Penglai ( zh, t=蓬萊仙島, l=Penglai Immortal Island) is a legendary land of

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

. It is known in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

as Hōrai and Bồng Lai in Vietnam. McCullough, Helen. ''Classical Japanese Prose'', p. 570. Stanford Univ. Press, 1990. .

Location

According to the '' Classic of Mountains and Seas'', the mountain is located at the eastern end of

Bohai Sea The Bohai Sea ( zh, c=渤海, p=Bó Hǎi, l=Bo Sea) is a gulf/inland sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects via the Bohai Strait. It ...

. According to the pre-Qin mythology which retells the legend of Xu Fu presenting a memorial to the Qin Emperor in order to seek for the

elixir of life The elixir of life (Medieval Latin: ' ), also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker Immortality, eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to Panacea (medicine), cure all diseases. Alch ...

, there are three godly mountains which are found in the Bohai sea where immortals reside. These mountains are Penglai, Fāngzhàng (), and Yíngzhōu (/). Other islands where immortals reside are called Dàiyú () and Yuánjiāo (). In the ''Illustrated Account of the Embassy to Goryeo in the Xuanhe Era'' (; ''Xuanhe fengshi Gaoli tujing''), written in 1124 by Xu Jing (), Mount Penglai is located on an inhabited island which is found within the boundaries of Changguo prefecture and can be reached "after crossing thirty thousand leagues of the Weak Water". Various theories have been offered over the years as to the "real" location of these places, including

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Nam-Hae (), Geo-Je (), Jejudo () south of the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Penglai, Shandong exists, but its claimed connection is as the site of departures for those leaving for the island rather than the island itself. In his work (lit. "A Guide to Select Villages"), Yi Chung-hwan, a

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

-period geographer, associated Mount Penglai with Korea's Mount Kumgang.

In Chinese mythology

In a legend originating in the

state of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a ancient Chinese state, regional state of the Zhou dynasty in History of China#Ancient China, ancient China, whose rulers held Zhou dynasty nobility, titles of ''Hou'' (), then ''Gong (title), Go ...

during the pre-Qin period, immortals live in a palace called the Penglai Palace which is located on Mount Penglai. In

the mountain is often said to be the base for the

Eight Immortals The Eight Immortals () are a group of legendary ''Xian (Taoism), xian (immortals)'' in Chinese mythology. Each immortal's power can be transferred to a vessel () that can bestow life or destroy evil. Together, these eight vessels are called the ...

(or at least where they travel to have ceremonial meals), as well as the illusionist Anqi Sheng. Supposedly, everything on the mountain appears pure white, while its palaces are made from

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, and jewels grow on trees. There is no agony and no winter; there are rice bowls and wine glasses that never become empty no matter how much people eat or drink from them; and there are enchanted fruits growing in Penglai that can heal any ailment, grant eternal youth, and even resurrect the dead. Tradition holds that

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

, in search of immortality, sent several unsuccessful expeditions to find Penglai. Legends tell that Xu Fu, one servant sent to find the island, found Japan instead, and named

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

as Penglai.

In Japanese mythology

From the medieval periods onwards, Mount Penglai was believed by some Japanese people to be located in Japan where Xu Fu and

Yang Guifei Yang Yuhuan (; 719 – 15 July 756Volume 218 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Yang was killed on the ''bing'shen'' day of the 6th month of the 1st year of the ''Zhi'de'' era of Tang Suzong's reign. This date corresponds to 15 Jul 756 on the ...

arrived and eventually decided to stay there for the rest of their lives. The presentation of Mt. Hōrai in

Lafcadio Hearn was a Greek-born Irish and Japanese writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the Western world. His writings offered unprecedented insight into Japanese culture, especially his collections of legend ...

's '' Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things'' differs from the earlier Chinese legend. This version rejects much of the fantastic and magical properties of Hōrai. In this version of the myth, Hōrai is not free from sorrow or death, and the winters are bitterly cold. Hearn's conception of Hōrai holds that there are no magical fruits that cure disease, grant eternal youth or raise the dead, and no rice bowls or wine glasses that never become empty; rather, Hearn's incarnation of the myth of Hōrai focuses more on the atmosphere of the place, which is said to be made up not of air but of "quintillions of quintillions" of souls. Breathing in these souls is said to grant one all of the perceptions and knowledge possessed by the ancient souls. The Japanese version also holds that the people of Hōrai are small fairies who have no knowledge of great evil, and whose hearts therefore never grow old. In the '' Kwaidan'' there is some indication that the Japanese hold such a place to be merely a fantasy. It is pointed out that "Hōrai is also called Shinkiro, which signifies Mirage—the Vision of the Intangible".

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

In '' The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'', the mythical isle of Hōrai (蓬萊仙島, ''Hōrai Senjima'') is also the location of trees of living precious metals and gemstones; retrieving a jewelled branch from one such trees (蓬莱の玉の枝, ''Hōrai no tama no eda'') was one of the five impossible tasks that Kaguya-hime had set five noblemen who each sought her hand, one task for each suitor. The nobleman who was assigned to retrieve such a branch tried to deceive Kaguya-hime with a fake branch he had secretly commissioned the country's finest jewellers to create, only for the deception to be revealed when a messenger of the craftsmen arrives at Kaguya-hime's house to collect payment, having-had to follow the overzealous nobleman there from the jewellers.

References

* {{Chinese mythology Places in Chinese mythology Penglai Penglai Places in Japanese mythology Mythical utopias Asia in mythology Classic of Mountains and Seas

Location

In Chinese mythology

In Japanese mythology

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

See also

References