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Escape from Hengyang by Qiong Yao |
This episode on Japan and the Japanese people is to explore into their origins and paste a picture as true to the reality as possible. To read into Japan's past, one will have to rely on written records from the Chinese and Koreans. Earliest Japanese history chronicles would be Kojiki and Nihon Shoki; the early history of "Nihonji" was written by Achi-Kishi (whose ancestor arrived in Japan from Korea), and it was written in Chinese. There was no written form of Korean language till AD 612 when the Koreans devised a writing system embedding Chinese characters or employing Chinese characters in total. It would take Koreans another 800 years to invent the Hangul characters. For the Japanese, the 'kana' would not appear till much later. Early Japanese history was invariably linked to that of China and Korea. The Korean link would be best shown by a Japanese 'surname book' in the 8th century, on which names of continental origin had occupied a large proportion. Japanese Emperor Akihito recently acknowledged that their ancestor of 8th century, Emperor Kammu, reign 736-836, had origin in the Paekche Kingdom of 6th century. The Chinese link, interestingly, would extend as far as 2-3rd century BC at minimum. Before that, "Shan Hai Jing", namely, the Book or Classics of Mountains and Seas, already recorded the existence of Wo [Wa] Japan. The massive Chinese emigration to Japan, termed "guihua-ren" [i.e., naturalized people to Japan], however, would not come till northern China disintegrated into chaos during the "Five Nomadic Groups Ravaging China" in late Western Jinn Dynasty. The Linkage Between China And Japan In Chinese TV dramas, two incidents were constantly mentioned to link the origin of Japanese to the mainland Chinese: namely, i) the story of Xu Fu (Jo Fuku)'s sailing to Japan to find panacea on behalf of first Qin Emperor Shihuangdi (Shi Huang Di or Shi Huangdi), and ii) the story of hairy-faced knight's abandoning China's central plains to Tang Dynasty founders in search of an eastern land for creation of his own kingdom. There is no definite proof that Xu Fu, together with 3000 virgin boys and 3000 virgin girls, had actually landed in Japan 2200 years ago though a tombstone bearing his name was erected in Japan. Some people speculated that Xu Ju was the legendary Jimmu Tenno, and it seems Xu Fu pronouciation is close to Jimmu. The always-on lamps inside of Shihuangdi's tomb, lit by oil refined from mermaid fish from the East China Sea, corroborated the fact that Chinese fishing vessels were very active in the East Sea 2200 years ago. Shihuangdi personally oversaw two sea-farring trips by Xu Fu. During his second trip, Xu Fu was said to have conspired in bringing virgin boys and girls to 'Yingzhou' in East China Sea for colonization. Alternative speculation would point America as the land of Xu Fu's destination. The legend of the knight ('Ranxu-ke') happened in late years of Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618). (During Sui Dynasty, Japan dispatched four delegations to China.) The knight and his female companion disbursed all their assets and properties to Li Jing (who later became a famous Tang general), saying that he would not compete with Li Shiming (Tang's 2nd emperor, i.e., King of Qin and Emperor Tang Taizong) for China and that should Li Jing hear that someone had obtained the kingdom in the southeast it would be him: Chinese tea-house story also claimed that 'Ranxu-ke' operated a chain of stores in mainland and that the country that 'Ranxu-ke' had usurped could be Korea, not Japan. Omitted by official history chronicle "Tang Zhi" [i.e., Tang Dynasty History] would be Du Guangting's writing on 'Ranxu-ke' in which he adopted 'Fuyu' [i.e., ancient royal clan name for Korean kingdom of Paekche] for the territory that 'Ranxu-ke' had conquered after leading an expedition with thousand ships. The most detailed account of China's embassy to Wa Japan would be detailed in Sui Dynasty's history annals. In AD 607, Wa Japanese King Duo-li-si-bi-gu sent an emissary to Sui China, stating that they had heard that the new 'buddha' emperor to the west of the sea had revived buddhism and they would like to have a dozen monks study Buddhism in China. Sui Emperor Yangdi at first refused to hear about the Wa State (Japan) because the Japanese king wrote the sentence: "The Son of Heaven from the sunrise wish good health for the Son of Heaven at the sunset...." However, Emperor Yangdi sent an emissary, Pei Shiqing [Pei Qing], to the Wa State the second year (i.e., AD 608). Pei Shiqing crossed the sea to Paekche, arrived at Zhu-dao (bamboo island) Island, watched Dan-luo-guo statelet to the south, passed through Du-si-ma-guo statelet, crossed sea again to Yi-zhi-guo statelet, arrived at Zhu-si-guo statelet, went eastward to Qin-wang-guo statelet (Qin King Country which was commented to be similar to Chinese: Qin-han of South Korea? Could be Qin-Han migrants to Japan from Korea), travelled through another dozen countries to reach the coast of Wa Japan. Pei Shiqing recorded that the domain east of Zhu-si-guo belonged to the vassalage of Wa Japan. Wa King welcomed Pei Shiqing with over one hundred people, displaying ceremonial courtesy and beating the drums and horns. Within the next ten days, Wa King dispatched 200 cavalry to fetch Pei Shiqing at the outskirts of the capital. After arriving at the capital, Pei Shiqing and Wa King exchanged gifts and tributes. The Japanese asked another emmisary to accompany Pei Qing [Pei Shiqing] back to China. It was from the mouth of this Japanese emmissary that Sui Emperor Yangdi confirmed the existence of Ryukyu, an island to the southwest of Japan. Certainly, the mainland people had arrived in Japan much earlier than the 6th century. It seems the earliest reference to mainland people's landing in Japan would be during the aftermath of Wei Man's usurping the Choson Kingdom of Ji Zhun around 190s BC. As we had detailed in Korean section, Ji Zhun fled to southern Korea to be king of Haan [Han(2)]. Some of Ji Zhun's palace people were driven into the sea by Wei Man's Chinese army according to Chen Shou. There was speculation that those people sailed to Japan. In then southern Korea, the Chenhan (i.e. Qin-Han) and Bianhan peoples, who nominally obeyed to Mahan, had retained more ancient Qin Chinese characteristics than the Wei Man Chinese in northern Korea. The Chenhan people claimed that their ancestors came from China's Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), they called their country by 'bang', and they worked as iron miners for Koreans and Wa Japanese. Later, some kind of fiduciary and vassal relationship was established between the Wa State and China. http://www.os.xaxon.ne.