The “Silk Road” and the “Book Road”——A Unique Pattern of Cultural Exchange in East Asia

The “Silk Road” was originally put forward by westerners to term the trade route between the West and the East, which cannot be applied without restraint to cultural exchanges between other areas in the world. Research done from an Oriental perspective on the history of cultural exchange in ancient East Asia, particularly between China and Japan, has led to the discovery that the said cultural exchanges are different from the “Silk Road” in terms of their content, form, significance and influence; thus the concept of the “Book Road” is advocated. While silk symbolizes Chinese material civilization, books feature the essence of Chinese culture and ideology. Generally, the former is lacking in self reproductive capacity, whereas the latter may have an impact on human minds regardless of time and space, bringing benefits to the later generations. It is because Japanese Kenzuishi and Kentoshi were commissioned to purchase books that Japan inherited a lot of Chinese culture, although there was not much traveling between China and Japan. In the nearly 290 year Tang Dynasty, 50 odd countries dispatched diplomatic corps to China. The Tang Dynasty got in touch with northern nations, western nations and southern nations mainly for the purpose of war, marriage, trade and the like. However, contact with eastern nations, which includes communication frequently by books, was rather distinctive. In Jiu Tang Shu (Old History of Tang), it is mentioned that Japanese Kentoshi spent all their rewards given in the Tang Dynasty on books, which is quite different from the case of traders from the Western Regions, who came to China for silk. There is no denying the fact that Japanese students and monks in China in the company of Kentoshi were stars on the “Book Road”. For example, Genbo once brought some 5 000 Buddhist scriptures back to Japan; Saichao, Kukai, and Ennin also collected a large number of books in China whose catalogue has still remained. In addition, books were also taken to Japan as a private present, by merchant ship, via Sillans (ancient Koreans), or through Chinese visitors. Nihonkoku kenzaisyo mokuroku compiled in the late 9th century comprises 17 345 volumes of various types, which almost amount to more than one third of the entire collection of books in the Tang Dynasty. It is actually the surviving catalogue compiled after Japanese Royal Library caught fire. It is thus evident that a surprisingly huge number of books were carried from China to Japan in the Tang Dynasty. Chinese books, which are in circulation in Japan by way of duplication, reprinting, annotation, translation, or quotation, have become an important spiritual food for Japanese intellectuals, producing a profound influence on the development of Japanese civilization in various periods.