According to the Japanese view of history, Japan is the kingdom of the gods, and the Japanese emperor of the Wanshi lineage is a descendant of the god Amaterasu. However, the emperor did not exist from the beginning, and its emergence and development have undergone complex historical evolution.
Who the original Japanese emperor was, where he came from, and when he began to rule Japan, all of this is still shrouded in a mysterious fog, but the Japanese explain the origin of the emperor and his family lineage with a myth.
Various myths and legends about the emperor are epitomized in Japan's earliest historical texts, the Kojiki and nihon Shoki.
The Chronicle of Ancient Events is the earliest history book in Japan, written in 712 AD, with the emperor's genealogy as the main axis, recounting the myths, legends and historical facts of Japan from the beginning of chaos to the reign of Emperor Tuigu.
The Nihon Shoki is an early history book written in Chinese, recounting the myths, legends and historical facts of Japan from the founding of the world to the reign of emperor Zhi tong.
According to these two history books, the Japanese archipelago was born of two creator gods, the two gods were a pair of brothers and sisters, the older brother was the god Iyenaki, and the younger sister was the god Iyenami, and the Japanese history books recounted their creation of Japan in this way:
The two gods descended on the island and established the Heavenly Pillar, creating the Eight Seeking Halls. Then two Creator Gods gave birth to the Japanese islands.
So Iyana asked his sister, Iyana, "How did your body grow?"
She replied, "My body has grown, but there is one thing that is not closed."
Iyena instructed, "My body has grown, but there is one superfluous place. How about filling in your uncollection with the rest of my place and giving rise to the land?"
Iyenami replied, "Okay."
So Iyana said, "I walked with you around the pillar of heaven, met and had sex."
That is, the covenant, but the saying, "You turn from the right, and I will turn from the left."
After the agreement, when walking around the pillar, Iyanamei first said, "Ah, what a good man!"
Then Iyana said, "Ah, what a good woman!"
After they had each said this, Iyana said to his sister, "The woman speaks first, it is not good." ”
Then for intercourse, the leeches were born, and the seeds were placed in the reed boat to be flowed. The second is born of Awashima, which is not included in the number of sons born.
So the two gods discussed, "Now that the son born to me is bad, I should ask the gods for advice."
That is, to the gods of heaven. The god of heaven is destined to give a day of revelation: "Because the woman said first, it is not good, but you can go back and say it again."
When the second god returned, he still walked around the pillar of heaven as before, so Iyana qi ordered to say first, "Yes, what a good woman!"
Then Iyena said, "Ah, what a good man!" ”
After saying this, the reunion gave birth to the narrow island of the Spike of the Awado.
In this way, these two creator gods successively gave birth to the "Great Eight States" of The Great Eight States of Awado No Spike (Awaji Island), Izu no Nimei Island (Shikoku), Hideki No Mikoshima (Hideki Island), Chikushi Island (Kyushu), Noborigi Island, Tsushima (Tsushima), and Sado Island Ōhoku Akishima (Honshu).
The two gods then gave birth to mountains, trees, and eight million gods, and later gave birth to a beautiful sun goddess, who was the "Emperor Ancestor" Amaterasu, and the origin of the Emperor's lineage lies in this.
According to the Japanese history books, 2600 years ago, the god Amaterasu ruled the kingdom known as Takatenbara, and around the time of Christ's advent, the god Amaterasu was persecuted by the leader of the Bear Raid tribe and combined with a pirate from Korea to give birth to Qiong Qiong, and his great-grandson was the first emperor of Japan, Emperor Shenmu.
According to the Nihon Shoki, when he was 45 years old, with the ideal of "Hachiho Ichiyu" as his mission, emperor Shinmu raised an army from Kyushu Island to the japanese country, and after a period of left and right conquest and vertical and horizontal operations, he surrendered or eliminated various hostile forces, established his dominance, and became emperor on the ninth day of the first lunar month in 660 BC (changed to February 11 in the Meiji period), which became the founding anniversary of Japan, and Emperor Shenmu became the "Emperor of the First Heaven". Emperor Shenmu also accepted three artifacts granted by the god Amaterasu to pass on the country: a bronze mirror symbolizing knowledge, a sword symbolizing power, and a string of jade, called mirrors, swords, and seals.
Obviously, the narrative of the formation of The Japanese empire and the birth of the emperor is a myth rather than a history of faith, but Japan has written this myth into textbooks as a real history. But even Japanese scholars do not believe in this mythological interpretation of history. The famous Japanese historian Kiyoshi Inoue said: "Although the Japanese imperial family has been known to people since ancient times, it is so-called far away."
There was no conclusive evidence that there was an emperor called Shenmu before 2600, whose ancestors can be traced back to the gods, from shenwu to human beings, and whose descendants have been passed down to the present day. How did he go from God to man? This illogical statement is certainly not worth refuting.