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/esss.html said that "Chiu-T'ang-shu or old T'ang History contains the Records on Japan and Wa-state, and one passage in it radically contradicts the existing dogmatic interpretations advanced by historians of ancient Japan. According to this passage, Wa-state was granted a gold seal by Kuang-wu of Later Han dynasty" in apparently the first years of the first century AD. In the 3rd century, the Wa people requested for pilgrimage to Chinese capital with Governor-General Liu Xia of Daifang Commandary in Korea. Diplomatic emissaries were frequently exchanged, and seals were conferred upon the Wa Queen by Wei China. Later, when the Wa State in Japan had internal turmoils, Queen Himiko requested with the new Governor-General of Daifang Commandary, Wang Qi, for assistance. An official called Zhang Zheng (Chang Cheng) was dispatched to the Wa State in the 8th year of Cheng-shih or AD 247. The massive Chinese emigration to Japan, termed "guihua-ren" [i.e., naturalized people to Japan], however, would not come till northern China disintegrated into chaos during the "Five Nomadic Groups Ravaging China" in late Western Jinn Dynasty [AD 265-317]. On basis of Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, "guihua-ren" [i.e., naturalized people to Japan] included clans such as Yutsuki-kun [Gong-yue-jun; bow moon gentleman], Higashikan-choku or Yamatonoaya [Dong-han-zhi; Eastern Han straight or descendant], Nishibun-shu or Kawachino-Fumi [Xi-wen-shou; Western culture head] and etc. Yutsuki-kun clan, claiming Qin Dynasty surname or Hata clan in Japanese, was responsible for developing silkworm industry and civil engineering in Japan; Higashikan-choku clan, led by Achi-no-Omi who claimed descent from Emperor Lingdi of Eastern Han Dynasty, developed handicraft industry and metallergy; and Nishibun-shu clan took charge of bookkeeping and protocol inside of Japanese government. Wang Ren, head of Nishibun-shu clan who claimed descent from Han Dynasty Emperor Gaozu, had brought ten volumes of Confucius's Analects to Japan at the invitation of Japanese emperor. Per Zhang Guoren & Yuan Changyao's "Simple History of Japan" [kaiming shudian, hk, july 1993], surnames of "guihua-ren" clans [Torai-Jin in Japanese], numbering 324 names, had taken about 30% of all Japanese surnames by early 9th century AD in court-sanctioned "Records of Newly Edited Surnames" [i.e., Shinsen-Joujouroku see http://homepage1.nifty.com/k-kitagawa/data/shoji.html ]. Reader Steve Gladstone mentioned that Japanese records had linked "ninjutsu" or "ninja" to Chinese martial arts monks or masters who had fled to Japan Island from China. (See angelfire.com/ma/imaf/ninja.html, geocities.com/remipulwer/Budo/TogakureRyu.html, ninjutsu.org.uk/nineryu.htm, and http://www.daytonbujinkan.com/gyokkoryu.html.) Old Japanese texts carried a sentence to this effect: "In the era of Koryo & Song, about the 1st year of Huangyou Era, General Yi-gou [Yi-jun?] from Si-jiang [four river] fought the Khitans, Tanguts and Song Emperor Renzong's armies and lost. He then fled to Ise in Japan." What I saw here is nothing other than Khitan's messages to Song court in regards to their campaign against Tanguts. Khitans attacked Tanguts in the first year of Huangyou Era, i.e., AD 1049, and reported that they had suceeded in defeating Tanguts in AD 1054. Dao-yi (Island Alien) Designation Sima Qian's "Shi Ji" stopped at Wudi's overthrow of Wei Man Choson. In descriptions of Xu Fu's elixir-seeking journey, Sima Qian did repeat ancient Chinese legends about the islands of Peng-Lai, Fang-Zhang and Ying-Zhou (land in the sea). Chen Shou's "San Guo Zhi" covered the island of Japan and grouped the early Japanese in the section on Dongyi (Eastern Yi). Later history records referred to Japanese as Dao-yi (Island Alien). Ancient Chinese had different terms for barbarians in four directions. Dongyi or Yi-of-the-East will include peoples in Manchuria, Korea and Japan. In early times, the Yi was associated with the word 'niao' for bird, and there were eight to nine different 'niao-yi' people in the east. Shang Dynasty people, considered a group of Yi people, were recorded to have treated 'Xuan Niao' (i.e., Black bird, possibly sparrow) as their totem. Manchurian legends as to the birth of their founder had something to do with swallowing the red fruit dropped by a bird. Toba Wei Dynasty, in return for being called the nickname of 'suo lu' (pigtailed enemies), would call southern Chinese by the derogatory name of 'niao yi' (i.e., bird-like aliens) for possibly southern Chinese pitched accents or generic-kind of name for southeastern Chinese and islanders. In later times, the Yi designation would be associated with a word 'dao' for island, pointing to the barbarian peoples in East China Seas. (Both the character 'niao' and 'dao' looked quite close and might have corrupted consecutively during the course of history.) Yi is more an inclusive word to mean aliens. The big Korean school of thought, touched on in prehistory section, claimed that the Koreans were true descendants of the Dongyi people. Island Statelets Beyond Japan: Chen Shou's "San Guo Zhi" recorded dozens of statelets on the islands, including Queen Beimihu (Himiko) Wa Statelet, Gounu-guo statelet under a king in the south, and a pigmy statelet to the south of Wa etc. Also recorded would be two statelets to the southeast of Japan, i.e., Luo-guo (naked body) statelet and Heichi-guo (black teeth) statelet, which could be reached by travelling for one year on boat. Some Japanese historians speculated that the two statelets to the southeast of Japan must have been located in Central or South Americas. Yao Silian's "Liang Shu" (History of Southern Liang Dynasty) further mentioned that the two statelets of Luo-guo and Heichi-guo were 4,000 Chinese li distance to the southeast of Japan or 1-year sea journey by boat. (Conflict: 4,000 Chinese li distance or one-year boat travel, in my opinion, could not match with the distance of 7000 between South Korea and Japan.) "Liang Shu" also recorded an island 10,000 li to the southwest of Japan where people, of black body and white eyes, were said to have delicious meat on their body; it said that travellers would shoot to kill those islanders for eating them. To the northeast of Japan, "Liang Shu" recorded a Wen-shen-guo (tattoo) statelet that was located 7,000 Chinese li distance; 5000 li to the east of Wen-shen-guo [tattoo body] would be Da-han-guo [great Han] statelet. (In my opinion, Wen-shen-guo would be somewhere near Hokkaido, while Da-han-guo statelet would be likely in the Bering Straits, Aleutian Islands & Alaska.) "Liang Shu" was noted for its record of Fu-Sang (Fusang) Statelet, saying that it was located 20,000 Chinese li distance to the east of Da-han-guo. Here, we could see an apparent linkage from China,to Korea, to Japan, to "tattoo body" country, to "black teeth" country, and to Fu-sang. "Bei Shi" (History of Northern Dynasties) recorded a big island statelet called Dan-mou-luo-guo statelet to the south of Paekche. It said that the island, having a span of over thousand li distance south-north and several hundred li east-west, could be reached by boat after three months, that it had lots of deers, and that it was a vassal of Paekche. Since "Bei Shi" separately described the Liuqiu (Ryukyu) island, Dan-mou-luo-guo might not be the same as Ryukyu. Liuqiu (Ryukyu) island was recorded to be reacheable after 5 days of boat travelling. This points Dan-mou-luo-guo more towards Southeast Asian countries, Micronesian or Polenian islands or Hawaii. Fusang (Puso) State: "Liang Shu" (History Of Liang Dynasty) recorded that there existed a state called Fusang to the east. The word 'fusang' would later be used by Chinese for designating Japan in poems. Wei Chu-Hsien validated a separate identity of Fusang from Japan by citing ancient records in regards to the usage of iron in Japan but not in Fusang. The more exact mapping would be to measure distance between statelets in between: a Wen-shen-guo (tattoo) statelet (near Hokkaido?) was located 7,000 Chinese li distance to the northeast of Japan; 5000 li to the east of Wen-shen-guo would be Da-han-guo statelet (near Bering Straits, Aleutian Islands & Alaska?). Fu-Sang (Fusang) Statelet was located 20,000 Chinese li distance to the east of Da-han-guo, somewhere near British Columbia or Oregon.
