Editing Nara period (section)

==International relations==
The Nara court aggressively imported knowledge about the [[China|Chinese]] civilization of its day (the [[Tang dynasty]])<ref>{{cite book|last=Lockard|first=Craig A.|title=Societies Networks And Transitions: Volume B From 600 To 1750|year=2009|publisher=Wadsworth|isbn=978-1-4390-8540-0|pages=290–291}}</ref> by sending diplomatic envoys known as [[Imperial Japanese embassies to China|kentōshi]] to the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] court every twenty years. Many Japanese students, both lay and Buddhist priests, studied in [[Chang'an]] and [[Luoyang]]. One student named [[Abe no Nakamaro]] passed the [[Imperial examination|Chinese civil examination]] to be appointed to governmental posts in China. He served as governor-general in [[Annam (Chinese province)|Annam]] (Chinese [[Vietnam]]) from 761 through 767. Many students who returned from China, such as [[Kibi no Makibi]], were promoted to high government posts.

[[Tang dynasty|Tang]] China never sent official envoys to Japan, for Japanese kings, or "emperors" as they styled themselves, did not seek investiture from the Chinese emperor. A local Chinese government in the Lower Yangzi Valley sent a mission to Japan to return Japanese envoys who entered China through [[Balhae]]. The Chinese local mission could not return home due to the [[An Lushan Rebellion]] and remained in Japan.

The [[Hayato people]] (隼人) in southern [[Kyushu]] frequently resisted rule by the [[Imperial House of Japan|imperial dynasty]] during the Nara period.<ref>[[William George Aston]] says this in his note, see ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697'', translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by [[William George Aston]]. Book II, note 1, page 100. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. {{ISBN|978-0-8048-3674-6}}</ref> They are believed to be of [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] origin and had a unique culture that was different from the Japanese people.<ref>Kakubayashi, Fumio. 1998. 隼人 : オーストロネシア系の古代日本部族' [http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110000577490/en/ ''Hayato : An Austronesian speaking tribe in southern Japan''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526015630/http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110000577490/en/ |date=2014-05-26 }}'. ''The bulletin of the Institute for Japanese Culture, Kyoto Sangyo University'', 3, pp.15-31 {{ISSN|1341-7207}}.</ref><ref>The Hayato dance appears repeatedly in the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and Shoku Nihongi, performed on the occasion of paying tribute to the court and for the benefit of foreign visitors.</ref> They were eventually subjugated by the [[Ritsuryō]].

Relations with the [[Korea]]n kingdom of [[Silla]] were initially peaceful, with regular diplomatic exchanges. The rise of [[Balhae]] north of Silla destabilized Japan-Silla relations. [[Balhae]] sent its first mission in 728 to Nara, which welcomed them as the successor state to [[Goguryeo]], with which Japan had been allied until Silla unified the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]].