This year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. In the long-standing cultural exchanges between the two countries, Buddhism plays an important role as a bridge and link. Looking back on history, the deeds of Chinese Buddhist monks and Japanese Buddhist monks who supported thousands of miles of sea waves and put their lives aside are touching and exciting. Jianzhen, Yinyuan, Zhicheng, Konghai, Rongxi... They are communicators of people to people and promoters of people to people and cultural exchanges, and have made great contributions to the cause of cultural exchanges between China and Japan. In the 9th century AD, a Japanese monk named Yuanren came to China. He traveled through more than 60 counties in more than 20 states and 7 provinces for nearly 10 years. He wrote in the form of a diary and in Chinese, "the journey to the western regions of the Tang Dynasty" by Xuanzang and "the travels of Marco Polo" by Marco Polo, which are known as "the three great travels of the ancient East". The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of close exchanges between the governments and people of China and Japan. Since the 7th century, the Japanese government has continuously sent envoys and scholars of Buddhism and folklore to the Tang Dynasty to study cultural system, science and technology and religious customs. In 838, Yuanren joined the 18th and last group of Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty to seek dharma as a monk who had learned expertise in his own country and came to find solutions to difficult problems. At this time, about 100 years have passed since Jianzhen's eastward journey to Japan. In Japan at that time, it seemed a necessary way to go to China to deeply study the teachings of Buddhism in order to become an eminent monk. After arriving in China with the group, Yuan Ren began to visit famous temples and ancient temples. He recorded everything he saw and heard on the way to the Dharma seeking tour in detail in the book records of the Dharma seeking tour in the Tang Dynasty. There are four volumes of more than 80000 words in the book of pilgrimage to seek Dharma in the Tang Dynasty, which records in detail the journey of Yuanren after entering the Tang Dynasty, reaching Wutai Mountain and Chang'an through Yangzhou and Shandong Peninsula, and then returning to Japan from Chang'an. The content is extremely rich and detailed, involving the political history of Wenzong, Wuzong and Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, geographical architecture, land and water transportation, disaster prone climate, customs and people's conditions, prices of city merchants and their relations with Japan and Silla (today's Korea). In particular, the records of Dharma seeking experience and Buddhism are more detailed. It is not only an important historical material for studying the history of Buddhism and relations between China, Japan and Korea, but also for studying the politics, economy, society, culture Religion is also of great help. This book is treasured in the temple of the godfather Huguo in Kyoto, Japan, and is regarded as a national treasure. It can be found from the records of the journey of seeking Dharma in the Tang Dynasty that there were three places that helped Yuanren the most and had the most far-reaching impact on him. Temporary residence in Chishan fahua hospital. According to records, after Yuanren arrived in Yangzhou, he failed to get the customs clearance document and went to Tiantai Mountain to seek the law, so he had to follow the mission fleet home unhappily. On the way back to Japan, due to bad weather, Yuanren's fleet was forced to dock in Chishan Bay (now Shidao Bay, Rongcheng, Shandong). After Yuanren landed, he was warmly received by the monks and local people of Chishan fahua temple, and then invited them to take a rest in fahua temple. The Temple belongs to the first Department of Tiantai Sect and was built by Zhang baogao, an important Minister of Xinluo. At that time, there were more than 20 Xinluo monks in the temple. During his stay in the fahua academy, Yuan Ren actively participated in lecturing, chanting and other activities, and studied Buddhism with the monks there. It is said that Yuan Ren mainly studied Chinese there. When he first came to the fahua temple, Yuanren met a Xinluo monk named Xinhui. He had been to Japan, knew Japanese and translated Yuanren, which eliminated his language barriers. The friendship of Fayuan sect made Yuanren feel more cordial. It was also there that Yuanren heard from Xinluo monk Shenglin that the famous Abbot Zhiyuan of Tiantai Mountain was preaching the doctrine of Tiantai Mountain, so he changed his original intention of going to Tiantai Mountain and decided to go to Wutai Mountain. As a result, Chishan fahua court has become a historical witness of the friendship between Buddhists in China, Japan and North Korea. With the help of the monks and people of the fahua temple, Yuanren finally got the customs clearance ultimatum and embarked on his pilgrimage. When Yuanren returned to the fahua court after entering the Tang Dynasty to seek Dharma, the fahua court had been completely destroyed because of "Wuzong exterminating Buddha". Yuanren was able to successfully seek the law in China and finally return home thanks to the help of the French Chinese Academy and the Xinluo people. In order to commemorate his days in the Chinese fahua academy, Yuanren instructed his disciples to build the Chishan Buddhist Academy after returning to Japan. Similarly, in memory of master Yuanren, China has also built Chishan Buddhist temple. Worship Wutai Mountain. According to