"Great Han" -------------- Fu-sang
/ country
/
/"tattoo body"
/ country
/
/
China ---- Korea ---- Japan
Both Chinese websites and American website
http://ussers.wi.net/~maracon/index.html http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1028.htm Note that most of secondary records had errors in regards to the five monk team. Hui-shen or Hoei-shin did not take part in the AD 458 journey to Fusang, and he merely returned to China in AD 499. My speculation is that the trips from China to ancient America was frequent enough for Hui-shen to return to China on a different ship. Should Monk Fa-Shien had returned to China from India by ship at the timeframe, why would it not be possible that Monk Hui-shen and etc could have travelled to ancient America? I picked up Prof Wei's book again and found out that Prof had listed abundant written texts, from ancient Chinese chronicles, about the existence of i) 'Deep Sea Valley' beyond Japan, ii) 'Feather Mountain' island in possibly Pacific Northeast, iii) 'Brown Bear' stories, and iv) the Redwood Trees. Prof Wei had citations of dozens of entries about the Redwood Tree, which was known to Chinese as the 'Fu-sang' in Chinese texts prior to BC eras. Apparently, ancient Chinese in AD eras, i.e., Monk Hui-shen of 5th century, had mutated the ancient term 'Fu-sang' to mean something different from the Redwood tree. Prof Wei Juxian validated that though America had no iron, ancient Peruvians had imported iron from ancient China for cutting the stones for the palace construction. Also, Prof Wei Juxian validated ancient Chinese texts [prior to BC eras] as to the abundance of silver and gold in ancient America that the American natives did not treasure the metals as recorded in "Liang Shu"
Hui-shen also stated that over 1000 li distance to the east of Fusang would be a country called Nü-guo (women statelet). Nü-guo was speculated by Minhua Zhang to be the Amazon statelet in South America. Hui-shen women were said to have lighter skin, hairy body and long hair that dangled to the floor. "Liang Shu" further cited a personal account stating that a Jin'an area traveller was blown to an island of women during the 6th year of Tianjian Era (i.e., AD 507). Layers Of Japanese Compositions The composition of today's Japanese, like many other peoples, is quite complicated. Though today's Japanese would usually divide themselves into two groups, northerners and southerners, the actual ingredients are much more diversified than that. We could probably list at least the following subgroups:
Wa - Yamato - Nippon There are very important questions here. Is Wa State mentioned in China's records in early 1st century AD the same as that which existed during China's Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618)? Is the Wa State the same as the Yamato? And, is the Yamato Kingdom the same as the Nippon (i.e., Chinese Ri Ben or English Japan) of late 7th century AD? Wa: The Wa people in then Japan had close relationships with the Chenhan and Bianhan peoples in southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. The Daifang Commandary of Wei China (AD 220-265), located near the present capital city of Seoul, was in charge of affairs of the Wa State. http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/esss.html said that "Chiu-T'ang-shu or old T'ang History (*5) contains the Records on Japan and Wa-state, and one passage in it radically contradicts the existing dogmatic interpretations advanced by historians of ancient Japan. According to this passage, Wa-state was granted a gold seal by Kuang-wu of Later Han dynasty (AD 25-220)." (The seal, bearing the characters of "Han Wei [assign] Nu [Wo-nu-guo statelet] Guo [state] Wang [king]", was excavated in Japan in 1984.) "Hou Han Shu" , written in 5th century, stated on basis of "San Guo Zhi" that "the King of Wa resides in the country of Yamadai (disputed to be Yamaichi as a result of the error by the author of "Hou Han Shu). In the second year of the Jienwu Zhongyuan era, namely, A.D. 57, the Wa Nu Country sent an envoy with tribute to Loyang, and he called himself by the ancient Chinese title of "Dafu" ["distinguished court minister"]. Latter Han Emperor Guangwudi bestowed on him a seal. In the first year of the Yongchu era (A.D. 107), during the reign of Han Emperor Andi, the King of Wa presented one hundred sixty slaves. During the reigns of Huandi (147-168) and Lingdi (168-189); the country of Wa was in war; and conflict raging on all sides, and there was no ruler till a woman named Pimiko was selected as a ruler." Beimihu (Pimiko) was said to have no husband but 1000 female entourage; she was capable of witch craft and used a brother for governing the country; and her funeral was accompanied by live burial of hundreds of slaves in a tomb that spanned hundred human steps in diameter. From "San Guo Zhi" could be discerned that Beimihu's Wa [Wo] Statelet had absorbed about 30 small statelets throughout the years. After Gongsun Yuan was exterminated from Korea peninsula in AD 239 (?), the Wa people requested for pilgrimage to Chinese capital with Governor-General Liu Xia of Daifang Commandary. Diplomatic emissaries were frequently exchanged, and seals were conferred upon the Wa Queen as King Qin-wei-wang (befriending Wei China) by Wei China. During the ten year time period of AD 238 onward, Japan sent five delegations to China while China paid 2 visits to Japan. In Jan of A.D. 238, the Queen of Wa sent an emissary ("da fu" Nan-sheng-mi) to Daifang Commandary, requesting pilgrimage for seeing Chinese emperor. In Dec, Emperor Mingdi (Cao Rui) acknowledged receipt of 4 Wa males and 6 Wa females, and conferred the title of Qin-wei-wo-wang (king befriending Cao Wei) onto Wa Queen plus hundred bronze mirrors, pearls, silk and other precious gifts. In the first year of Zhengshi, i.e., AD 240, Governor Gong Zun sent Ti Zhun to Wa and proxy Wa king replied with thanks. In AD 243, Wa king dispatched Wa "da fu" to China. In AD 245, Wei China conferred Nan-sheng-mi a title. In AD 245, Governor Gong Zun and Governor Liu Mao defeated Korea's Marquis Bunai-hou. In AD 247, Marquis Bunai-hou sent tribute to Cao Wei and was conferred the king of Bunai-Mo. Later, around AD 247, when the Wa State in Japan had internal turmoils because Himiko was at odds with the King of Kunu (Bei-mi-gong-hu-su), Queen Himiko (Pimiko) requested with the new Governor-General of Daifang Commandary, Wang Qi, for assistance. An official called Zhang Zheng was dispatched to the Wa State in the 8th year of Cheng-shih or AD 247. Queen Pimiko died and internal turmoils erupted after erecting a male as king. Pimiko death led to a turmoil with thousand deaths. Pimiko live burial included hundred slaves and servants. Iyo, a girl of thirteen from Pimiko family, was made queen. When Zhang Zheng returned to China with two dozens of Wa people, it was already dozens of years later and China was ruled by Western Jinn Dynasty which had usurped the Wei Dynasty in AD 265. http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/jimmue/jimmue.html had a good account of this episode of history. Between his (Zhang Zheng)'s "arrival to Wa and the final return to Lo-yang, many events are chronicled, such as the death of Queen Himiko, the political turmoil ensuing after her death, and the