The immigration history of naturalized people

Since the pre-Qin era, immigrants from the mainland have continued to enter the Japanese archipelago. In the earliest Japanese historical books written in writing, "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki", immigrants are called "Han people", "New Han people", "Wu people", "Tang people", "naturalized people", etc. The immigration of mainland immigrants to the Japanese archipelago can be divided into four main periods, namely the Qin and Han dynasties - the beginning period; the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties dynasties - the climax period; the Sui and Tang dynasties - the continuation period; and the Song and Ming dynasties - the end period. Among them, in order to absorb advanced culture and introduce technical talents, the Japanese court sent many envoys to mainland China and the Korean Peninsula to find and induce Han people to come to Japan. Various factors promoted the upsurge of mainland immigrants to Japan. The third time was the Sui and Tang Dynasties (from the end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 10th century AD). At this time, the Sui Dynasty completed the unification of China and ended the three-century division between the north and the south. China's feudal society began to enter its peak period of prosperity. Especially in the early Tang Dynasty (from the rule of Zhenguan to the prosperous Kaiyuan period), the country was unprecedentedly strong and the people lived a prosperous and healthy life. In contrast, Japan is in the throes of transition from a slave society to a feudal society. The country is declining, with many internal contradictions and constant internal strife. The craze for mainland immigrants to cross eastward is fading day by day. Although there are still some intellectuals, craftsmen and learned monks who went to Japan under the inducement of Japanese envoys, the number is far less than that of the Jin Dynasty. On the contrary, the powerful Tang Dynasty strongly attracted the Japanese at that time to brave the stormy waves and send envoys (i.e., Tang envoys) on a large scale to visit and study in the Tang Dynasty. Chao Heng, quoted from Li Bai's poem at the beginning of this article, is one of the most famous foreign students (named Abe Nakamaro in Japanese). When Tang envoys were sent back to Japan, the Tang Dynasty sometimes sent envoys to accompany them. Due to the difficult and dangerous navigation, they often stayed and became naturalized in Japan. For example, Shen Weiyue, Yuan Jinqing, etc. all served in the Japanese court. Some monks from the Tang Dynasty also accompanied the Tang envoys to Japan. The most famous one was Jianzhen's eastward journey. Interestingly, along with large-scale personnel exchanges, many transnational marriages between the Tang Dynasty and Japan appeared. For example, the ambassador to the Tang Dynasty, Fujiwara Qinghe, married a Chinese bride. It can be seen that transnational marriage is not a fashion that only exists today. It was relatively common as early as the Tang Dynasty more than a thousand years ago. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty weakened, feudal vassals and towns were divided and fighting, and the people were in dire straits. From this time until the end of the Tang Dynasty, many people continued to sail eastward by boat, but the scale was no longer comparable to that of the Jin Dynasty. There is even a legend that Yang Guifei was not hanged to death in Maweiyi, but fled to Japan with the envoys. It is said that there are people in Japan who claim to be her descendants. After the abolition of envoys to the Tang Dynasty in 895 AD during the Song and Ming dynasties, until the Yuan Dynasty, the relationship between China and Japan became cold, official exchanges basically stopped, and the large-scale organized wave of naturalized immigrants from mainland China also basically ended. It is well-documented that in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), Zhu Yuanzhang "gave the Fujian people thirty-six surnames" to Ryukyu. This group of Chinese immigrants mainly taught Ryukyu China's advanced production technology and culture. The Ryukyu Kingdom also took the initiative to request Ming people. For example, in 1606, when King Shoning was canonized, he asked Ming people to be naturalized. For example, the Cai family who came from China are descendants of Cai Xiang, and the Lin family are descendants of the Lin Hejing family. During the brutal ethnic wars and massacres when the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty and the Qing army entered the customs, some survivors of the Southern Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty (mainly Han people from the south of the Yangtze River) moved to Japan (such as the famous eminent monk Zu Yuan, the abbot of Nengren Temple in Yanshan Mountain, Wenzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty clan clan The survivors Zhu Shunshui, etc.), but the number is already insignificant. One of the main reasons is that since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the advancement of Chinese shipbuilding technology and the use of compasses have greatly improved the Chinese navigation skills. A large number of poor farmers and war refugees began to float to the sea to make a living in Nanyang, where the natural conditions are more favorable. Japan, a country with many small territories, has gradually lost its appeal to mainland people and is no longer the first choice destination for Chinese overseas immigrants. At the end of the 17th century, the rule of the Qing Dynasty became increasingly stable, the policy of national oppression was alleviated, the economy developed from recovery, and began to enter the last and longest prosperous age of feudal society - the Kangxi and Qianlong dynasties; Japan entered the period of the Tokugawa shogunate. Both Japan and Japan pursue a national policy of isolation, and official exchanges are once again interrupted. At this time, the driving force that triggered the immigration wave no longer existed, and the history of immigrants from mainland China moving to Japan that lasted for nearly 2,000 years finally came to an end. Social Contributions of Naturalized People Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, due to the impact of natural disasters and wars, the Han people in the Yellow River Basin have continuously immigrated to the south of the Yangtze River and the northeastern regions. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Han people who immigrated to the Northeast entered Lelang and Daifang counties and became the natural spreaders of Chinese culture.

