The legend of Xu Fu crossing the sea to find the elixir of immortality for Qin Shi Huang has a long history. According to Japanese research, the medicine of immortality is called "Chitose", which is produced on Zhujima Island, which is located in the Seto Inland Sea, and what is even more surprising is that it is being cultivated artificially today.
There is a similar story in China and Japan, that is, the legend of Xu Fu who traveled east for Qin Shi Huang's request for the medicine of immortality.
Xu Fu, in ancient Chinese texts, was a smart-minded and bold liar, because he was a "fangshi" and probably an early chemist. After Qin Shi Huang completed his great task of dominating the world and building the Great Wall, he began to look forward to the magic of immortality and immortality. Therefore, Xu Fu came to the court of the King of Qin in 219 BC and claimed that the three immortal islands of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were in the Eastern Sea. He was willing to go there for King Qin to get the medicine of immortality. The first time Xu Fu crossed the east, he did not bring back the medicine of immortality. He told the first emperor that there was indeed a miracle medicine in the East, but the immortals wanted 3,000 children and boys, all kinds of earthly gifts, and at the same time, there were whales blocking the way on the sea, and he wanted to shoot off the big fish with a strong bow. Qin Shi Huang agreed to the conditions in its entirety and helped him cross east again. As a result, Xu Fu never returned, established himself as king in the eastern "land of plains and vast zes", and never returned to regain his life. According to research, Xu Fu is not a legendary figure. In 1982, it was confirmed that his hometown was Xufu Village, on the outskirts of today's Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province.
Seeing this, I can't help but wonder, who is Qin Shi Huang? Professional assassins like Jing Ke died in his hands, how could he get Xu Fu's big deal? Unless...... Unless he can convince Qin Shi Huang that there really is an immortal mountain in the east, and that there is really an immortal medicine on the immortal mountain?
The legendary immortal island is not all illusory, the immortal does not, the island is. According to Japanese records, what Xu Fu was talking about was the three islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan. In Japanese written historical sources, the account of Xu Fu is ambiguous. The Japanese can't be blamed for this, because at the time of Xu Fu's landing, there was no reliable written record in Japan! However, according to the views of some Japanese historians, Xu Fu is the famous monarch of ancient Japan, Emperor Jinmu, and the place where he landed in Japan is in the Kansai Plain of Japan. The legend of the "Shenwu Crusade" sweeping through Japan is based on Xu Fu's deeds of landing in Japan and conquering the South and the North.
Japanese people have a unique mindset, so when they examine Xu Fu's problem, their ideas are also full of personality. By analyzing the remains of ancient tombs, they proved that the average height of the inhabitants of the region of Kansai in Japan suddenly increased by 5 centimeters during Xu Fu's eastern crossing, and it was inferred that this was probably a local racial improvement caused by the landing of Xu Fu and his subordinates. Another interesting phenomenon is that Japanese scientists have found that 1% of Japanese genes come from the Yunnan region of China, and the Japanese pronunciation (native pronunciation) has many similarities with the pronunciation of the Naxi people in Yunnan. What's going on here? From Xu Fu Dongdu, perhaps the answer can be found. According to Chinese historical records, Qin Shi Huang could not get together the 3,000 boys and girls that Xu Fu requested, and at this time, the Qin army happened to conquer Xianyi, so Qin Shi Huang ordered these conquered tribes to provide the required boys, boys and girls. Xianyi is the common ancestor of all ethnic groups in modern Yunnan. Therefore, if these descendants of Xianyi used Xu Fudongdu to integrate into the Japanese race, the Yunnan gene that brought 1% to the Japanese would be based on evidence.
In Japan, there are at least 20 places where the legend of Xufu is located, from Shizuoka where Mt. Fuji is located in the north to Kumano and Kagoshima and the Kansai region on the island of Kyushu in the south, all of which deal with two themes: Penglai and the medicine of immortality.
Qin Shi Huang had never been a stupid person, and if Xu Fu relied on rumors to make trouble, how could he deceive this shrewd and brilliant Emperor of the Ages? That's a generation of heroes who unified the six countries! Even if he was eager to seek medicine, wouldn't Xu Fu's first failure arouse his suspicions? And Xu Fu is also very strange, if he has never been to Japan, how does he know that he can reach Japan by sailing all the way east? And relying on the high-tech weapons of a few thousand people to strengthen the bow and crossbow can conquer the country? He clearly knows something about Japan.
If Japan really has always been the legendary source of immortal medicine, and Xu Fu is good at rhetoric and advocacy, deceived Qin Shi Huang's trust, and then got the required personnel and equipment, it would be more logical. Otherwise, planting flowers on the raw soil, if you want Qin Shi Huang to take the bloody original, I am afraid that it is more likely to fool his head.
The question is, did the "medicine of immortality" really exist in ancient Japan? Fortunately, when researching this problem, people accidentally found an article by Mr. Shigemura Tatsuo, the director of the Japanese "Xufukukai", who believed that this miraculous immortal medicine not only existed, but also was produced in his hometown of Zhujima, and what is more surprising is that it still leaves a legacy today.
Zhujima Island is located in the Seto Inland Sea, surrounded by Kyushu Island, Honshu Island, and Shikoku Three Islands, and is sparsely populated. It has been said since ancient times that in the heart of its deep valley there is a magical plant fruit, commonly known as "窠窠", and in ancient Japanese books called "Chitose", which is the size of a walnut, juicy and sweet. It is said that eating it can ensure that it will not die for thousands of years, and even if you smell it, you can increase your life expectancy by 3 years and 3 months.
At the end of the 19th century, the Japanese botanist Tomitaro Makino came to visit him, and after hard work, he collected a specimen of "Chitose" and wrote to his friend ecstatically: "This is my most precious discovery, and its value cannot be described." "In the folk of Zhudao, there is also a custom of making walking sticks from the branches of this plant, called Penglai staffs.
If the legend of "Chitose" had been introduced to Middle-earth in that year, and Xu Fu's family lived on the coast of the East China Sea, it should not be a very strange thing to hear about it. It is not impossible for such a legend to be attached and reach Qin Shi Huang's ears through other channels, then Xu Fu will be extremely convincing at this time. Even, the people of Zhudao still believe that Xu Fu once patronized their island, because on the rocks of the bay, there is a stone carved chessboard, which the locals say is left by Xu Fu.
At this point, it seems that we can put forward a hypothesis, that is, the immortal medicine that Xu Fu sought for Qin Shi Huang was probably the miraculous fruit produced on Zhu Island - "Chitose" - which also has a Chinese name called "wild kiwi".
In view of the fact that Qin Shi Huang's hometown, the Qinling area in Shaanxi is one of the sources of wild kiwifruit, and this thing is only afraid that the emperor often uses it to appetize,...... No wonder Xu Fu found the "elixir of immortality" and did not dare to return to China.