What is the story of Xu Fu’s journey to the east? A little more auspicious.

Xu Fu, also known as Xu City, Xu Fu’s hometown is according to research in Xufu Village, Jinshan Township, Ganyu County, Jiangsu Province. According to local chronicles, Xufu Village was called Xufu Village in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is still here today. It is said that Xu Fu led the boys and girls to cross the sea to the east. But there is another theory that Xu Fu's hometown is today's Longkou City, Shandong Province.

As the saying goes: "When you become an emperor, you want to become an immortal." Qin Shihuang is exactly such a figure. Qiu Qiongshan of the Qing Dynasty once said in "Gangjian Compilation": "The First Emperor has brought peace to the six kingdoms, and all his ambitions have been fulfilled, but the one who is not sure to succeed is longevity." Some alchemists followed his fancy, weaving stories about gods and immortals, claiming that the sea There is an immortal elixir, and if you take the elixir, you will live forever. Xu Fu sailed into the sea under such circumstances.

In 219 BC (the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang), Qin Shi Huang went on his second patrol. A large group of people engraving stones in Mount Tai then headed to the Bohai Sea. Arriving at the seaside, Qin Shihuang boarded Zhifu Island and took in the full view. Between the sea of ??clouds and the sea of ??clouds, people in the mountains and rivers disappeared and appeared, which was so spectacular that it especially fascinated Qin Shihuang. This scene was originally a mirage, but in order to cater to Qin Shihuang's desire for immortality, the alchemists described it as a legendary fairyland on the sea. Xu Fu took the opportunity to write to Qin Shihuang, saying that there are three fairy mountains in the sea: Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. Immortals live in them and they can get the elixir of immortality. Qin Shihuang was very happy, and then according to Xu Fu's request, he sent thousands of men and virgins to go to sea with him to obtain the elixir. He himself lingered here, waiting for good news about Xu Fu. However, what was waiting was that Xu Fu returned empty-handed. Xu Fu claimed to have met Poseidon, but Poseidon refused to give him the elixir because the gift was too thin. Qin Shihuang was convinced of this and sent 3,000 more virgins, craftsmen, technicians, and grain seeds to help Xu Fu go to sea again. Qin Shihuang refused to leave. He waited for three months and returned with no news from Xu Fu.

In the following years, Qin Shihuang sent Lu Sheng and others from Yan into the sea to search for the elixir, but of course they found nothing. In 210 BC (the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang's reign), Qin Shi Huang made his fifth tour and came to Langya again. Nine years have passed since Xu Fu went into the sea to search for the elixir, and he has never returned to his hometown. Immediately someone was sent to summon Xu Fu. Xu Fu had been sailing for many years and spent a lot of money. He was worried about being severely punished and told Qin Shihuang: "There is indeed elixir in Penglai Immortal Mountain. When I go to sea, I am often blocked by big dragon fish, so I can't reach it. Please send archers for a week." When I went there, I saw a big dragon fish shooting with a repeating crossbow." Qin Shihuang ordered him to bring enough fishing gear when he entered the sea, and he also prepared a repeating crossbow. The ship set off from Langya, sailed for dozens of miles, passed Rongcheng Mountain, and then went to Zhifu. Sure enough, it saw a giant dragon fish, and immediately fired a volley of crossbows. The giant dragon fish died from arrows and sank to the bottom of the sea. Qin Shihuang believed that there would be no danger from now on, and ordered Xu Fu to go into the sea to seek the elixir. This time, Qin Shihuang could no longer wait for news of Xu Gospel. At that time, the first emperor of Qin died of illness in Shaqiu (now southeast of Shilu, Hebei Province), and Xu Fu "got Pingyuan Guangyi, but the king did not come," and he never came back.

Sima Qian was the first person to record Xu Fu's events in historical records, but he did not explain where Xu Fu went 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 until now, and his descendants are all called Qin family." Yi Chu said that this statement came 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.

Since this century, Chinese and Japanese scholars have conducted a lot of research on Xu Fu's eastward crossing of the sea. Ma Feibai believed in the "Collected History of Qin" that Xu Fu went to Japan with a purpose. "His original intention was not to seek immortality, but actually wanted to take advantage of the First Emperor's selfish desire to seek immortality and use his power to colonize overseas." 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 Ting The author of "An 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 Zhuanxu. Taiwanese scholar Peng Shuangsong wrote the book "Xu Fu is Emperor Jimmu" to further enrich Wei Tingsheng's views. Japan still 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, Xu Fu's Shijia, Xu Fu Temple, and others. Jinli Shrine enshrining Xu Fu and so on.

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, and his deeds, ruins, and cemetery in Japan were all false. 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. In the vast sea of ????people, there is still no convincing answer to where Xu Fu went when he crossed east.