Balhae's Second Mission to Japan

     In Balhae, the third son of Dae Muye (?-737), Heum-mu (?-793), succeeded his father to the throne in 737.  Heum-mu dispatched Seo Yo-deog as an emissary and I Zhen-mong as a vice emissary to Japan in 739.  The delegation had another mission to accompany the missing delegation members to Tang Dynasty China back to Japan.

     When a delegation was sent out to Tang Dynasty China in 733, Heguri Hironari (?-753) was a member of the delegation as the third third emissary or the third officer.  In 734, the delegation set sail from Suzhou on board 4 ships for Japan.  The first ship sailed back to Tanegashima Island.  The second ship drifted ashore in Fujian.  The third ship, which Hironari was on board with 114 other members and crews, washed ashore in the Kingdom of Champa, which lasted from 192 to 1832 in the middle part of Vietnam.  The fourth ship was lost.

     Those days, East Asia was under political and military tension.  In 720’s, Dae Munye, a younger brother of Muye, went into exile in Tang Empire.  In 732, Balhae’s navies attacked Dengzhou (a port town along the northern coast of the Shandong Peninsula).  In 733, Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) dispatched Munye to Youzhou, the northernmost and easternmost part of Tang Empire, to organize armies and attack Balhae in retaliation, and also ordered the king of Silla to attack Balhae, both of which didn’t work well.

     When the third ship that Heguri Hironari was on board washed ashore in the Kingdom of Champa, they were surrounded by soldiers.  A few were killed on the spot, a few others escaped into a jangle, and the others were captured.  About 90 of the captured died of malaria.  Masahiro and 3 crews survived.

     Let’s read the report by Heguri Hironari (?-753), which was handed in to the Japanese central government after his return to Japan.

     “We, Heguri Hironari and others, first accompanied the emissary, Tajihi Hironari, and entered Tang in 733.  By October in 734, we finished our mission, retired from the capital, and were returning to Japan.  Our 4 ships set sail simultaneously from Suzhou.

     "Soon a stormy wind raged, and we lost sight of each other.  Our ship drifted ashore in Champa with 115 people on board.  Bandits came about and surrounded us.  A few of us were killed and a few others fled.  More than 90 people were arrested, and many of them came down with malaria and died.  Hironari and 3 others escaped from the death, and were granted an audience with the King of Champa.  Although we were supplied with food, we were still interned in a building uncomfortable to live in.

     “In 735, we came across a Champa person who was familiar with Qinzhou (in Guangxi, China).  We secretly got on board his ship, left Champa, and reached back the Tang Empire.  We could go back to the capital by the agency of Abe Nakamaro, a Japanese student in the Tang Empire.  We asked to go back to Japan by way of Balhae. The Emperor permitted it, gave us a ship and food, and let us leave.

     “In March, 738, we left Dengzhou.  In May, we got to the border of Balhae.  The Balhae King, Dae Heum-mu, happened to be sending their envoy to Japan to visit our Imperial Court.  We left Balhae at the same time.  Crossing the Sea of Japan, one of Balhae’s ships was capsized by waves.  The emissary, Seo Yo-deog, and 40 others were drowned.  The envoy reached Dewa Province with Hironari and others.”

     Let’s read the royal letter from Dae Heum-mu (?-793), to Emperor Shomu (701-756) next:

     “Our mountains and rivers are separated from yours too far to view your land.  As we hear of your manners and morality, our respect you has just increased.  On bended knees, we presume Your Majesty the Emperor to be of sacredness, wisdom, and virtue, which spread large and wide.  Your Majesty’s leaves grow thick and wide, and luster covers all the nation.  We don’t deserve it, but succeeded to the throne and ruled in vain.  We have eased the tension, shown our tolerance, and established amity with every neighboring country.

     “This time, your messenger to a country, Hironari and others, missed winds and tides to be adrift.  They counted on us.  We thought to reward them, and to release them back next spring.  The messenger and others excessively begged to move forward and return this year.  Their petition was grave and the amity with your country is not minor.  Accordingly, we let them leave as soon as we prepared travel-related materials.  We appoint Seo Yo-deog and others as our mission, and have them accompany Hironari and others to your country.  In addition, we present 7 tiger hides, 7 bear hides, 6 leopard hides, 18 kilograms of ginseng, and 12 litters of honey.  Please accept them when they arrive.”

     After the death of Dae Muye in 737, his third son, Heum-mu (?-793), was trying relaxing the tensions between Balhae and Tang Empire.  He accepted the appointment as a king of “Balhae County” and sent delegation to Tang Empire almost every year.  The delegation in 738 brought Heguri Hironari to Balhae.  He made good use of the opportunity to send a mission to Japan without arising suspicion among Tang Empire.  He indebted Japan and successfully realized his skillful balanced diplomacy in East Asia.

     The mission left Balhae on board 2 ships.  One of the two, which the ambassador, Seo Yo-deog was on board, was wrecked, and whether all the presents arrived in Japan or not was not recorded.  The central government of Japan entertained the vice-ambassador, Gi Zhen-mong, and others.  In the ceremony on New Year’s Day (February 6 in 739 by the Gregorian calendar), they provided a Silla language translator and 2 beautiful attendants wearing long pleated trousers and holding large fan-shaped shades, which meant they treated the vice-ambassodor as if he had been a king or a noble from the Korean Peninsula.  The government presented Gi Zhen-mong with 20 rolls of silk fabric made in Mino Province, 10 rolls of silk fabric, 50 rolls of silk strings, and 200 bunches of cotton.  They also presented Balhae with 30 rolls of silk fabric made in Mino Province, 30 rolls of silk fabric, 150 rolls of silk strings, and 300 bunches of cotton, and the late Seo Yo-deog with 175 rolls of cotton fabric.