From the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, China experienced the Five Dynasties and the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, while Japan experienced the late Heian period, the Kamakura period, the Muromachi period, the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the Edo period. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Southern Song Dynasty and Japan had frequent exchanges. During the Yuan Dynasty, due to the further dredging of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the development of navigation technology and many other reasons, sea ships could reach Japan directly, which further promoted the economic and trade exchanges and exchanges between the two countries. During this period, the main communication route between China and Japan was sailing across the East China Sea. The methods of exchanges between China and Japan are more diverse. In addition to a few official envoys, most of them are private trade exchanges, such as the Sino-Japanese trade in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Kanhe trade in the Ming Dynasty, the letter trade in the Qing Dynasty, etc., as well as the two countries. Contacts between monks and literati. The content of Sino-Japanese exchanges includes not only the material trade of goods, but also the spiritual exchanges of Buddhism, Confucianism, literature, fine arts, calligraphy, medicine, books, etc.
The cultural exchanges between China and Japan during this period were rich and colorful. Here we focus on introducing some of the more typical representatives. Among them are the famous Japanese monk Ran who entered the Song Dynasty and spread the trend of tea drinking in Japan; the famous Japanese painter Sesshu and others who were outstanding representatives of Sino-Japanese painting art exchanges in the Ming Dynasty; and the cultural exchanges between China and Japan in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Zhu Shunshui, a survivor of the Ming Dynasty who made significant contributions, and Zen Master Yinyuan, the founder of the Huangbo Zen Sect in Japan. Each of them has a wonderful story.