assumption of young queen, Ichiyo(or Toyo) as the ruler of Wa-state. For the enthronement of Ichiyo, Chang Cheng seems to have exercised his political influence. Consequently there is little doubt that Chang's stay in Wa- state lasted over a considerable period of time. In addition, according to the Record of Wa-state in Western Chin History(*3), this particular Wa mission was received by the newly established Western Chin court during the early years of Tai-shih (AD 265~274). According to Western Chin's chronicler's own additional writing of the record, this was the second year of Tai-shih (AD 266)(*4). Therefore, it can be calculated that Chang Cheng's stationing in Wa-state was 20 years -between the 8th year of Cheng-shih (AD 247) and the second year of Tai-Shih (AD 266)." Mysterious Fourth Century: About one hundred years of history, from Queen Himiko era of AD 269 to the so-called Homuda Invasion of AD 369, was in a kind of black box. There is no way to find out what happened to Himiko's Wa State or her rival state of Kunu. Some speculations exist: Himiko Wa of Kyushu absorbed Kunu and expanded into Yamato in Honshu, Kunu absorbed Wa and expanded into Yamato, or an invasion force from Korea landed in Kyushu and then expanded into Yamato in Honshu. To find out what might have happened, we would have to examine the traces of history from later times. (My deduction below was that Yamato Japan had inherited the lineage of Wa Japan.) Liu Yu's Song Dynasty (AD 420-479), according to Liang Dynasty (AD 502-557)'s historian, Shen Yue, had conferred the Wa ruler the (blank) title of 'King of Six States' of Wa, Silla, Qinhan and Bianhan etc. Throughout the short history of Eastern Jinn & Liu Song dynasties, the Wa Japanese had sent numerous missions, and one Korean mission, with Japanese emissary on board, was recorded to have cried aloud when they saw the dilapidated Jinn Chinese capital which just went through an war as a result of internal rebellion. The contacts between Japanese and southern Chinese were understandable in that the northern China was in the hands of the nomads and the traditional Korean route was already cut off at the time. Liu Song Dynasty's designation of 'King of Six States' could be a good proof that the Wa State (Wa-koku) did exert influences over peninsula Korea in some way as a result of collaboration with or colonization by the Koreans. The two successive dynasties of Qi (AD 479-502) and Liang (AD 502-557) continued to receive Japanese emissaries. Liang reaffirmed the title of 'King of Six States' onto the Wa State. During Liu Song Dynasty, five Japanese kings dispatched 12 delegations to China in about 80 years, cultimating in Japan's "fei [flying] niao [bird]" buddhist cultural prosperity by late 6th century. "Song Shu" recorded that in AD 421, Wa King Zan sent over tributes and Liu Song Emperor Gaozu decreed that Wa Statelet could be exempted from the tribute requirement due to sea perils. It further stated that in AD 425, Wa King dispatched a 'sima' called Cao Da to Liu Song court. When Wa King, Tsan [Zan] died, his brother, Zhen , came to the throne. He sent an envoy to the Liu Song Court with tribute in A.D. 438 in the name of "King of Wa, Paekche, Silla, Imna, Chinhan, and Mahan (Mok-han) and Generalissimo Andong Da Jiangjun (i.e., the general who pacifies the east)." In AD 443, Wa King Ji (Sai) was also confirmed the same title as King of 6 states. In A.D. 451, the title of 6 states was changed a bit, to Six States of Wa, Silla, Imna, Kara, Chin-han, and Mok-han. "Paekche" was replaced by Kala (Kara). In AD 462, the son of Wa King, Xing (Ko), was confirmed the same title. King Bu (Yuryaku), Ko's brother, was last granted the title in A.D. 478. "Nan-Qi Shu" recorded that Wa King Wu (Bu) was promoted to Zhendong Da Jiangjun (i.e., the general who quells the east), King of Wa, and 'du-du' or governor of Seven States in A.D. 479, and "Liang Shu" recorded that King Wa was further promoted to Zhengdong Da Jiangjun (i.e., the general who campaigns in the east) in A.D. 502. "Song Shu" or "History of Liu Song Dynasty" did not expound the relationship between Wa and Korea of the time, unfortunately. In AD 478, Wa King sent an emissary to Liu Song Emperor Shundi, claiming that they had campaigned against 55 eastern statelets of hairy people (Ainu ?), 66 statelets in the east, and 95 statelets in the north. Wa King also complained that Korguryo had raided his emissaries of tributes and gifts destined for Liu Song court. Wontack Hong, at http://gias.snu.ac.kr/wthong/, had a very good account of the intricacies involved in here. He pointed that many scholars ( including Hirano, 1977) believed that the "rulers of Yamato Wa were placed below the kings of Koguryeo and Paekche because when King was given the title of Andong Jiangjun in A.D. 462, ... , the king of Koguryeo bore the title of Zhengdong Jangjun and the king of Paekche Zhendong Da Jiangjun. ... The king of Paekche must have been in the position of an overlord ..." Hong further stated that "Wa Kings could not have included the names of non-existent states (Chin-han, and Mok-han). One may then conclude that the remnants of Chin-han or Ma-han existed as other members of the Kaya Federation by ... fifth century. .. Town states constituting Ma-han and Chin-han were by themselves no longer independent political entities [having mostly been conquered by Paekche and Silla, except those remaining as the member states of the Kaya Federation]". Silla's position was apparently less than that of Paekche. "According to 'Samguk-sagi', Silla established the first contact with the Southern Chinese Dynasties in A. D. 521 by sending an envoy to the Court of Liang along with the Paekche envoy." Later, at one time, when Yamato Wa requested that their monks be sent to China under the umbrella of Silla embassy, the Silla flatly refused it. Invasion Theory: The Japanese could not agree upon any specific date as to their prehistory. Conventional world history book cited the event that happened in the year of AD 391 as something corrobarated by three parties, China, Japan and Korea. The Chinese record is to be searched yet for this claim. The Koreans flatly denied that it was an invasion into Korea by Wa Japan at all. But in this year, according to http://home.earthlink.net/~dlturk/japanhistory/yamatohistory.html, the "Japanese forces cross to Korea, defeat Paekche and Silla armies and establish a small colony (called Mimana) on the southern tip of the pennensula. To thank the Japanese for helping save his territory from the Silla, the king of Paekche sends scholars to Japan. With them they bring the Chinese writing system." http://home.earthlink.net/~dlturk/japanhistory/yamatohistory.html made a rough time table for the Yamato Period to be AD 300-550. By adopting AD 300-550, the Jimmu Tenno Invasion would have happened around AD 300, instead of something like in the first millennium BC. This certainly is close to the Korean claim that in 369 AD, Paekche's Prince Homuda led a expeditionary force to Japan and colonized the country as Yamato. What happened then in the fourth century at all? Wontack Hong, at http://gias.snu.ac.kr/wthong/, firmly believed that the so-called invasion of Mimana in southern Korea was not an action on the part of the Wa Japan, but an en-route