Is there really a Xu Fu in history?

As the saying goes, "Being an emperor is becoming an immortal". Qin Shihuang is such a figure. Ceng Yun, Qiu Qiongshan's Compendium in Qing Dynasty, said: "Since the first emperor leveled the Six Kingdoms, all those who have ambitions in their lives have failed, and those who cannot win their ambitions will live forever." Some alchemists go their own way, weaving fairy tales, claiming that there are fairy medicines at sea, which can make them live forever. Fu sailed into the sea under such circumstances.

In 2 19 BC (the 28th year of Qin Shihuang), Qin Shihuang made his second tour, and a large group of people sealed the temple in Mount Tai and carved stones, then went to Bohai Sea in a mighty way. Arriving at the seaside, Qin Shihuang boarded Zhifu Island and enjoyed himself. I saw people in the mountains and rivers between the sea of clouds, which was spectacular, especially fascinated Qin Shihuang. This scene was originally a mirage, but the alchemist described it as a legendary fairyland on the sea in order to cater to Qin Shihuang's desire for longevity. Chui fook took the opportunity to write to Qin Shihuang, saying that there are three Fairy Mountain in the sea, Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou, where immortals live and can get immortal medicine. Qin Shihuang was very happy, and then, according to Xu Fu's request, he sent thousands of men and virgins to the sea with him to get the fairy medicine. He himself lingers here, waiting for Xu's good news. However, only Xu Fu returned empty-handed. Xu Fusheng said that he wanted to see Poseidon, who refused to give the fairy medicine on the grounds that the gift was too thin. In this regard, Qin Shihuang was convinced and sent 3,000 boys and girls, craftsmen, technicians and grain seeds to let Xu Fu go to sea again. Qin Shihuang refused to leave, waited for three months, and didn't hear from Xu Fu, only to be disappointed.

In the following years, Qin Shihuang sent Lu Sheng, A Yan and others to the sea for fairy medicine. Of course, he got nothing. In 2 10 BC (the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shihuang), Qin Shihuang made his fifth patrol and came to Langya again. It's been nine years since Chuifu went to the sea to find the elixir, and I will always report it later. Immediately send someone to summon Xu Fu, who has been sailing for a long time for many years, for fear of heavy punishment, and tell Qin Shihuang: "Penglai Fairy Mountain does have fairy medicine, and it is often blocked by big dumpling fish when going out to sea, so it can't be reached. Please send an archer for a week and shoot with a crossbow when you see a big fish. " Qin Shihuang ordered to bring enough fishing gear when entering the sea, and he also prepared a crossbow. The ship set out from Langya, sailed for dozens of miles, passed Rongcheng Mountain, and then continued to Zhifu. As expected, it saw the big dumpling fish, and immediately shot the crossbow, and the big dumpling fish died with an arrow and sank to the bottom of the sea. Qin Shihuang thought it would be safe in the future, so he ordered Xu Fu to go to the sea to ask for fairy medicine. This time, Qin Shihuang couldn't wait for Xu's gospel. At that time, Qin Shihuang died in a sand dune (now southeast of Shilu, Hebei Province), and Xu Fu "translated the plain to stop Wang Lai" and never came back.

Xu Fu, also known as Xu's family, is located in Xufu Village, Jinshan Township, Ganyu County, Jiangsu Province. According to local records, Xufu Village was called Xufu Village in Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there is also a story that Xufu led a boy and a girl to drift eastward. But there is another saying that Xu Fu's hometown is Longkou City, Shandong Province.

Sima Qian first recorded Xu Fu's history in Historical Records, but he did not explain where Xu Fu went across the ocean. Later generations thought it was Taiwan Province Province or Ryukyu, and some people said it was America, but most people thought it was Japanese. Xu Fudong's crossing to Japan was originally proposed by the late Zhou Dynasty and the early Shang Yi in the Five Dynasties. Said: "Japan, also known as Japan, is in the East China Sea. In the Qin Dynasty, Chui Fu stopped at the country with 500 men and 500 women, and today's figures are only Chang 'an. ..... There is also a mountain called Mount Fuji or Penglai in Ganying in the northeast ... Fulai Xu is called Penglai, and all descendants are called Qin. "Yi Chu said that this sentence came from Hiroshi, a Japanese monk. Ouyang Xiu, a writer and historian in the Song Dynasty, also thought that Xu Fudong had spent the day in Japan. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, a Japanese monk went to Nanjing and presented Ming Taizu with a poem entitled "Xufu Temple in front of a wild bear". Li Shuchang and Huang Qixian, diplomatic envoys to Japan in the late Qing Dynasty, paid a visit to Xu Fu's tomb and wrote poems and inscriptions.

Since this century, Chinese and Japanese scholars have done a lot of research on Xu Fudong's crossing. Ma thinks that Xu Fu went to Japan for a purpose. "His original intention was not to seek immortality at first, but to use the selfishness of the first emperor to seek immortality and use his power to colonize overseas." Xu said in The Origin of the Japanese Nation that during the Warring States Period and the Pre-Qin Period, a large number of people immigrated to Japan along the southeast coast of China, and the boys and girls led by Xu Fu were one of them. "It must be true that Xu Fudong crossed the sea." Hong Kong Wei Ting wrote "Xu Fu's Entry into the Founding of Japan", arguing that Xu Fu was Xuan Di, the founding emperor of Japan, and the 29th grandson after Zhuan Xu. Taiwan Province scholar Peng's book Xu Fu is Emperor Jimmu further enriches Wei Tingsheng's viewpoint. Up to now, there are many remains of Cui Fu activities in Japan, such as the tomb of Cui Fu in Wakayama Prefecture and his seven messengers, the Cui Fu Palace, the "Land Cui Fu" monument in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu Island, the Cui Fu Stone House, the Cui Fu Temple, and the Gionee Shrine dedicated to Cui Fu.

Some scholars believe that Xu Fudong's crossing the sea in Japan is only a legend, and there is no reliable historical document to prove it. Some people even think that the legend of Xu Fudong crossing the sea in Japan is the product of Japan around the 10 century, and it was not first put forward by China people. At that time, Xu Fu only went to the islands of Bohai Bay, and his deeds, relics and cemeteries in Japan all existed in name only.

In addition, some scholars believe that it is a historical fact that Xu Fudong crossed the sea, but he did not go to Japan, but went to the United States. Xu Fudong's crossing time coincides with the rise of Mayan civilization in America, and Japan and Chinese mainland are very close, so they don't need to spend huge sums of money at all, and they can arrive in a few years.

There is no convincing answer to where Xu Fudong went in the vast sea of people.