Later, Lelang and Daifang counties were involved in the war, and the Han people who settled there were forced to migrate to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Some directly entered the Japanese Islands and were called "naturalized people." According to early Japanese historical records such as Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Han naturalized people from the Korean Peninsula often claimed to be descendants of Qin Shihuang or Han Gaozu. After settling in Japan, their lifestyles, habits and characteristics have changed, but the psychological state, thoughts, feelings and consciousness of the race cannot be easily eliminated. Therefore, even though they have settled in Japan for a long time, even after they have become full-fledged Japanese residents, they still consider themselves Han Chinese. Representatives of the naturalized people include the Qin family, the Zhi family of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Xiwen Shou family. According to the "Kojiki" and "Nihonshoki-Onishinki", around the beginning of the 4th century, Yuzuki Lord led his tribe of 120 counties to naturalize Japan. This is the origin of what was later called the Qin clan. Their activities in Japan are mainly in agricultural technology and agriculture-related civil engineering. Sericulture and silk making are one of the main occupations of this ethnic group. Although Japan already had sericulture and silk weaving industries at that time, the technology and quality were low. After the Qin family arrived in Japan, the sericulture and silk making industry developed in the Japanese archipelago. Around the second half of the 5th century, due to the servitude and personal possession of wealthy families from various places, there were very few naturalized Han people left to engage in independent production, which seriously affected the development of the silk-raising and silk-making industry. Therefore, King Xionglue ordered to collect the Qin family's survivors and give them leaders He was named Jiu Gong, and he led his people to raise silkworms and make silk. He made outstanding contributions to Yong and Tiao and made remarkable achievements. The Japanese king was very happy and gave him the surname Hadokong. Later generations used the character Qin as the official Chinese character for Bodo and wrote it as Qin Jiugong. The Qin family gradually accumulated wealth in the long-term production activities and became a powerful local wealthy family. The Japanese king gave them the surname Zhi, and became one of the important surname clans in ancient Japan; their leader also became the Japanese king's effective official. , formed the leader of the regional group, and joined the Japanese high-level ruling group and became a member of the Japanese rulers. To this day, Japanese surnames such as Haneda, Hata, Hata, and Hatta are all pronounced as "Hata" (hata) in Japanese, which means "woven people." They are proud to claim that their ancestors came from China in the Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin Dynasties. Immigrated and made a living by engaging in sericulture and silk weaving. The ancestor of the Zhi family in the Eastern Han Dynasty was the master of Azhi. According to the "Nihon Shoki: Ongami Chronicles", Lord Achi and his son Lord Toka led the people of seventeen counties to move to the Japanese Islands during the Ongami era. They had various handicraft production knowledge and technologies and became the king of Japan. The manufacture of armor, bows, arrows, spears, shields and other weapons and daily necessities brought the technology of iron production from China and the Korean Peninsula to Japan. On this basis, they co-produced with the Japanese and created Japanese iron smelting technology, making Japanese Japanese swords later become treasures among the world's swords. The Achi clan has made outstanding achievements in the handicraft industry. Some of them gradually became middle and lower-level officials in the Japanese government, and then became "official nobles". They formed a force that cannot be ignored in ancient Japanese society and finally became the possessors. The surname is Zhi from a wealthy family in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Xiwen Shou clan is another group of naturalized Han people. Some of them may have arrived in the Japanese Islands slightly earlier than the Qin family and the Zhi family of the Eastern Han Dynasty. There were many intellectuals among the