campaign by Paekche armies. The Paekche armies, in order to cross the sea to Japan, would have no choice but to go through the territories of Mimana. Hong borrowed some research from a Japanese scholar called Egami (1964) who claimed that "Mimaki-iri-biko from Mimana" ( a Chinhan ruler with connection to Puyo people) was "the leader of the horse riding invasion force". In contrast with Egame, Hong claimed that it would be the Paekche who invaded Wa Japan and set up the Yamato State. Hong believed that Egame could not divest himself from the imperialist Japanese viewpoint that Japanese could never be subjugated by an inferior race like the Koreans. In an academic article, Egami (1964) expounded the 'Horserider Invasion' theory which was to say that "the alien people called the gods of heaven were a North East Asian people related to the peoples of Fu-yu [Puyeo] and Kao-chu-li [Koguryeo]... immediately prior to their invasion of Japan, they [the horseriding invaders] were based on the Mimana area in south Korea." Egame's theories, however, were built on undisputable artifacts excavated from the tombs of intermdiate and late Kofun periods. The tombs had shown striking similarities to those in Korea, which made the Japanese into an awkward position should they deny the sudden continental influx in the 4th century. The biggest excavated Kofun tomb was purportedly that of Wa King Tsan [Zan] , i.e., the first of legendary Five Wa Kings of Zan-Mi-Ji-Xing-Wu [Japanese equivalent King Ninkotu (Rende), Fanzheng, Yungong, Ankang & Xiongluue as recorded in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki]. The Koreans claimed that it would be the Paekche people who had set up the State of Yamato. This school of thought had claimed that the Paekches, out of hatred for the Sillas who conquered their country, had embarked on a mission to hide or destroy their Korean identities. They basically wrote the "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki" in late 7th and early 8th century to make the 'invasion' occur hundreds of years earlier than it actually occurred. http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org stated that "in the winter of 369 AD, Prince Homuda's expeditionary force landed on the northern shore of Kyushu at Hakata Bay on the westernmost of Japan's large islands... Prince Homuda's army pushed eastward for six years, encountering fierce resistance from many of the clans in its path... finally halted on the rich agricultural plain formed by the Yodo and Yamato Rivers at the head of Osaka Bay... Prince Homuda proclaimed the creation of his new kingdom, taking its name from the surrounding region and giving the country its first official 'name' - Yamato. Now, the question will be whether this 'Wa' State was the same as 'Yamato'. Yamato: http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/ikazuchi/ikazuchi.html provided a theory of two dynasties existing in Japan in the 7th century, simultaneously, namely, the Kinki Dynasty (Yamato Dynasty) versus Kyushu Dynasty (Wa-state). It stated that "after the defeat of Battle of Hakuson-Kou, Kinki Imperial Families as Great King Tenchi make a public statement of being separate from Kyushu Dynasty (Wa-state) through the backing of Tang. Tang gave Kinki Imperial Families a push that 'Now that you have us behind you, you may absolutely rest assured that all'll go well, and if you get it started, it's half a battle.' ...And as soon as Kyushu Dynasty defeated, they announced an new augmentation and revision of the caps denoting themselves official rank." As far as the last sentence is concerned, I have not found any Chinese literature acertaining it yet. It would be calling the Chinese emissaries all fools to say that they, during their missions to Wa State in AD 664, 665, 669, 670 & 671, did not know whom they had fought against in Hakuson-Kou. http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/esss.html claimed on basis of his interpretations of Chinese records that "since Wa attempted to conduct its diplomatic relations with ... as an equal state, it had to fight a great war against the Sui (should be Tang) dynasty at Hakusonko (in AD 663) in the Korean Peninsula where it was completely defeated. All through these events over the centuries, only one Wa-state was involved, and it was located on the island of Kyushu." Hakusonko is called Jinjiang-kou or Jinjiang River Mouth. I would question only one word here, namely, 'Kyushu'. Why? Because the Japanese would contradict themselves by claiming different dynasties in Japan, Kinki Yamato versus Kyushu Wa dynasties. According to http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/TAIKA.HTM, "the two most important political innovations in ancient Japan were the Seventeen Article Constitution of Prince Shotoku (604 A.D.) and the Taika Reform Edicts of Emperor Kotoku. The regency of Shotoku was followed by a coup against the ruling Soga clan, from which Shotoku was derived. The new emperor, Prince Karu, together with the Imperial Prince Naka no Ohoye, issued a series of reform measures that culminated in the Taika Reform Edicts in 645 AD. These edicts were written and sponsored by Confucian scholars in the Yamato court and in essence founded the Japanese imperial system and government. The ruler, according to these edicts, was no longer a clan leader, but Emperor (in Japanese, Tenno) that ruled by the Decree of Heaven and exercised absolute authority. After the edicts, Japan would no longer be composed of separate states, but provinces of the Emperor that would be ruled by a centralized bureaucracy." Should Japan be a unified country under one emperor, there could not have existed two authorities. http://home.earthlink.net/~dlturk/japanhistory/yamatohistory.html claimed that in AD 646, "The Imperial capital is set up in Naniwa. A new era name (Taika) is announced... During this period, the capital is moved from Yamato to Naniwa, then to Kyushu, then back to Yamato, and finally settled in Omi..." This sounds like a good reconciliation, but needs third party corroboration. As far as Yamato itself is concerned, I would probably claim that the name 'Yamato' is more a terminology for the regime which was first set up in the Yamato area. Before the Yamato Invasion of AD 369 as depicted in the controversial theories, Japan was apparently in a state of loosely independent units. Chen Shou's "San Guo Zhi" mentioned about 100 states existing in Japan prior to the 3rd century. The following will be an approximate description of the locality of the Wa State: Chen Shou said there were, in 3rd century, 30 plus states in Japan which maintained relations with China. Starting from Korea, about 7000 li by sea, you arrived at the state of 'Yichi' (Izu State). Another 1000 li by sea would be the state of 'Weilu' (Matsuro?). Travelling by land for 500 li to the southeast would be 'Yidu' (Izu). Another 100 li by land in the same direction would get to 'Nu'. Another 100 li to the east would be 'Bumi'. 