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Kanò1 writes (qi): 2 Great mountains are calm, but beasts do not complain about the hardships, running to dwell on them. Deep waters are silent, but fishes and dragons do not mind the pains, rushing to live there. For the same reason, the western barbarians (Xiqiang)3 can scale perilous peaks to pay tribute to the virtuous [Chinese] emperor (chuiyi jun),4 while the southern tribesmen (Nanyi)5 can cross deep oceans to present [gifts to] the enlightened [Chinese] ruler (xing cuo di).6 Knowing well that the trip to China is so difficult and dangerous as to end in their death, still they disregard their own lives. This is indeed due to the far-reaching moral influence [of the Chinese emperor]. Humbly I think that the Great Tang is under sage rule, where frost and dew come seasonably, the Son of Heaven lives in fine palaces, one brilliant ruler follows the trail of his predecessor, and one sage emperor succeeds another. [His virtue] has spread everywhere to cover over the nine parts of the sky (jiuye)7 and to encompass the eight corners (bahong) of the world.8 Therefore, in my country, Japan, gentle breezes and timely rain come suitably, and we know for certain that there is a sage emperor in China. Cutting big trees on great peaks, [we build boats]; sending brilliant blossoms (huanghua)9 to the vermilion court, [we dispatch ambassadors]. Holding jewels from Penglai10 [and] offering jade of Kunyue,11 [the Japanese ambassadors present tributary gifts to China]. [This practice ] originated in high antiquity and continues until today. It has been observed [by successive Japanese emperors] without interruption. [Out of his] consideration of the plan handed down by the ancestors and his admiration for the moral influence of the present Chinese emperor, the master of our land (guozhu)12 thus now respectfully dispatches his ambassador, Fujiwara no Ason Kanò, Right Major Councillor of the State Council, senior third rank, and concurrent acting Grand Governor of Echizen,13 and others to proffer national offerings and special gifts. Irrespective of the peril to ourselves, Kanò and his fellows carried out this command and, at the risk of death, ventured upon the sea. After departing our native shores, en route to China we encountered a severe storm [in which] violent rains ripped the sails and murderous winds damaged the rudder. Great waves surged high as if they would reach the sky, tossing our small boats. In the morning , a south wind began to blow, making us afraid of being driven toward the island of Tamna,14 whose people are as cruel as wolves. In the evening, a north Appendix 2 The Letter to the Surveillance Commissioner at Fuzhou Drafted for the Ambassador wind rose, and we dreaded being blown to the land of Ryûkyû, where the tribesmen have the nature of tigers. Our faces were contorted with fear because we anticipated being buried in the mouth of some giant turtle. We knitted our brows with dread because we feared we would find ourselves the occupants of a whale’s belly. Our boats rose and fell with the waves and were blown north and south by the wind. All we could see was the blue color of sky and sea. How could we catch sight of white mist hanging over the mountains and valleys? We drifted with the waves for more than two months. Our water was exhausted, our crew worn out. The ocean was so vast, and the land so far away. [We were as helpless] as [birds] wanting to fly over the sky with wounded wings or [fish] wishing to swim across the sea with injured fins. How could we fully describe [the hardships we suffered]? In the early eighth month, we suddenly saw a peak in the clouds. We were overwhelmed with joy even greater than that of an infant being brought to his mother or of withered sprouts being drenched with rain. That Kanò and his fellowmen ventured many times upon the deadly waves and have the chance to live again has been brought about by the virtuous power [of the Chinese emperor]. It was something we [would have been] unable to achieve by our own strength. Moreover, as for the treatment that the Great Tang accords the Japanese ambassadors, whereas they are compared to [ambassadors from] the eight [northern ] tribesmen (badi) and the seven (western) barbarians (qirong) who gather like clouds and mist [in the Chinese capital], moving forward on their knees...

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