naturalized people of this clan who were engaged in writing and writing work in the Japanese government. They are responsible for organizing various government account books and records, drafting and translating foreign affairs documents, etc. Some of them may be descendants of translators who worked during the Yamatai period. The foreign affairs work of the Japanese government at that time was mainly diplomatic exchanges with China and diplomatic activities on the Korean Peninsula, and both aspects of work had to be done in Chinese. Therefore, Chinese characters and Chinese classic books were gradually introduced to Japan through their hands, laying the foundation for the introduction of Chinese Confucianism into Japan. Naturalized Han groups such as the Qin clan, the Zhi clan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Sho clan of the Western Han Dynasty gradually formed large local clans with their extensive economic activities, entered the Japanese government, and became an integral part of the Japanese ruling class. They hold some important positions, such as being in charge of the History Department and the two warehouses of Neizang and Dazang in the Tibetan Tripitaka. In the 5th and 6th centuries, naturalized Han people repeatedly served as envoys for the Japanese government, going to various governments of the Jin and Southern Dynasties to handle foreign affairs. Their profound knowledge and experience in diplomatic activities influenced the Suga clan, their direct jurisdiction, and gave them the upper hand in the struggle against the old Japanese forces. In 592, under the instruction of the Suga clan, Zhiju of the Eastern Han Dynasty took advantage of his position to lurk in the palace and assassinate Emperor Chongjun who opposed the Suga clan. The participation of the naturalized Han people in such a fierce contradictory struggle shows that the upper class among them has completely become an integral part of Japan's early ruling class. The Han people who immigrated to the Japanese archipelago are not the only ones mentioned above.

Since the naturalized Han people entering the Japanese archipelago could not meet the needs of all aspects of talent, the Japanese government also requested support from successive Chinese governments through diplomatic channels for the required technical workers, or recruited Chinese craftsmen through Baekje. These naturalized Han people also contributed to the development of Japanese technology and culture, making Japanese sculptures, paintings, fabrics, embroidery, etc. a unique style, laying a solid foundation for the formation of the later Asuka culture. According to Japanese historical records, the introduction of Buddhism to Japan was also related to the naturalization of Han people. "Ruiyue Yaoji" records that in the 30th year of Yingshen (AD 299), a man named Gao Wangui who claimed to be the successor of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty crossed the sea and came to Japan by boat. He took the soil from the field and made a sculpture in front of his residence in Shiga County. A three-foot-tall statue of a monk began to promote Buddhism. Because of his contribution to the spread of Buddhism, he was given the name Mitsu Hyakuji by the Japanese king. It is recorded in the "Fuso Chronicles" that in 522 AD, after the Sima clan in the Southern Dynasties, a man named Sima Dazhi came to the Japanese Islands and lived in Bantian Village, Gaoshi County, Yamato. He built a thatched cottage, enshrined a Buddha statue that the Japanese had never seen before, and worshiped it every day. Although the above two stories are both legends, they show that the naturalized Han people played a media role in the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Another important achievement of naturalized people is to spread Chinese characters to the Japanese Islands, creating conditions for the formation of Japanese characters. They were engaged in literary work in the Japanese government, drafting and translating documents in foreign affairs. Naturalized people also represent the highest level of learning. More than a quarter of the authors of Huai Feng Zao, a Chinese poetry collection written in the 8th century, were naturalized people or their descendants. Therefore, the famous Japanese historian Naito Konan once pointed out: "The knowledge of the Nara Dynasty was the knowledge of the naturalized people." Since the structure of Japanese and Chinese are different, Japanese structures are gradually