20 days sailing to the south would get to 'Touma'. Another 10 days by water and 30 days by land to the south would get to a place called 'chimatai' (Qimatai) or 'yemaye (Yamaichi)' where the Wa King or Queen dwelled. To the south of Yamaichi was the country of Kunu where a King ruled, and this country was not subject to the Queen. (Professor T. Furuta said the "li" used by Chen Shou was not 435 meters as used during the Qin or Han dynasties, but rather the unit adopted by the Wei and Western Jinn dynasties, which is that one "li" is approximately 77 meters. Looking at Japan's map, people will say this conclusion was quite sound.) In "Wei Zhi" , the name of the place was 'Yematai' (disputed to have copied from the error in "Hou Han Shu", and in "History of the North" , it was called 'Yemuodui'. What is to be noted here is that none of the mutations imply the Chinese characters 'Da He Zhou' which would denote Yamato in "New History Of Tang Dynasty" . The sounding of the pronunciation, however, is almost the same as the later 'Yamato'. Wontack Hong, at http://gias.snu.ac.kr/wthong/, claimed that Chen Shou used the two words 'tai' and 'ichi' more than dozens of times in his book, and in none of those appearances did Chen Shou ever confuse the word of 'ichi' for 'tai' or vice versa. You may ask why the Japanese made a big deal out of this? This is because the later Japanese state of Yamato posed a lingering historical dispute till today. In Chinese history, the records in regards to 'Ri Ben' or Nippon are often marked with the word 'suspicion'. Before the word 'Ri Ben' or Nippon appeared in Tang records, Chinese used the Chinese character of 'Wa' indiscriminately for designating Japan. The Japanese, however, pronounced the same character differently, as 'Wa' and 'Yamato' till 'Nippon' was adopted by Yamato Dynasty as the official name in late 7th century or early 8th century AD. The Japanese claimed that Nippon or Nihon was corrupted from the word Hinomoto, namely, Chinese 'Ri Ben', the origin of sun, and they further claimed that the Hinomoto was a state that existed at the time of legendary emperor Jimmu. The Chinese TV drama depicted Tang Empress Wu Zetian as making up the name of 'Ri Ben' for the Japanese emissary. (I found an entry in history book supporting the Empress Wu Zetian claim.) Adding further to the complexity will be the fact that the Chinese character used for Yamato would be switched from 'wo' to 'he'. The character 'he' meant peaceful or 'mixing-up' in Chinese. In Fang Zhiping's opinion, 'he' or yamato originally meant for the mix-up of Ainu natives and Japanese colonizers. "New History Of Tang Dynasty" recorded quite some claims by the Japanese such as the migration to the place called 'Da He Zhou', namely, Da (Great) He (Yamato) Zhou (Prefecture). DaHe would also be the name used by the Japanese for designating their race today. "Song Shu" and "Liang Shu" had no differentiation of Yamato Japan from Wa Japan. "Liang Shu" stated that after the death of Queen Iyo, male kings were erected again and they were conferred titles by China. Thereafter, during the reign of Eastern Jinn Emperor Andi (Sima Dezong, reign 397-418), a male king by the name of Zan was erected. (Eastern Jinn was usurped by Liu Song Dynasty in AD 420.) "Song Shu" recorded that in AD 421, Wa King Zan sent over tributes; in AD 425, Wa King dispatched a 'sima' called Cao Da to Liu Song court. After Tsan [Zan] would be brother Mi (Zhen?); after Mi would be son Ji (Sai); after Ji would be son Xing (Ko); after Xing would be brother Wu (Bu or Yuryaku). Wa King Wu (Bu) continued the renewl of titles till A.D. 502. Available records did impress me that Japan's Wa ruling house was continuous till early six century AD. Sui Emissary's Visit To Japan In AD 608: Ryukyu was first mentioned in "Bei Shi" (History of Northern Dynasties) as an island country in the East China Sea, which could be reached by sailing by boat for five days. "Bei Shi" stated that Ryukyu was full of caves; that it had three circles of defence-purpose fences, with water flowing by the fences; that its king was named Huan-si-shi, with a first name of Ke-ci-dou and 16 palace rooms decorated with inscriptions of animals; that their people were in constant fightings with each other; that various villages were ruled by a chief called Niao-lian-shuai; that it had 4-5 marshals in charge of various caves; and that they were cannibals eating dead bodies of enemies and family members. "Bei Shi" and "Sui Shu" (History of Sui Dynasty [AD 581-618]) recorded that coastal Chinese people often noticed smoke or mist rising in the East China Sea during spring and autumn time periods and that Sui Emperor Yangdi confirmed the existence of Ryukyu via the Japanese emissary. In AD 607, Wa Japanese King Duo-li-si-bi-gu sent an emissary to Sui China, stating that they had heard that the new 'buddha' emperor to the west of the sea had revived buddhism and they would like to have a dozen monks study Buddhism in China. Emperor Yangdi at first refused to hear about the Wa State (Japan) because the Japanese king wrote the sentence "The Son of Heaven from the sunrise wish good health for the Son of Heaven at the sunset...." However, Emperor Yangdi sent an emissary, Pei Shiqing, to the Wa State the second year, i.e., AD 608. Pei Shiqing crossed the sea to Paekche, arrived at Zhu-dao (bamboo island) Island, watched Dan-luo-guo statelet to the south, passed through Du-si-ma-guo statelet, crossed sea again to Yi-zhi-guo statelet, arrived at Zhu-si-guo statelet, went eatward to Qin-wang-guo (Qin King Country which was commented to be similar to Chinese) statelet, travelled through another dozen countries to reach the coast of Wa Japan. Pei Shiqing recorded that the domain east of Zhu-si-guo belonged to the vassalage of Wa Japan. Wa King welcomed Pei Shiqing with over one hundred people, displaying ceremonial courtesy and beating the drums and horns. Within the next ten days, Wa King dispatched 200 cavalry to fetch Pei Shiqing at the outskirts of the capital. After arriving at the capital, Pei Shiqing and Wa King exchanged gifts and tributes. The Japanese asked another emmisary to accompany Fei Qing back to China. It was from the mouth of this Japanese emmissary that Emperor Yangdi confirmed the existence of Ryukyu, an island to the southwest of Japan. (During Sui Dynasty, Japan dispatched four delegations to China.) Nippon (Nihon): "Old History Of Tang Dynasty" , claimed that 'Ri Ben' or Nippon could be an alternative race of the Wa State, and it cited two points: 1) The Japanese did not like the ugly name of 'Wa' which means people of short height; 2) Nippon was probably a small statelet that was swallowed by the Wa State and the Wa State just borrowed their name. It also claimed that the numerous Japanese students who went to Tang Dynasty had also been recorded to have been ambiguous about their origin. It said that those 'overseas students' (namely, lyu'ngakusei, the same exact term used by Japanese to designate the Chinese who obtained student visas to study in Japan today) often saved the money given by Chinese emperors and then bought huge amounts of Chinese classics for shipping back to Japan. It also said numerous times that those Japanese students often exaggerated descriptions about 'Nippon' and their words were very doubtful. Further, "Old History Of Tang Dynasty" said the first Japanese emissary who used the name 'Ri Ben' came in AD 703 (the third year of Chang'an under Tang Empress Wu Zetian). Subsequent visit would be AD 713 when Tang Emperor Xuanzong was in rein. Ouyang Xiu of Song Dynasty, in his book "Xin Tang Shi" [New History Of Tang Dynasty], said that Tang Emperor Gaozong had ordered in AD 650 that the Wa King Xiaode send armies to aid Silla in the wars against Koguryo and Paekche. Wa King Xiaode, earlier, sent in opal and precious stone to Tang court. After the death of Xiaode, son Tian-feng-cai was erected. After Tian-feng-cai will be son Tian-zhi. The next year, Wa emissary came to China with "Xia [shrimp] Yi [barbarian] Ren [people]" who, with mustache as long as 4 Chinese feet, could shoot arrows accurately. After Wa King Tian-zhi would be son Tian-wu. After Tian-wu would be son Zong-chi. After the Tang success in Korea, the Wa State sent emissary to congratulate Tang in AD 670. Ouyang said that after AD 670, their emissary used the name of 'Ri Ben' or 'Nippon' (namely, Chinese 'Ri Ben', the origin of the sun), saying they derived the name from the fact that they lived close to sunrise. Possible causes cited by Ouyang would be the same as what "Old History Of Tang Dynasty" said: 1) They did not like the ugly name of 'Wa' which means people of short height; 2) Nippon was probably a small statelet that was swallowed by the Wa State and the Wa State just borrowed their name. Ouyang further said that the Japanese emissary did not want to give the details as to the two names, and hence the question mark lingered on. "New History Of Tang Dynasty" , better than "Old History Of Tang Dynasty" , recorded quite some claims by the Japanese emissaries, such as their first claim of 'Heaven Emperor' for their lord and the migration to a place called 'Da He Zhou', namely, Da (Great) He (Yamato) Zhou (Prefecture). Please note that the Japanese had switched Chinese character here, and the old way of using the same character used for Wa and Yamato would be discarded. The Wa character (pronounced 'wo' in Mandarin) will be for Wa, while the Chinese character 'He' (meaning peaceful) would be used for Yamato. Ouyang Xiu said the Wa Japanese did not establish contacts with Sui China till close to AD 600, after last record of pilgrimage to China's Liang Dynasty (AD 502-557). Reading through the sections on Japan in both books, my conclusion would be that the name change to "Ri Ben' or Nippon (Nihon) occurred well after AD 670. It won't be too much erroreous to use the year AD 703 as the official date for the name of Nippon to be known to the Chinese. This certainly contradicts the Japanese theory of the existence of Kinki Yamato Dynasty in addition to the Kyushu Wa Dynasty around the time when the Wa State was defeated by the Silla/Tang armies in AD 663. Professor T. Furuta said "Hinomoto lately corrupted to Nihon, and from 700A.D. Yamato Dynasty adopted it for the official name of their nation." Japanese versus Korean Claims: The Japanese side claimed that their Yamato Dynasty had lineage from the legendary emperor of Jimmu Tenno who, according to Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (all written by Koreans in Chinese language), had the "trek of Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko no Mikoto from south Kyusyu to the Yamato plain accompanied by hand-chosen clan (uji) heads." That was so-called "Eastern Invasion" around 6-7th century BC. The validity of the claim is usually a dispute because Japan did not possess the metallergy for producing the kind of bronze or iron sword that Emperor Jimmu had used. See http://www.os.xaxon.ne.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/esss.html for details about Jimmu Tenno Legends. Professor T. Furuta, in http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/esss.html did propose a non-conventional assertion, namely, " 'Kojiki and Nihonshoki take a moral position that the Kinki Imperial House was in control of Japan from the beginning to the present time. He authenticated the existence of the Wa State via Jinn China's emissary Chang Cheng, Tang China's emissary Kuo Wu-yuan, and Nakamaro the Japanese student dispatched to China in 8th century. The Koreans claimed otherwise, saying that it would be the Paekche people who had set up the State of Yamato. This school of thought had even claimed that the Paekches, out of hatred of the Sillas who conquered their country, had embarked on a mission to hide or destroy their Korean identity. They basically wrote the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki to make the 'invasion' occur 900 years earlier than it actually occurred. http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org stated that "in the winter of 369 AD, Prince Homuda's expeditionary force landed on the northern shore of Kyushu at Hakata Bay on the westernmost of Japan's large islands... Prince Homuda's army pushed eastward for six years, encountering fierce resistance from many of the clans in its path... finally halted on the rich agricultural plain formed by the Yodo and Yamato Rivers at the head of Osaka Bay... Prince Homuda proclaimed the creation of his new kingdom, taking its name from the surrounding region and giving the country its first official 'name' - Yamato. Both the Japanese and Korean accounts did not solve the questions we raised here. The Japanese legend is certainly no history. Tang Chinese of 7th century could not determine the origin of 'Nippon'. How could today's people authenticate it? The Paekche Koreans did not account for the original 'Wa' state in their colonial action of the 4th century. The closest picture we could get about the Korean-Japan link would be the fact that the Paekche Koreans and the Japanese were more than allies and more likely kinsmen as claimed by the Korean school. One Paekche prince was in Japan when their country was defeated by Tang Chinese. In mid-600 AD, the Korean peninsula was undergoing increasing turmoils as Silla had just requested China's Tang for assistance in the wars against Paekche in the west and Koguryo in the north. Tang Chinese came to Korea at the invitation of Silla. The Paekche prince, Fuyu Feng (please note the family name of Fuyu, a bearing of their ancestral Fuyu or Puyo statelet in Manchuria), was picked up in AD 661 from Japan by two Paekche generals. Wars were waged between Paekche and Tang/Silla armies for the next 2 years. General Liu was re-enforced by 7000 soldiers dispatched from today's Shandong Province, and Prince Fuyu Feng requested relief with Wa. http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/ikazuchi/ikazuchi.html claimed that in AD 663, "this year ,in order to assist Pekche, arms were out put in order, ships fitted out,... Generals of the Rear Division, were sent in command of 27,000 men to invade Silla." In this war, the 400 Japanese ships were burnt by Tang General Liu Rengui and his Paekche ally Fuyu Rong. Chinese history said the Tang Chinese captured the Fuyu family and brought them to China. Liu made Fuyu Rong swear with Silla king that they would not war against each other, and further buried the sworn testaments underneath their royal palaces, respectively. Liu designated Fuyu Rong as governor-general of Paekche and then sailed home. Shortly thereafter, Fuyu Rong fled to mainland China out of fear for Silla. Tang court later ordered the Fuyu prince to go back to Korea in AD 677, but Fuyu Rong was still afraid of going home. Tang China continued on to conquer Koguryo. This Fuyu prince was afraid of going back to