Xu Fu

Xu Fu (Hsu Fu; Chinese: 徐福 or 徐巿[1]; pinyin: Xú Fú; Wade–Giles: Hsu2 Fu2; Japanese: 徐福 Jofuku or 徐巿 Jofutsu; Korean: 서복 Seo Bok or 서불 Seo Bul) was a Chinese alchemist and explorer. He was born in 255 BC in Qi, an ancient Chinese state, and died between 195 and 155 BC. He served as a court sorcerer in Qin Dynasty China. Later, he was sent by Qin Shi Huang to the eastern seas twice to look for the elixir of life.[2] His two journeys occurred between 219 BC and 210 BC. It was believed that the fleet included 60 barques with soldiers, ship crewmen, and 3,000 boys and 3,000 girls,[2] and craftsmen of different fields. After he embarked on a second mission in 210 BC, he never returned.[3]

For the Chinese speed skater, see Xu Fu (speed skater).
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xu.
A statue of Xu Fu in Weihai, Shandong

Voyage
The expedition in search of the medicine for immortality.

The ruler of Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang, feared death and sought a way to live forever. He entrusted Xu Fu with the task of finding the secret elixir of immortality. In 219 BC, Xu Fu was sent with three thousand virgin boys and girls to retrieve the elixir of life from the immortals on the Mount Penglai, including Anqi Sheng, who was purportedly a magician who was already a thousand years old. Xu sailed for several years without finding the mountain. In 210 BC, when Qin Shi Huang questioned him, Xu Fu claimed there was a giant sea creature blocking the path, and asked for archers to kill the creature. Qin Shi Huang agreed, and sent archers to kill a giant fish. Xu then set sail again, but he never returned from this trip. The Records of the Grand Historian says he came to a place with "flat plains and wide swamps" (平原廣澤) and proclaimed himself king, never to return.

Later historical texts were also unclear on the location of Xu's final destination. Records of the Three Kingdoms and Book of the Later Han, and Guadi Zhi all state that he landed in "Danzhou" (亶州), but the whereabouts of Danzhou are unknown. Finally, more than 1,100 years after Xu Fu's final voyage, monk Yichu wrote during the Later Zhou (AD 951-960) of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period that Xu Fu landed in Japan, and also said Xu Fu named Mount Fuji as Penglai. This is the "Legend of Xu Fu" in Japan as evidenced by the many memorials to him there.

Legacy

Some ancient scholars credited Xu Fu for being the founding father, and catalyst of the development of ancient Japanese society. Jōmon culture which had existed in ancient Japan for over 6,000 years suddenly disappeared around 300 BC. The farming techniques and knowledge that Xu brought along are said to have improved the quality of life of the ancient Japanese people and Xu Fu is said to have introduced many new plants and techniques to ancient Japan, albeit all the existing texts are mainly in Kanji text that now cannot be read by the present day Japanese. The worship of Xu Fu as the "God of farming", "God of medicine" and "God of silk" by the Japanese is attributed to these achievements. Numerous temples and memorials of Xu can be found in many places in Japan. In Xuzhou, there is a Xu Fu Research Institute attached to Xuzhou Teachers College.[2]

The Japanese historian Ino Okifu identifies Emperor Jimmu of Japan with Xu Fu.[4] After his arrival the Yayoi period started.[5]

The fictional character Xu Fu, who appears in comics published by Marvel Comics, is based on him.[6]

Frank Zhang, one of the central characters of Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus series, is mentioned as being a descendant of Xu Fu.

Jofuku Park in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture is dedicated to him.[7]

Jofuku also appears in Manga titled Hell's Paradise. He disguised himself as an old Hidden Stone ninja leader and sets up Gabimaru the Hollow to track down the Elixir of Immortality.

Mythology

The legend and stories of Xu Fu and the extent of his influence is debated, and the claims that he is associated with Emperor Jimmu or [ethnically or politically] dominate the Japanese islands with his colonists has generally been debunked, lacks evidence, or is considered fictional by historians. Because genetic research shows the Japanese people are an admixture of the indigenous Jōmon people and the predominant Yayoi people.[8] The Jōmon originated from Southeast Asia and migrated to the Japanese archipelago around 14000 BCE during Paleolithic. The Yayoi people migrated from North East Asia to Japan around 1000 BCE.[9] The Qin dynasty was established in 220 BCE,[10] so the voyage of Xu Fu was after the Jōmon and Yayoi settled and controlled Japan. The population increased by 4 million people in Japan between the Jomon and Yayoi period. Rice cultivation was already introduced with an agricultural society.[11] Xu Fu's entourage of 6,000 children[2] and unknown number of adults would be too small and inexperienced to influence nor dominate the millions of Yayoi and Jomon people. If Xu Fu settled in Japan then Japanese would speak one of the various Chinese languages. However, the Japanese language has no genetic relationship with the various Chinese languages and it belongs to a different language family called Japonic languages.[12] The native Japanese religion Ko-Shintō was a diverse animism of the Jōmon period which predates Xu Fu. Furthermore, there are no records of where Xu Fu ended up, or if he even survived. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki lack specific records of Xu Fu. The written stories about Xu Fu came at least 100 years after his disappearance. Thus there is no credible evidence and the legend cannot be authenticated.

See also

References
  1. Note: Not to be confused with the character 市
  2. Lee, Khoon Choy Lee. Choy, Lee K. [1995] (1995). Japan--between Myth and Reality: Between Myth and Reality. World Scientific publishing. ISBN 981-02-1865-6, ISBN 978-981-02-1865-2.
  3. Liu, Hong. The Chinese Overseas: Routledge Library of Modern China. Published by Taylor & Francis, [2006] (2006). ISBN 0-415-33859-X, 9780415338592.
  4. Liu, Hong. The Chinese Overseas: Routledge Library of Modern China. Published by Taylor & Francis, [2006] (2006). ISBN 0-415-33859-X.
  5. Lee, Khoon Choy Lee. Choy, Lee K. [1995] (1995). Japan--between Myth and Reality: Between Myth and Reality. World Scientific publishing. ISBN 981-02-1865-6.
  6. Jonathan Maberry (w), Phil Winslade (a). "Part 3" Captain America: Hail Hydra 3 (May 2011), New York City: Marvel Comics
  7. "Jofuku Park | Wakayama Attractions | Travel Japan | JNTO".
  8. Hideaki Kanzawa-Kiriyama; Kirill Kryukov; Timothy A Jinam; Kazuyoshi Hosomichi; Aiko Saso; Gen Suwa; Shintaroh Ueda; Minoru Yoneda; Atsushi Tajima; Ken-ichi Shinoda; Ituro Inoue; Naruya Saitou1 (February 2017). "A partial nuclear genome of the Jomons who lived 3000 years ago in Fukushima, Japan". Journal of Human Genetics. 62 (2): 213–221. doi:10.1038/jhg.2016.110. PMC 5285490. PMID 27581845.
  9. Nanta, Arnaud (2008). "Physical Anthropology and the Reconstruction of Japanese Identity in Postcolonial Japan". Social Science Japan Journal. 11 (1): 29–47. doi:10.1093/ssjj/jyn019. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  10. Taagepera, Rein (1979). "Size and Duration of Empires: Growth-Decline Curves, 600 B.C. to 600 A.D". Social Science History. 3 (3/4): 121. doi:10.2307/1170959. JSTOR 1170959.
  11. Mizoguchi, Koji (2013). The Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-521-88490-7.
  12. Deal, William E. (2005). Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Infobase Publishing. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-8160-7485-3. Japanese has no genetic affiliation with Chinese, but neither does it have any clear affiliation with any other language.
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