mixed into the process of using Chinese, making it difficult to express meaning in Chinese. Some proper Japanese nouns also gradually adopted the practice of using Chinese characters to represent their sounds, thus becoming the germ of Japanese writing. Naturalized people have always been involved in this process. In the eighth year of Emperor Suiko's reign (AD 600), Prince Shotoku sent an envoy to the Sui Empire for the first time. Although the names of the envoys sent are not recorded, there should be some naturalized people in the envoys, just like the subsequent envoys sent to the Sui Dynasty. Descendants. In the fifteenth year of Tuigu (AD 607), the second mission to the Sui Dynasty was composed of Ono Meizi as the envoy and the translator Anzuofu Weili. Anzuo Welfare is a descendant of the naturalized Han people. His ancestor Anzuo Kengui moved to the Kamigahara and Shimomohara areas of the Yamato region during the era of the Japanese king Muji Xiongluo. Later, the Anzuo family had a relationship with the Suga family, and the Suga family once called Anzuo Chen, indicating the depth of their mutual relationship. The Kurasaku clan played an active role in the development of Japan's Asuka culture. After Ono Meizi completed her mission to visit the Sui Dynasty, she returned to China at the beginning of the fourth year of Daye in the Sui Dynasty (608 AD). Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ordered Wenlin Lang Pei Shiqing to go to Japan for a return visit at the same time. When Pei Shiqing completed his mission and requested to return to China, Prince Shotoku immediately formed a delegation to escort the Sui envoys back to China, with Ono Meizi as the chief envoy, Yoshihiro Yoshi as the deputy envoy, and An Zuofuwei as the translator. There are also eight foreign students and scholarly monks in this mission. Among them, three foreign students, the Japanese Han nationality Zhifuyin, Gao Xianghan, Xuanli, and the New Han nationality, are all naturalized Han; the other four scholarly monks, the Shinhanese Min, and the Nanyuan Han nationality, are all naturalized Han people. Jing'an, Shiga Han Huiyin, and Xinhan Guangqi are all naturalized Han people. These foreign students and scholarly monks studied in China for 20 to 30 years and extensively studied various aspects of politics, economy, culture, technology, medicine, art, the establishment of government agencies, and the promulgation of laws and regulations during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After returning home, they made great contributions to the construction of their country. Among them, Gao Xiangxuanli, Nanyuan Qingan and others played an important role in overthrowing the dictatorship of the Suga family. He Gao Xiangxuanli was appointed by the reformists as Dr. Guo, a political reform adviser, after overthrowing the Soga clan. In 654 AD, Gao Xiangxuanli, as an important member of the reform faction, personally led a delegation of ambassadors and deputy ambassadors to the Tang Dynasty in the name of "envoy". He later became ill due to overwork and died in the Tang Dynasty at the end of the fifth year of Yonghui (654). . The influence of naturalized people on Japan is huge. According to the "Record of New Surnames" compiled by the Japanese Emperor's Government in the early 9th century, among the clans that have a certain political status in the Emperor's Government, the clans of the naturalized people collected in Kyoto, Yamashiro, Yamato, Settsu and other areas are There are 324 clans (some of whom are Han), accounting for about 30% of all clans in Japan. Although not all of these 30% of naturalized people are Han, the proportion of Han is not small. Shinjiro Nakamura, a Japanese historian, said: “Just count the numbers of our ancestors and you will understand.

It can be said that every modern Japanese inherits the blood of all the Japanese who lived thousands of years ago. Therefore, we must admit that no matter who we are, our blood contains 10% or 20% of ancient naturalized human blood. Although it is popular to say that our ancestors assimilated the naturalized people, this is not the case. The naturalized people are our ancestors. The work they are engaged in is not done for Japanese talents. They are Japanese themselves doing the work. "As he said, the Han people who went to the Japanese Islands are consciously building Japan as members of the Japanese. They objectively play a role in promoting cultural exchanges between China and Japan.