Chart of the Japanese Embassies to the Ming Court

Voyage number Year arrived in China Chief Ambassador Number of vessels Comments
1 1401 (Jianwen 3; Ōei 8) Soa 祖阿 Returned to Japan in 1402 with Ming ambassadors Tianlun Daoyi 天倫道彝 and Yian Yiru 一庵一如
2 1403 (Yongle 1; Ōei 10) Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 Returned to Japan in 1404 with Ming with Ming ambassadors Zhao Juren 趙居任, Zhang Hong 張洪, and monk Daocheng 道成; brought “Yongle tallies”
3 1404 (Yongle 2; Ōei 11) Myōshitsu Bonryō 明室梵亮 First tally vessel, returned to Japan in 1405 with Ming ambassador Yu Shiji 俞士吉
4 1405 (Yongle 3; Ōei 12) (Minamoto no Michikata 源通賢) On orders of Ming emperor, repatriated captured Chinese pirates; returned to Japan in 1406 with Ming ambassadors Pan Ci 潘賜 and Wang Jin 王進 (eunuch)
5 1406 (Yongle 4; Ōei 13) Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 Tribute mission of gratitude to the Ming; returned to Japan in 1407 with Ming ambassador
6 1407 (Yongle 5; Ōei 14) Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 With a embassy of 73, Keimitsu paid tribute and returned captured pirates
7 1408 (Yongle 6; Ōei 15) Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 With an embassy of over 100, Keimitsu paid tribute, offered captured pirates, and returned to Japan in 1409 with Ming ambassor Zhou Quanyu 周全渝 due to Yoshimitsu’s death
8 1410 (Yongle 8; Ōei 17) Kenchū Keimitsu 堅中圭密 Mission of thanks for installation of new shogun Yoshimochi 義持; returned to Japan in 1411 with Ming ambassador Wang Jin, who was presented from reaching the capital
9 1433 (Xuande 8; Eikyō 5) Ryūshitsu Dōen 龍室道淵 5 Emassay of 220; returned to Japan in 1434 with “Xuande tallies”; accompanied by Ming ambassadors Pan Ci and Lei Chun 雷春
10 1435 (Xuande 10; Eikyō 7) Jochū Chūsei 恕中中誓 6 Returned to Japan in 1436 with remaining “Yongle tallies”
11 1453 (Jingtai 4; Kyōtoku 2) Tōyō Inpō 東洋允澎 9 Embassy of 1200 (of whom over 350 reached the capital; returned to Japan in 1454 with “Jingtai tallies”
12 1468 (Chenghua 4; Ōnin 2) Tenyo Seikei 天與清啓 3 Returned left over “Jingtai tallies” to Ming and returned to Japan in 1469 with “Chenghua tallies”;
13 1477 (Chenghua 13; Bunmei 9) Jikuhō Myōbō 竺芳妙茂 3 Embassy of 300, returned to Japan in 1478
14 1484 (Chenghua 20; Bunmei 16) Ryōhaku Shūi 了璞周瑋 3 Returned to Japan in 1485
15 1495 (Hongzhi 8; Meiō 4) Gyōbu Jumei 堯夫壽蓂 3 Returned to Japan in 1496 with “Hongzhi tallies”
16 1509 (Zhengde 4; Eishō 6) (Song Suqing 宋素卿) 1 Solo Hosokawa mission
17 1511 (Zhengde 6 Eishō 8) Ryōan Keigo 了庵桂悟 3 (2 Ōuchi; 1 Hosokawa) Party of 600; returned to Japan in 1513 with “Zhengde tallies”; returned leftover tallies from the Jingtai and Chenghua eras
18 1523 (Jiajing 2 Daiei 3) Sōsetsu Kendō 宗設謙道
Rankō Zuisa 鸞岡瑞佐
3 Ōuchi 1 Hosokawa Ōuchi had over 100 in party; Hosokawa had over 100; each domain sent own chief ambassador; parties clashed at Ningbo
19 1539 (Jiajing 18; Tenmon 8) Koshin Sekitei 湖心碩鼎 3 Party of 456; solo Ōuchi mission; returned to Japan in 1541; vice-ambassador was Sakugen Shūryō
20 1547 (Jiajing 26; Tenmon 16) Sakugen Shūryō 策彥周良 4 Party of 637; Ōuchi vessels; returned Hongzhi and Zhengde tallies; returned to Japan in 1549

Sources:

1) Sakuma Shigeo 佐久間重男, “Chūsei: Sō Gen Min jidai no Nit-Chū bunka kōryū,” 中世:宋元明時代の日中文化交流 (Medieval era: Sino-Japanese cultural exchange during the Song-Yuan-Ming dynasties), pp. 220-21. . In Nit-Chū bunka kōryū shi sōsho, vol. 1: Rekishi 日中文化交流史叢書1:歴史 (Compendium of the history of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange, vol. 1: History), ed. Ōba Osamu 大庭修 and Wang Xiaoqiu 王曉秋, pp. 164-253 (Tokyo: Taishūkan shoten, 1995).

2) Yamane Yukio 山根幸夫, Chūgoku no rekishi 7: Min Teikoku to Nihon 中国の歴史7:明帝国と日本 (History of China, vol. 7: The Ming empire and Japan) (Tokyo: Kōdansha, 1977), p. 56.

3) Tanaka Takeo 田中健夫, Wakō to kangō bōeki 倭冦と勘合貿易 (The "Japanese" pirates and the tally trade) (Tokyo: Shibundō, 1961, rpt. 1966).

4) Tanaka Takeo 田中健夫, “Ken-Min shi,” 遣明使 (Embassies to the Ming court). In Kokushi dai jiten 国史大辞典 (Encyclopedia of Japanese history), 5:225-26 (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 1985).

5) Sakuma Shigeo 佐久間重男, Nichi-Min kankei shi no kenkyū, 日明関係史の研究 (Studies in the history of Ming-Japan relations), pp. 154-55 (Tokyo: oshikawa kōbunkan, 1992).

6) Zheng Liangsheng 鄭樑生, Min-Nichi kankei shi no kenkyū 明・日関係史の研究 (Studies in the history of Ming-Japanese relations) (Tokyo: Yūzankaku shuppan, 1985), pp. 68-69.

7) Kobata Atsushi 小葉田淳, Chūsei Nis-Shi tsūkō bōeki no kenkyū 中世日支通行貿易史の研究 (Studies in the history of Sino-Japanese diplomacy and trade in the medieval era) (Tokyo: Tōkō shoin, 1941).

Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Articulating the Sinosphere: Sino-Japanese Relations in Space and Time by Joshua A. Fogel, pp. 102-107, 110-113, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Copyright © 2009 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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