Korea because Silla armies were in full control of his old land, and he was conferred some Chinese titles as an official in Tang court. Fuyu Rong was ordered to go to Korea again, but he stopped and stayed in the old territory of Koguryo and he died there. The Paekche remnants certainly fled to Japan as well. http://plaza14.mbn.or.jp/~sinkodai/efuruta/ikazuchi/ikazuchi.html claimed that "Prince Syon-kwang of Pekche and his people were given a residence at Naniha" of Japan in AD 664. In AD 664, 665, 669, 670 & 671, the Tang court sent to Japan numerous missions, some in hundreds and some numbering 2000. Those missions were either sent by General Liu Renyuan who were in charge of Paekche affairs or sent direct by the Tang court, and some of the mission included former Paekche generals. It would be a real puzzel should the Chinese records fail to tell whether there had existed a different dynasty, the Kinki Yamato against the Wa State. Taika Reform, Kojiki and Nihon Shoki Taika Reform Edicts in 645 AD, as detailed at http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/TAIKA.HTM, purportedly had laid the foundation for Japan to develop into a Confucian-style imperial society mapping that of China. This is an important piece of work in Japanese history. We could not doubt it simply because the Chinese history chronicles had no record of it. History, however, is usually compiled by someone of a later time period. Inconsistency, perjury, modification and revision often occurs, and it would be up to some later historians to authenticate it by double checking alternative sources. In China, concurrent history accounts had been important source for the later historians. In Spring & Autumn time period, there were three brothers who worked as royal chronicler for Qi Principality. The elder brother wrote that prime minister, Cui Zhu, killed the king and hence got killed by the usurper, the second brother continued his brother's version and got killed, and the third brother did it again, which made Cui Zhu frustrated at it and hence left the record unchanged. During China's South-North Dynasties, usurpation and killing had been the norm. Often, the emperors would summon the historians and asked them to give them some favor in their descriptions about usurpation. In case of Japan, we would cast doubts on the authenticity of events described by Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Possible explanations for the ambiguity of the Japanese emissaries would be to hide something. The original act of hiding the truth may not have to do with later glorifications. The Japanese's ambiguity about the origin and history of Yamato and Nihon could have much to do with their internal usurpations and killings. Similar examples could be found in Ming China's relationship with Koryo. Koryo regularly sent in tributaries to Ming emperors. When the tributary was not regular or interrupted for some time, the Chinese emperor would conduct an inquiry into the Koryo kings. At one time, when one Koryo king passed away, Ming Emperor had worn mourning clothing for the days when the Koryo emissary was in Chinese capital. When Ming Emperor was having doubts about the cause of the death of the Koryo king, Ming Emperor would threaten to attack Koryo to punish the usurper should that be the case. I would raise my suspicion here as to the Japanese court in the 7th century. http://home.earthlink.net/~dlturk/japanhistory/yamatohistory.html mentioned the following usurpations: In AD 644, there was the Taika Coup in which Naka no Ôe (son of Empress Kôgyoku and future Emperor Tenchi [Tianzhi 626-672]) arranged for the assassination of the Soga clan leaders [Soga no Iruka, i.e., Suwo-shi clan in Chinese]. Kôtoku (Empress Kôgyoku's brother) became Emperor Xiaode [645-654] in AD 645 after Naka [Prince Zhongda-xiong] killed Soga [Suwo] Rulu [Iruka]. On lunar calendar Jan 1st of AD 646, Emperor Xiaode [Kotoku] decreed economic and political reform with the help of returnee students and monks from the continent and Korea. In AD 647, eight provinces were stipulated by mapping Tang China's system at the proposal of returnees Gaoxiang Xuanl; 100 officialdom system was implemented, with 8 ministries, one censorship [inspector] department and five garrisons; nationwide, capital, seven 'dao' [circuit], guo [state], jun [commandary] and li [shire] were established; and taxation, field allocation, and military draft system was adopted. Emperor Xiaode and crown prince Naka [Prince Zhongda-xiong], during the reign, participated in the war against Silla-Tang, but got defeated at Baijiang-kou in August of AD 663. In AD 671, Emperor Tenchi died. A succession dispute between his son and his younger brother broke out. His son temporarily succeeded him as Emperor Kôbun, but was later killed in battle. In AD 672, Temmu (Tianwu [631-686], Tenchi's younger brother) became emperor. In AD 673, Temmu ordered the compilation of the Kojiki and the Nihongi (Nihonshoki) to justify his accession. By AD 701, Japan completed the compilation of its first law, i.e., "Da Bao Luu Ling". In AD 710, under Empeor Yuanming, capital was moved to Pingcheng-jing [Nara] from Feiniao [i.e., flying bird, Asuka, 538-710], and would not move under Emperor Huanwu to Ping'an-jing [Kyoto] till AD 794. From AD 702 to 894, Japan renewed its policy of dispatching delegations to Tang China, a policy first started in AD 630-660 but revised during the AD 663 conflict with Silla/China. Delegation amounted to close 500 personnel and four ships. TO BE CONTINUED !!!!! Mongol Invasion of Japan Japanese Piracy, Shogunate Tallies, Korea & Taiwan Island 1894 Sino-Japanese War Infamous Luushun Massacre First World War & China - Japan's Twenty-one Demands Russia, Britain & Japan - Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia & Manchuria Jinan Incident & National Humiliation Memorial Day Japanese Invasion Of Manchuria, Cha-ha-e & Jehol (1931-1934) Japanese Invasion Of China (1937-1945) Defence Battle at Nanking Rape Of Nanking Eight Year Long Resistance War Against Japanese Invasion written by Ah Xiang |
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Li Hongzhang's Poem After 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki:
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![Though, Anna Wang [Anneliese Martens], in her memoirs, expressed jealousy over Gong Peng by stating that the Anglo-American reporters had flattered the Chinese communists and the communist movement as a result of being entranced with the goldfish-eye'ed personal assistant of Zhou Enlai](GongPeng.jpg)
Often researched upon by scholars would be a drawing by Liang Dynasty's Emperor Yuandi, entitled "zhi [duty or post] gong [tribute] tu [picture]" [
The Ainu have wavy hair, often curly. Black is the predominant color. The hair of the children is lighter, and often auburn. All Ainu hair is coarse and strong...
They are light reddish-brown in color, and have none of the sallow yellowness of the Mongolian. They have expressive eyes, and almost every Ainu's eyes are light brown in color. Black eyes are rare among them...
Their foreheads are narrow, and slope gently backward. Their noses are slightly hooked, flat and broad, with wide nostrils. They have large mouths and firm, thick lips. They have exceptionally long ear lobes."