What does "different mountains and rivers, the same moon and the same sky" mean?

Recently, the phrase "mountains and rivers are different, the wind and moon are the same" has been flooding the WeChat Moments. Many people don't know what it means and how it became popular. In fact, this phrase became popular during this epidemic. It was a phrase used by Japan when it donated masks to China, describing the friendly relations between China and Japan. For details, please see the detailed introduction provided by this website.

What does "different mountains and rivers, the same moon and the same sky" mean?

"The mountains and rivers are in different regions, but the wind and moon are in the same sky." The parallelism is very neat. "Region" is the land, which is opposite to "sky". "Mountains and rivers" are opposite to "wind and moon". Mountains and rivers are both on the ground and are attached to the ground. The mountains and rivers of one country cannot run to another country. However, the wind and moon in the sky are not restricted by this and can be seen by people from different countries.

These eight characters come from the poem "Embroidered Kasaya" by Prince Nagaya of Japan, which is included in the Complete Tang Poems: "The mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are the same. I send this to all the Buddha's children, so that we can form a bond in the future." Prince Nagaya was the prime minister of Japan at that time. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Nagaya once ordered people to make a thousand kasayas, embroider these four verses on them, and gave them to the great monks of the Tang Dynasty. The great monk Jianzhen also received this generous gift at that time. Jianzhen really put on this kasaya and made up his mind to go to Japan to spread the Dharma. He crossed the sea to Japan six times, experienced disasters, and never regretted it.

"Mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are the same." These eight words reflect the long history of China-Japan friendship.

Different mountains and rivers, but the same moon and sky

It comes from the Tang Dynasty, when Prince Nagaya, grandson of Japan's Tenmu Tenno, presented the Tang Dynasty with a thousand cassocks embroidered with the following verse: "The mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are under the same sky. I send these cassocks to all the Buddhist disciples, so that we can form good relationships in the future lives." The full sentence means: "Although the Tang Dynasty and Japan are different countries with different mountains and rivers, the people of the two countries grow up under the same sky. The spring breeze that blows through you will also blow to us, and the bright moon that illuminates you will also illuminate us. These cassocks are sent to the Buddhist disciples of the Tang Dynasty, so that we can practice and spread the Dharma together, and form good relationships in the next life." "The mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are under the same sky" is often quoted in Japan's donation activities for China's new crown, expressing empathy for the difficulties of its neighboring country and willingness to help.

Different Mountains and Different Lands, Same Moon and Same Sky

Let’s talk about the poem “Mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are the same.”

The author of the poem is the Japanese "Nagaya Ou". The annotation of "Complete Tang Poems" is "Nagaya is the Prime Minister of Japan". He was the grandson of Emperor Tenmu and the first son of Prince Takaichi. He was born and died between 684 and 729 AD. He was a heavyweight in Japanese politics at that time. Nagaya Ou once made a batch of cassocks for Chinese monks and embroidered this poem on them. It was probably in the early days of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign. The full text of the poem is as follows:

Mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are the same. Send this to all the Buddhas, let us form a bond in the future.

The greatest historical impact of this poem was that it made the eminent monk Jianzhen have a very friendly impression of Japan. In 742 AD, the Japanese monks Rongrui and Puzhao who came to Tang to study paid a visit to Jianzhen in Yangzhou and asked him to send his sons with excellent moral conduct to Japan. Jianzhen replied:

"I heard that after the death of Nanyue Si Chan Master, he was reborn in the Kingdom of Wa, where he promoted Buddhism and saved sentient beings. I also heard that the King of Nagaya of Japan respected Buddhism and made a thousand cassocks to give to the great monks of this country. On the edge of the cassocks were embroidered four sentences: 'Mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are the same; I send this to all the children of Buddha, so that we can form a bond in the future.' Based on this, this is indeed a country with a good affinity for the prosperity of Buddhism."

Why would Japan want to write this poem?

The donation of masks and other supplies to China was decided by 10 directors of the HSK Affairs Bureau. The supplies they donated to Hubei include about 20,000 masks and a batch of infrared thermometers, which have been sent to 15 medical and educational institutions in Wuhan. The 20,000 masks also include some children's masks. The 20,000 masks were donated by about 30 Japanese universities that also participated in HSK-related activities. "We helped donate masks through the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) agency in Beijing." Lin Longshu said that writing the ancient poems also wanted to entrust the Sino-Japanese friendship that he shared with the ancients in each mask.