First of all, we can't think that there was ever a first-generation Emperor Shenmu or his people. In the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the records of Emperor Shinmu marching east from Nichi to the east, entering Yamato, and ascending the throne at the Uzumaki Imperial Palace are completely fabricated, but in fact there is nothing to do. This was investigated in detail by Dr. Yoshiyoshi Tsuda and is today the conclusive conclusion of historians. The title of Shenwu did not exist since ancient times, but very late, that is, about 1200 years ago, at the end of the Nara Dynasty, sinologists such as Tankai Mifune selected some words from ancient Chinese books, and gave the titles of more than 40 emperors below Appeasement and Tranquility, including the title of Emperor Shenwu. In the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Shinmu is called Emperor Shōguni, which means the emperor who originally ruled the country, but emperor Sōjin, who is positioned as the tenth emperor, is also called Emperor Goshoku, so who was the first emperor? It can be seen that even the author of the Nihon Shoki is actually unclear. It can be seen that japanese historians do not all regard this myth as historical truth.
However, although this narrative is only a false myth, myths are often a reflection of reality, so from this myth, we can also find some of the veins of Japan's transition from obscurity to civilization.
Modern research has shown that the rice cultivation techniques that underpin Japan's agricultural civilization came from China, and that rice cultivation in Japan gradually spread from northern Kyushu to Honshu and northeastern Japan, coinciding with Emperor Shinmu's crusade path. Whether Chinese farming techniques cross the Tsushima Strait through the Korean Peninsula or land directly in Japan from the East China Sea, the first stop is Kyushu, japan's westernmost region, which seems to imply that Japanese civilization came from China or Korea, and that Emperor Shenmu should be Chinese or Korean.
In 1948, the Japanese historian Pogo Edami proposed the "Theory of The Conquest of The Equestrian Peoples", believing that the "Shenwu Eastern Crusade" was an invasion by the nomadic peoples of Northeast Asia, who conquered the indigenous "Jomons" of Japan with powerful force, who were driven to Ryukyu and Hokkaido and became Ryukyu and Ezo.
Invasions by the nomadic peoples of Northeast Asia are possible, because historically they were not only good at riding horses, but also at sailing ships. In March 1019, there was the Jurchen invasion of the "Daoyi into the Kou" incident, more than 3,000 Jurchens crossed the Tsushima Strait in fifty large ships, plundered and burned in the area of Tsushima, Iki, and Chikuzen, and burned the Tsushima silver mine, causing great losses to Japan. It can be seen that in the 11th century, the Jurchens were still good at navigation, and could reach Japan in earlier history. But the nomadic peoples of Northeast Asia, including the Jurchens, do not have rice cultivation techniques, so they will not be the ones who will initiate the "Shenwu Crusade", but most likely the Chinese and the Koreans.
Regarding the prototype of Emperor Shenwu, there has been speculation in history, and some people believe that he is Xu Fu who took five hundred boys and girls to the east.
However, the era of Emperor Shenwu was around 660 BC, in the Spring and Autumn Period of China, while Xu Fu's era was around 221 BC, more than four hundred years apart, but this problem can be explained.
According to this theory, there must be major events in the year of Xin You, and every 21 years of Xin You," the year of Heaven will be greatly changed, 601 is the year of Xin You, and then push up 21 Zhou Jia, that is, 660 BC, which happens to be the year of the founding of Emperor Shenwu. This coincidence can only be the result of artificial appendages, so if Emperor Shenwu is really Xu Fu, then his ascension date is set as 660 BC is entirely the need of future generations, and this time is not the real date of his reign, so this date cannot be used to rule out the possibility that Xu Fu is Emperor Shenwu.
In addition to the conjecture that Xu Fu was Emperor Shenwu, the idea that the emperor was a descendant of Wu Taibo is also popular in the history books of China and Japan.
The Wei Luo compiled by the Wei state historian Yu Feng during the Three Kingdoms period records that the Wu people were "men of no size, all whale-faced and tattooed." Smell its old language, call yourself after Tabor. Later, the "Jinshu Wuren Biography" recorded: "There are 70,000 Japanese households, men of all sizes, all whale-faced and tattooed, smelling their old language, calling themselves after Tabor." In the Book of Liang, it is written: "The Wu people have been after Yun Taibo." Sima Guang of Song's Zizhi Tongjian Yun: "After Wu Taibo of Benyouyun today, Wu Wu died, and his branch entered the sea as a widow. The scholar Jin Luxiang of the late Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty mentioned in the "Preface to the General Commentary" compiled by him: "Wu Taibo to Fu Cha twenty-fifth, after the current country and Wu Taibo, Gai Wu died and his branch went into the sea as a widow." ”
Wu Taibo, also known as Taibo, was the uncle of King Wen of Zhou, who moved to the land of Jingman in order to give up the throne, calling himself "Gou Wu", was the first monarch of the Wu kingdom and the ancestor of Wu culture.
In Japan, there has always been a "Emperor Taibo saying", which means that the ancestor of the emperor is Wu Taibo. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan's founding anniversary was the birth day of Wu Taibo, which was the ninth day of the first lunar month. In the eighth century AD, in the "New Surname List" compiled in the Nara period of Japan, 30% of Japanese surnames claimed that they originated in China, after a certain Chinese surname, which had a record of "Matsuno, after Wu Wangfucha, this Wu people came to me at the beginning", the Matsuno clan claimed that they lived in Matsukano after coming to Japan from the Wu Kingdom, so they later changed their surname to Matsuno.
