Lid of the Epitaph H. 37.9cm, W. 37.3cm Culture and Museology Department in Northwest University, China Inscription of the Lid

Note : The Envoys to Tang China   Note : Epitaph Tablets in Ancient China     These official envoys were dispatched to Tang China over a period of two to two-and-a half centuries from 630 on, in order to study the culture and international situation of the continent. Some twenty voyages were planned, but in practice some of the crossings were never made, and there are various views as to how they should be counted. From the eighth century on, four vessels carried a total of approximately 500 persons on each voyage. Along with the crews went large numbers of scholar-monks, among them the celebrated Saicho (Dengyo Daishi) and Kukai (Kobo Daishi), lay students and technicians, who brought back the latest in continental culture to Japan. It appears that Jing Zhencheng joined one of these missions, which also included Abe no Nakamaro and Kibi no Makibi and the priest Genbo, at the age of 19 in 717.   When a figure of high standing died in ancient China, it was customary to place in the tomb a stone tablet carved with information concerning his name, ancestors, official positions, family, and so on. The custom began in the late fifth century, under the Northern Wei dynasty, and the number discovered from the Tang dynasty, when they were produced in particularly large quantities, is approximately 6,500. Ranging from about 80-40 square centimeters in size, they were partly religious in nature - a certificate of social position for use in the next world, as it were - and partly a safeguard to make identification possible even if the tomb were rifled. With the ordinary official, it was usual for an account of his life to be submitted to the local office, which then had the inscription engraved. In the case of upper-grade officials, it seems that the engraving was usually entrusted to a well-known calligrapher.

The Arts of the Tan Dynasty