中日两国一衣带水,交往源远流长。最早可追溯到秦汉,后经隋及唐前期双方互派使节进行空前的交流和学习后,在唐后期官方交往则开始趋向衰弱。到北宋时,中日之间几乎没有派遣正式的政府使节,但民间交往日益密切,僧侣、商人成为中日文化交流、贸易往来的主要媒介,尤其是僧侣充当了重要角色。奝然即为第一个入宋的日本僧人且名垂史册,他在中日交流史上写下了光辉的一页,这不仅是唐 A strip of water between China and Japan, dating back to ancient times. The earliest dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties, and after exchanging envoys between the two sides in the Sui and Tang dynasties for unprecedented exchange and study, the official contacts in the late Tang dynasty began to decline. At the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were few official envoys sent between China and Japan. However, as non-governmental exchanges became closer and closer, monks and businessmen became the main media of cultural exchange and trade between China and Japan. Monks, in particular, played an important role. Suddenly, he became the first Buddhist monk in Song Dynasty to register his name in the annals of history. He wrote a glorious page in the history of exchanges between China and Japan. This is not only Tang