In his essay "Treatise on Emperor Shenmu" written by the Edo period, the Great Rurin Roshan of the Edo period said, "Taibo escaped from Jingba,...... His descendants came to build the Purple ,...... The descendants of the Ji clan can be a hundred generations, and the ten thousand generations are kings, and they are not also prosperous! Although the mighty Wu of His majesty was destroyed by Yue, the treasure of our state was infinite in heaven and earth, so the more he believed in the supreme virtue of Taibo. This means that Wu Taibo escaped from the land of Jingba and came to the Chikushi region of Japan, and the descendants of the Ji clan can become monarchs for generations, which is really very prosperous! Although the powerful State of Wu was destroyed by the State of Yue, the Wu people came to our country, so the guozuo of our country could be passed on endlessly, so it was even more believed that Wu Taibo had great virtue. The Ji clan mentioned in the text is the surname of Wu Taibo, and Lin Luoshan is proud that the Japanese are descendants of Wu Taibo.
Before the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese scholar Matsushita Mibayashi also said in his book "Biography of Japan with Different Names": "At the time of Wu, his king Ji surnamed Ji was exiled to Japan, which was the beginning of the founding of Japan. ”
Some Japanese archaeologists believe that the heavenly kingdom "Takatenhara", which gave birth to Emperor Shenmu, refers to the ancient Wu Kingdom. The so-called "Gao Tianyuan" refers to "a place higher than heaven", that is, the "Wu" character of "mouth in heaven", that is, the state of Wu
During the Three Kingdoms and Wei and Jin dynasties, China had emissaries to Japan, and the record in the book "Wei Luo" comes from the narrative of Zhang Zheng, a Wei man during the Three Kingdoms period, who was sent to Japan by the imperial court, and the authenticity of this historical material was recognized by the Chinese and Japanese historians. And the Book of Jin says, "... Smell its old language, call yourself after Tabor. It should mean that chinese emissaries heard them speak the "old language", that is, Wu dialect, which shows that by the Wei and Jin dynasties, there were still people in Japan who could speak Wu.
In the pre-Qin period, "倭" did not refer to Japan, when the Huaxia people called the Jingman region where southern Wuyue was located "倭", because "倭" and "Wu" were consonant in Wu, so they could also be called "Wu", and today's Shanghainese "倭" and "Wu" are a pronunciation. Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty's "On Heng and The Restoration of the Kingdom" records: "When he became a king, yue offered pheasants and paid tribute to the Wu people." It can be seen that when King Zhou Cheng was a king, Wu and Yue were all guides to Fang Jingman's natives. Therefore, after the Wu people crossed to Japan in the east, it was natural to call themselves "倭", and the Central Plains naturally called Japan "倭".
Nowadays, when people listen to people in Wu-speaking areas such as Shanghai or Suzhou, they often feel like Japanese, indicating that there are indeed similarities in the pronunciation of the two languages, which inevitably makes people have more associations.
In fact, the cultural and kinship between Japan and China exists not only in the historical record, but also in science. According to the analysis and research of tens of thousands of Japanese men and women in counties and cities in 280 years, such as Dr. Yanjin Tanibe, a famous japanese anthropologist parent, the source of the Japanese race mainly comes from the Wuyue ethnic group along the coast of Chinese mainland.
At first, the rulers of Japan did not call himself Emperor, but only Emperor. According to the Nihon Shoki, it was not until the sixteenth year of Tuigu, that is, in August 608 AD, when the Japanese emissary Ono Meizi was on an envoy to the Sui Dynasty, the sentence "The Eastern Emperor to the Shuxi Emperor" appeared in the national letter submitted. If Emperor Shenwu was really Xu Fu or Wu, then this phenomenon can be explained. Because when the Wu people crossed to the east, the title of "emperor" had not yet appeared in the Central Plains, so the Wu people would not be called emperor after they came to Japan; if the Shenwu Emperor was Xu Fu, then he knew that Qin Shi Huang called himself emperor because of his high merits and no ancients, so he gathered the three emperors and five emperors into one, called himself emperor, and ran to Xu Fu on a desert island, how dare he compare himself to Qin Shi Huang? Therefore, the titles of the emperors before the emperor were all appended to the later generations. The so-called "Emperor of the First Heavens" of Emperor Shenwu is the same as that of Qin Shi Huang, which is obviously the result of the Japanese borrowing from the Annexation.
Mausoleum of Emperor Intoku
The origin of the lineage of the Japanese emperor is still mysterious, but with modern science and technology, as long as an archaeological excavation of the existing tombs of the early emperors is still in place, it may be possible to solve the mystery of the millennium. However, this cannot be implemented in Japan, and to this day, the Japanese Miyauchi Agency, which is in charge of the emperor's mausoleum, obstructs archaeological activities on the mausoleum for various reasons, claiming to protect the peace of the ancestors. In fact, what they are really worried about is the fear of finding evidence against them in the mausoleum.
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