Yuanren's diary, during his two months of touring Wutai Mountain and seeking Dharma, he visited famous temples and spiritual traces in Wutai Mountain, participated in various Dharma ceremonies, met with monk Zhiyuan, listened to his lectures and learned Buddhist principles. At the same time, Yuanren also learned Tiantai Sect and esoteric sect from local famous monks and benefited a lot. In addition, in dahuayan temple, Yuanren copied the Sutra of Tiantai Sect, which was not available in Japan at that time, drew a portrait of master Tiantai, and recorded the fasting ceremony and praise of Zhulin temple. In particular, he copied the praise for the Buddhist ceremony of five associations in pure land written by the fourth ancestor of pure land, fazhao, so as to introduce the "samadhi" Pure Land Buddhism sect founded by fazhao into birui mountain in Japan, which had an important impact on Japan's pure land belief and Buddhist customs. Yuanren was also deeply impressed by the Buddhist temple architecture in Wutai Mountain. The ancient architectural layout of Yanli temple in birui mountain, Japan, referred to the architectural style of Wutai Mountain Buddhist temple, especially the Manjusri building built by master Yuanren, which not only imitated the style of Manjusri hall in the Bodhisattva yard of dahuayan temple in Wutai Mountain, but also used the pedestal, spirit stone, willow and so on, which Yuanren brought back from Wutai Mountain. Also brought back with him were 34 scriptures on Tiantai and other scriptures, 37 volumes in total. Among them, a brief biography of Qingliang mountain, written by the monk Association of Huichang temple in Xijing during the reign of Tang Linde, is extremely precious. Pray for Dharma Chang'an. After leaving Wutai Mountain, Yuanren finally came to Chang'an, which he had been longing for for for a long time. After arriving in Chang'an, he saw Xuanzang's "records of the western regions of the Tang Dynasty", which had a great impact on his writing of "the journey of seeking Dharma in the Tang Dynasty". Yuanren studied and lived in Chang'an for five years. In addition to participating in some important Buddhist activities, he spent most of his time learning Buddhism and asking difficult questions from Tang Dynasty or Indian eminent monks in Daxingshan temple, Qinglong temple, dacien temple, Xuanfa temple, Liquan temple and other temples, and learning Sanskrit under the guidance of eminent monks. During this period, he also copied the latest translated Buddhist scriptures, collected 584 chapters and 802 volumes of various religious scriptures, learned from esoteric eminent monks to draw two Datura portraits of esoteric golden fetus, and collected 59 kinds of other Datura, portraits of eminent monks, relics, props and so on. During his study tour in Chang'an, Yuanren's Buddhist level has been significantly improved. He not only realized his long cherished wish of seeking Dharma for many years, but also forged a deep friendship with Chinese monks. As one of the famous "eight schools entering the Tang Dynasty" in the history of Japanese Buddhism, Yuanren promoted the development of Japanese Buddhism, especially the prosperity of Tiantai Sect, with what he learned in China. Therefore, he established his lofty position in the field of Japanese Buddhism - the third ancestor of Tiantai Sect in Japan. After his death, he was given the posthumous title of master cijue by the emperor of Japan. At the same time, the Tang culture he brought back also had a great impact on the development of Japanese language, culture and art and folk beliefs. Yuanren's spirit of seeking Dharma and continuous improvement and his contribution to the Buddhist cultural exchange between China and Japan have always been highly praised. Zhao Puchu, the former president of the China Buddhist Association, once commented that Yuanren was a great disseminator of ancient Buddhism, culture and friendship. He was a famous monk in the history of Buddhist cultural exchanges and friendly relations between China and Japan, and made the greatest contribution among the Japanese eminent monks who entered the Tang Dynasty. On April 14 every year, about 80 monasteries in Japan and China will ring bells at the same time to commemorate master Yuanren's birthday. In order to pursue master Yuanren's style of interpretation, Anan Shidai, an American Japanese scholar engaged in the study of Chinese history and geography and the wife of former Japanese ambassador to China Anami, has visited the past and the present along the footprints of Yuanren for many times and for 20 years, visited the rise and fall of temples, pagodas, villages, rivers and people described by Yuanren in the long history, and explored the relationship between Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, Review and appreciate the mental process of Yuanren entering the Tang Dynasty to seek Dharma. In January 2006, Anan Shidai held a photo exhibition entitled "tracing Yuanren's footprints" at the Friendship Museum of the Chinese people's Association for friendship with foreign countries, which showed in detail 125 photos taken by her during her ancient and modern visits to Tang Dynasty. Yuanren's experience of seeking Dharma and the "journey to seek Dharma in the Tang Dynasty" let us once again understand the history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan. The history of cultural exchanges in which the Chinese and Japanese people learn from each other, respect each other and are kind to each other is still of great significance for the exchange and mutual learning of civilizations in the world today. (outlook new era)