and international systems, the peripheral expansion of the Yuan Dynasty also represents an economic and security rationality, which not only expands the scope of the core ruling system as much as possible, eliminates any potential disruption to order, but also Create large-area trade exchanges.

From the perspective of security and national development, China’s external expansion in the Yuan Dynasty actually had a lot of modernity after the rise of capitalism and large-scale industrial production, while the second war and the failure of the war against Japan in the Yuan Dynasty , was also a major war event that affected the subsequent histories of China and Japan. From the late Tang Dynasty to the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty by the Mongols, Japan and China were separated from diplomatic relations for four centuries. After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty in the Central Plains, he attempted to change this situation and make Japan, like other regimes and nations, submit to the Mongols. people. In order to achieve this goal and demand Japan's unconditional surrender, Kublai Khan sent envoys to Japan several times, but the Japanese government refused.

In 1270 AD, the Mongolian envoys arrived in Japan for the fifth time and conveyed Kublai Khan’s decree: If Japan did not pay tribute to Mongolia, the Mongols were about to send troops. The then 18-year-old Japanese ruler Hojo Tokimune ( 1251~1284) resolutely refused this request, suppressed the compromise attitude of others, and ordered the guardians of the Western Kingdom and the land to prepare for defense. After hearing the news, Kublai Khan could not restrain his anger and humiliation of sending envoys five times and being rejected five times. Regardless of the fierce fighting between Mongolia and the Southern Song Dynasty, he ordered the preparation of troops, ships, food and wages, and launched a war offensive against Japan. The Japanese army was also prepared under the orders of Hojo Tokimune.

In 1274 AD, Kublai Khan ordered "Xindu, the strategic envoy of Fengzhou, and Hong Chali, the general manager of the military and civilians of Korea, to prepare three hundred Qianliu boats, Batu Lu light boats, and water-drawing boats." There were 900 ships carrying 15,000 soldiers, and they were expected to conquer Japan in July. "For this reason, the Koreans and Han people were forced to build ships, transport food and pay, and serve as soldiers. They suffered greatly. But Kublai Khan insisted on conquering Japan. "In the tenth month of winter, he entered the country. However, the officers and troops were not organized and all their targets were exhausted. Only the captives returned with fright in all directions." In fact, the Yuan Dynasty army only achieved some results at the beginning of the war. From then on, he suffered repeated defeats.

Although the Japanese weapons could not match the long-range weapons of the Mongols, and their commanders were not as experienced as the battle-tested Mongol army leaders, they were adept at face-to-face combat, and A sudden storm during the battle caused heavy damage to the Mongolian troops and ships as they retreated into the open sea, and they had to retreat without success. The Mongols' first expedition to Japan ended in failure. This is extremely rare in the history of wars after the rise of Mongolia. The myth of the Mongols' invincibility was shattered in the naval battle.

After Kublai Khan heard the news of the failure to conquer Japan, he was very shocked. He once again sent important envoys with letters to Japan, and demanded that Japan pay tribute in a tough attitude, otherwise he would resort to force. But the Japanese government rejected the request of the Yuan rulers and executed the envoys. Kublai Khan, like his grandfather, was determined to punish Japan at all costs. On the one hand, he recruited troops and raised funds; on the other hand, he sent envoys to demand that Japan pay tribute quickly, otherwise the Yuan army would arrive. Hojo Tokimune once again rejected Kublai Khan's request and actively planned an expedition to Goryeo. Kublai Khan had no choice. In the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1281), he gathered 100,000 newly surrendered people from the Southern Song Dynasty to form a large army to expedition to Japan on the grounds that Japan had killed envoys. The troops were divided into two groups: Hongchaqiu and Xindu led 40,000 Mongolian, Goryeo, and Han troops to cross the sea from Goryeo; Atahai, Fan Wenhu, and Li Ting led the new auxiliary troops to take 9,000 sea-going ships and sail from Qingyuan and Dinghai. set sail.

The second army of the Yuan Dynasty agreed to be at Iqi Island and Pingyi Island before June. The King of Goryeo also provided the Yuan Dynasty with 10,000 troops, 1,500 sailors, 900 ships and a large amount of food. However, the Yuannan Army, which had a large number of people and heavy baggage, moved slowly and did not meet up with the East Route Army at the scheduled time. The East Route Army set out from Hepu and invaded Japan's Tsushima and Ichi Islands after waiting hopelessly. Landing on Chikuzen Shiga Island. The Japanese defenders had experience in fighting the Mongols the previous time. They built fortifications along the outer coasts of Hakozaki and Imatsu, and marched into Shiga Island with elite troops (there was a land route between Shiga Island and Kyushu), and competed with the Eastern Expedition. The Yuan army fought fiercely. "The Yuan army was defeated and retreated to Takadao, Tsushima, Iki, Nagato and other places to join up with the belated Jiangnan Army.

However, after the rendezvous, the Yuan Army not only did not actively attack, but Due to the contradiction between the Goryeo, Han and Mongolian commanders, they could not coordinate their operations. In this way, the Mongolian army had to pay a heavy price for every step forward without any cover. The Mongolian army faced off for two months. Unable to win victory. Two months later, on August 15th and 16th, a huge typhoon hit the coast of Japan. Under the typhoon attack, the Mongolian Eastern Route Army lost 1/3, the Jiangnan Army lost half, and some close The soldiers on the coast were massacred or drowned by the Japanese. Chinese historical materials also record that because the Yuan army's warships "tied the ships to the city", they were "shocked and hit by the "mountain-like" typhoon, and the ships were destroyed. The sergeant screamed and drowned in the sea of ​​death. "Commander Fan Wenhu fled before the battle and "sailed to Goryeo alone." The Mongols' second eastern expedition to Japan ended in a disastrous defeat.

In anger, Kublai Khan not only failed to learn lessons, but in 1283 He once again ordered southern merchants and Northeastern Jurchens to build ships for his expedition to Japan, and the Koreans provided him with food. However, due to the deteriorating domestic economic situation, Kublai Khan finally succumbed to the pressure of objective power shortage in 1286 AD and gave up the war against Japan. . At this point, the military relationship between the Yuan Dynasty and Japan ended with the failure of the Yuan Dynasty.

Kublai Khan’s failure to invade Japan represented that the Mongolian military force, which had the highest military organizational capabilities and technical levels at that time, was completely unsuitable for sea landing operations that were different from mainland operations. In fact, when confronting the Mongolian army, In the process, the Japanese samurai forces also had no real military advantage. Their victory was due to the cross-sea landing operation carried out by the invasion of Mongolia. It itself was complex and relied on a large number of technologies that had not been mastered by humans at the time, such as the ability to deal with typhoon weather. Forecast and multiple waves of continuous landing attacks. In fact, the Mongolian army suffered defeats in all battlefields where it could not develop its cavalry superiority, such as Annan, Java, and Goryeo. This was also the inevitable process of Mongolia's expansion power from prosperity to decline.

From the perspective of the Asian system, the failure of the Mongolian invasion of Japan kept Japan outside the East Asian continental system and maintained the corresponding power to invade the mainland. After the failure of the Mongolian invasion, Japan soon The Japanese invasion of mainland China and the Korean Peninsula confirmed from another perspective that it was necessary for Kublai Khan to fully conquer Japan in order to eliminate the threat to the order of the Mongol Yuan Empire. The rapid decline of the Yuan Dynasty prevented its attempt to establish a continent-led unified imperial order in East Asia. Japan, which was outside the Chinese imperial order, eventually proved to be China's thorn in the side.