Ambassadors from the Island of Immortals: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period

Notes

chapter 1: the islands of immortals 1. Xiao Yi, Jin louzi, 5, p. 5; Ren Fan, Shuyi ji, a, p. 19a. See also Edward H. Schafer, “Fusang and Beyond,” pp. 379–380. 2. Zhang Junfang, Yunji qiqian (SBCK edn.), 100, pp. 5a–b. 3. Wang Jia, Shiyi ji, 10, pp. 5a–5b; Ren Fan, Shuyi ji, a, p. 15a. 4. Sima Qian, Shi ji (hereafter SJ), 6, p. 247; 28, p. 1369. 5. Li Fang, Taiping guangji, 4, p. 26; Luo Jun, Baoqing siming zhi, 12, p. 17a. 6. Scholars have identified Xu Fu (255 b.c.–?) as a native of Qi, one of the Warring States. His ancestor was the lord of a principality in eastern China during the Western Zhou dynasty. The exact birthplace of Xu Fu is still debated by scholars. See Wang Jinlin, Han Tang wenhua yu gudai Riben wenhua , pp. 52–53. 7. SJ, 118, p. 3086; Fan Ye, Hou Han Shu (hereafter HHS), 85, p. 2822; Chen Shou, San guo zhi (hereafter SGZ), 47, p. 1136; Liu Xu et al., comps., Jiu Tang shu (hereafter JTS), 2, p. 33; Li Fang, Taiping yulan (hereafter TPYL), 782, p. 6a. 8. Wang Yucheng, Xiaochu ji (SBCK edn.), 14, pp. 6a–b. 9. Wang Chong, Lun heng (SBCK edn.), 5, p. 5a; 8, p. 8a; 19, p. 9b. See also Hashikawa Tokio, “Wajin ga chòsò o mitsuida koto,” in Ishihama sensei koki kinen Tòyògaku ronsò, ed. Ishihama Sensei Koki Kinenkai, pp. 449–458. In this book, representatives sent to China by various tribal leaders in Japan before its political unification in the fifth century are called “messengers.” In contrast, the head of a diplomatic mission and his deputy representing a unified Japan under the Yamato court from the fifth century onward are referred to as “ambassador” and “vice-ambassador” respectively. 10. Li Yanshou, Nan shi (hereafter NS), 10, p. 307. 11. Pronunciation for this term is specified in Ban Gu, Han shu (hereafter HS), 28b, p. 1659; Chen Pengnian, Guang yun (SBBY edn.), 2, p. 17b. Gao You’s annotation to the Huainan zi (SBCK edn.), 2, p. 10b, suggests that the Chinese were knowledgeable of the Wo language in the Eastern Han dynasty. “Wo” is used throughout this book to refer to tribal units on the Japanese archipelagos before the fifth century. When quoting Japanese sources on these tribal units, however, I use the Japanese transliteration “Wa.” In contrast , the term “Japan” is employed to refer to the unified state after the fifth century. Japanese scholars generally believe that the term “Japan” (Yamato) came into use during the reign of Suiko Tennò (593–628). Chinese records, however, suggest that it was not until Empress Wu Zetian’s time (r. 685–704) that the term in question came into use. See JTS, 199a, p. 5340. Notes 12. See examples in HHS, 85, p.2818; SGZ, 30, p. 849; Shen Yue, Song shu, 97, p. 2394. For further discussions of the Wo, see Mark Hudson, “Ethnicity in East Asia: Approaches to the Wa,” pp. 51–63; see also his Ruins of Identity: Ethnogenesis in the Japanese Islands, pp. 175–205; Uchida Ginpû, “Gishi Wajinden naka no nettaiteki shokiji ni tsuite,” in Tòhògaku ronshû, ed. Ono Katsutoshi Hakase Shòju Kinenkai, pp. 51–57; Miki Tarò, Wajinden no yògo no kenkyû, p. 276; and Kòmei Sasaki, “The Wa People and Their Culture in Ancient Japan: The Cultures of Swidden Cultivation and Padi-Rice Cultivation ,” pp. 24–46. Masako Nakagawa, however, seems to believe that the term “Wo” in Chinese records refers specifically to ancient Japan. See her “The Shan-hai ching and Wo: A Japanese Connection.” 13. Xu Shen, Shuowen jiezi, 8, p. 162; Gu Yewang, Yu pian (SBBY edn.), 3, p. 19. 14. HS, 28b, p. 1658. 15. HHS, 1b, p. 84. 16. SGZ, 30, p. 857. For discussions of Chinese opinions of Japan and the “Eastern Barbarians,” see Inoue Hideo, “Go Kanjo no Tòikan,” in Ono Katsutoshi hakase shòjû kinen tòhògaku ronshû, ed. Ono Katsutoshi Hakase Shòju Kinenkai , pp. 33–56. See also his “Sangokushi no Tòi òshakan.” 17. English translations of these accounts are in L.C.Goodrich and R.Tsunoda, Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories, pp. 14–59. Unless indicated otherwise, the following discussion of ancient Japan is based on records from HHS, 85, pp. 2820–2822; and SGZ, 30, pp. 854–856. 18. For discussions of archaeological findings in Japan...