Since modern times, China has discussed the japanese legend of Who The Divine Emperor is, and many people in China have argued that Xu Fu during the Qin Dynasty in Chinese history was Japan's Emperor Shenwu, and many people are still convinced of this. Even Chinese historians are keen to study this subject.
In 1950, the Chinese historian Mr. Wei Tingsheng put forward ten major evidences that Xu Fu in Chinese history was the founding father of Japan, Emperor Shenwu, in his book "Xu Fu Entered Japan's Founding Examination". But there are also many people who disagree with this view. Because the real formation of the Japanese state coincided with the Qin and Han Dynasties in Chinese history, when a large number of Chinese migrated to Japan, Japan directly entered the Iron Age from the Stone Age, and the state also began to appear. It is normal for many cultures and objects similar to those of the Qin and Han dynasties in the legend of Emperor Shenwu to appear in China during the Qin and Han dynasties. It doesn't have to be brought by Xu Fu. So xu fu is The Shinmu Emperor of Japan there is only a certain possibility, but not necessarily him. So who else could be Emperor Shenmu besides Xu Fu or someone like Xu Fu who was suspected of crossing east to Japan to establish the country? I think there are at least four possibilities.
Xu Fu
The first possibility is that Emperor Shenmu was born in Japan as a descendant of Chinese. Because the Japanese are a mixed descendant of the Jomon and Yayoi people, the Yayoi people are dominant. Therefore, it is likely that Emperor Shenmu was born in Japan or was of mixed descent from them, and the Yayoi people were mainly from China. Many people often ignore the Chinese history books before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and many places in these history books mention that the Japanese claimed to be descendants of Wu Taibo, that is to say, many people in Japan at that time believed that their ancestors were from the Wuyue region of China, which is also a more famous view in the Japanese theory of Chinese origin. Then It is also very likely that Emperor Shenmu is a descendant of these Wuyue people in Japan. Or it could be the descendants of people who immigrated to Japan from other parts of China.
The second possibility is that he was the founder of the Uighur state recorded in Chinese history. There is now a view that Japan evolved from the Kingdom of Japan, the Kingdom of Yamatai, and the Yamato Kingdom. The earliest record of Japan in Chinese history is that the Geographical Chronicle of the Book of Han records that there were more than a hundred countries in Japan at that time. And Emperor Shenwu may also be the founding monarch of one of these hundred countries, and it is estimated that he may be the founder of the Han Wunu state during the Guangwu Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Emperor Guangwu of Han
The third possibility is that Emperor Shinmu is of Korean descent. But this is extremely unlikely, because the true origin of Korea is the three Korean tribes recorded in Chinese history, and they are basically the same as the time of the founding of Japan, both in the late Qin and early Han dynasties. Even the time of the establishment of the country is not necessarily earlier than that of Japan. Therefore, many Koreans say that you Emperor Shenmu is a descendant of Koreans, which is basically the same as they are obsessing about Chinese history. At most, immigrants from China came to Japan through the Korean Peninsula and gave birth to Emperor Shenmu.
The fourth possibility is that there is no such person as Emperor Shenwu at all. He is a fictional historical figure, which is the most likely situation. Because there is a lack of evidence to prove the existence of Emperor Shenmu, many people are chiseled and unconvincing based on various speculations. In addition, the deeds of Emperor Shenmu and the dozen or so generations of emperors who followed him are not considered to be considered, especially the eight emperors in the eight generations of Japan's debt to history are now generally considered to be fictional. Therefore, It is likely that Emperor Shenmu was a false character created by the Japanese imperial family in order to mythologize itself, combining various myths and legends and historical figure archetypes.
Emperor Jinmu
In fact, many Chinese are keen to study whether Emperor Shenmu is Chinese nothing more than to satisfy the psychology that we are the ancestors of the Japanese and that the Japanese are our filial piety. But many people don't understand what this actually means. If we confirm that Emperor Shenmu really existed and was a Chinese, it would seriously damage the face of the Japanese Imperial Family, and the myth that they claimed to be the descendants of the so-called Amaterasu gods was completely punctured. Although this has been punctured once by the US military, many Japanese still regard the Japanese emperor as a symbol of the country and a spiritual pillar of militarism. The Japanese emperor still has a certain appeal, and if a militaristic emperor appears, it will endanger China's security even more. But if we thoroughly expose the lies of his lineage, we can sweep away the majesty of the Japanese emperor and lose a lot of appeal, and Japan will be even less likely to harm China.