The mystery of Xu Fu’s eastward journey

After Qin Shihuang annexed the six countries and unified the whole country, he held a high and powerful position, and what he wanted most was longevity. Later, he heard that there was a Penglai fairy bird in the East China Sea, and there was Ganoderma lucidum grass that can be taken to live forever. Xu Fu was sent to lead five hundred boys and girls and three thousand craftsmen to cross the sea eastward. Later, Qin Shihuang did not expect news from Xu Fu until his death. Where did Xu Fu go? Some people say that the navigation skills were poor at that time, and they were all wiped out by strong winds and waves. The first person to record Xu Fu's history in historical records was Sima Qian, but he did not explain where Xu Fu floated to the sea. Later generations thought it was Taiwan or Ryukyu, and some said it was America, but most people thought it was Japan. It was Yichu, a monk from the Later Zhou Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, who first proposed Xu Fu's eastward journey to Japan. Said: "The country of Japan is also called the country of Japan, located in the East China Sea. During the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu led 500 boys and 500 girls to stop this country. Today, the people are just like Chang'an. ... And more than a thousand miles northeast, there is a mountain named 'Fuji' Named 'Penglai'... Xu Fu was called Penglai when he came here, and his descendants are all called Qin family to this day."

This saying of Yichu comes from the Japanese monk Hongshun. Ouyang Xiu, a writer and historian of the Song Dynasty, also believed that Xu Fu traveled east to Japan. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Japanese monk Kukai went to Nanjing and presented poems to the Ming Taizu, mentioning "Xu Fu Temple in front of Xiong Yefeng". Li Shuchang, Huang Qixian and others, the envoys to Japan in the late Qing Dynasty, all visited Xu Fu's tomb and wrote poems and inscriptions on it. Xu Songshi said in "The Origin of the Japanese Nation" that during the Warring States and Pre-Qin Dynasties, a large number of people from the southeastern coast of China immigrated to Japan, and the boys and girls led by Xu Fu were one of them. "Xu Fu's journey to the east by the sea must be true." Hong Kong Wei Tingsheng's "Examination of Xu Fu's Entry into Japan and the Founding of the Nation" believes that Xu Fu is the founder of Japan, Emperor Jimmu Nakata Gen, and that he is the 29th grandson of King Xu Ju after Zhuan Xu. Taiwanese scholar Peng Shuangsong wrote the book "Xu Fu is Emperor Jimmu" to further enrich Wei Tingsheng's views.

To this day, Japan preserves many relics of Xu Fu’s activities, such as the tomb of Xu Fu and his seven followers in Wakayama County, Xu Fu Palace, the “Xu Fu Landing” Monument in Saga County, Kyushu Island, and Xu Fu’s Stone Family, Xu Fu Temple, and Jinli Shrine dedicated to Xu Fu, etc. Some scholars believe that Xu Fu's eastward journey to Japan is just a legend and cannot find reliable historical documents to prove it. Some people even believe that the legend of Xu Fu's eastward journey to Japan is a product of Japan around the 10th century and was not first proposed by the Chinese. Xu Fu only visited the islands in the Bohai Bay at that time. His deeds, ruins, and cemetery in Japan are all fictitious for future generations. In addition, some scholars believe that Xu Fu's eastward journey is a historical fact, but he did not go to Japan, but to the Americas. The time of Xu Fu's eastward journey coincides with the rise of the Maya civilization in the Americas, and Japan is very close to mainland China. , there is no need to spend huge sums of money or take several years to arrive. There is a huge sea of ??people, and there is no convincing answer yet as to where Xu Fu went when he crossed east.