The ''Wajinden'' (倭人伝; "Treatise on the Wa People") are passages in the 30th fascicle of the Chinese history chronicle ''

Records of the Three Kingdoms The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' is a Chinese official history written by Chen Shou in the late 3rd century CE, covering the end of the Han dynasty (220 CE) and the subsequent Three Kingdoms period (220–280 CE). It is regard ...

'' that talk about the Wa people, who would later be known as the

Japanese people are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them list of contempora ...

. It describes the

mores Mores (, sometimes ; , plural form of singular , meaning "manner, custom, usage, or habit") are social norms that are widely observed within a particular society or culture. Mores determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable ...

, geography, and other aspects of the Wa, the people and inhabitants of the

Japanese archipelago The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...

at the time. The ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' was written by

Chen Shou Chen Shou ( zh , t = 陳壽 ; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is best known for his most celebrated work, the ...

of the

Western Jin dynasty Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

at the end of the 3rd century (between the demise of Wu in 280 and 297, the year of Chen Shou's death).

Overview

There is no independent treatise called "Wajinden" in the ''

'', and the description of

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

is part of the ''Book of Wei'', vol. 30, "Treatise on the

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, < Eastern Han Chinese: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

, and

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula and Jap ...

". The name "Wajinden" comes from Iwanami Bunko who published the passages under the name ''Gishi Wajinden'' (魏志倭人伝) in 1951. Therefore, some believe that it is meaningless unless one reads not only the passages on the Wa but also the whole of the Treatise on the Dongyi ("Eastern Barbarians"). Yoshihiro Watanabe, a researcher of the Three Kingdoms, states that the accounts about the Korean Peninsula and Japan were not based on Chen Shou's first-hand experience, but was written based on rumors and reports from people who had visited the Korean Peninsula and Japan, and its authenticity is questionable. He further recommended that "the worldview and political situation of Chen Shou be examined not only by reading the ''Records'' and its annotations in full, but also by familiarizing with the

Confucian classics The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian traditi ...

that form the worldview to understand it.". The ''Wajinden'' represents the first time a comprehensive article about the Japanese archipelago has been written in the official history of China. The Dongyi treatise in the ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Lat ...

'' is chronologically earlier than the ''Wajinden'', but the ''Wajinden'' was written earlier. The book describes the existence of a country in Wa (some say later Japan) at that time, centered on the country of

Yamatai Yamatai or Yamatai-koku is the Sino-Japanese name of an ancient country in Wa (Japan) during the late Yayoi period The Chinese text ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' first recorded the name as ()Schuessler, Axel (2014). "Phonological Notes ...

, as well as the existence of countries that did not belong to the queen, with descriptions of their locations, official names, and lifestyles. This book also describes the customs, flora and fauna of the Japanese people of the time, and serves as a historical record of the Japanese archipelago in the 3rd century. However, it is not necessarily an accurate representation of the situation of the Japanese archipelago at that time, which has been a cause of controversy regarding Yamatai On the other hand, there are also some researchers such as Okada Hidehiro who cast doubt on the value of the ''Wajinden'' as a historical document. Okada stated that there were large discrepancies in the location and mileage and that it lacked credibility. Takaraga Hisao said, "The ''Wajinden'' is not complete, and it cannot be regarded as a contemporaneous historical material because of the lack of total consistency and the long transcription period. Although it is certain that the ''Book of Wei'' predates the ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', there are many errors in the surviving anecdotes. In addition, Yoshihiro Watanabe stated that the ''Wajinden'' contains "many biases (distorted descriptions) due to the internal politics and diplomacy of

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

at the time when

Himiko , also known as the , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler ...

sent her envoy and the world view of the historian.

Editions

Of the printed versions of the ''Wajinden'' that have survived, the one included in the Bainaben (百衲本; "patchwork") version of the ''

Twenty-Four Histories The ''Twenty-Four Histories'', also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are a collection of official histories detailing the dynasties of China, from the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in the 4th millennium BC to the Ming ...

'' from the 20th century during the Republican period of China is considered the best. The edition of ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' that forms the Bainaben version is based on a copy from the Shaoxi period (紹熙; 1190–1194) of

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...

. A punctuated edition of the ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' was published in 1959 by

Zhonghua Book Company Zhonghua Book Company (), formerly spelled Chunghwa or Chung-hua Shu-chü, and sometimes translated as Zhonghua Publishing House, are Chinese publishing houses that focuses on the humanities, especially classical Chinese works. Currently it ha ...

in Beijing, and is available in Japan. In addition,

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

published a version named ''Wakokuden'' (倭国伝) in 2010 featuring syntactic markers to aid the Japanese reader. The ''Wajinden'' was written without paragraphs, but it is divided into six paragraphs in the Chinese-language versions and the Kodansha version. In terms of content, it is understood to be divided into three major sections.

Relationship between Wa and Wei

Himiko and Toyo

Originally, there was a male king for 70 to 80 years, but there was a prolonged disturbance in the whole country (considered as the so-called " Civil War of Wa"). In the end, the confusion was finally quelled by appointing Himiko, a woman, as the ruler.

was described to be a shaman queen who held her people under a spell. She was elderly and had no husband. Her younger brother assisted her in the administration of the kingdom. She had 1,000 attendants, but only one man was allowed in the palace to serve food and drink and to take messages. The palace was strictly guarded by a guard of soldiers. Himiko sent a messenger to Wei through

Daifang Commandery The Daifang Commandery was an administrative division established by the Chinese Han dynasty on the Korean Peninsula between 204 and 220. It was conquered by Goguryeo in 314. History Gongsun Kang, a warlord in Liaodong, separated the southern ...

in 238, and was appointed by the emperor as the King of Wa, Ally to Wei. In 247, Daifang dispatched Zhang Zheng (張政) to negotiate a peace between Wa and Kununokuni. According to the description in ''Wajinden'', he exchanged messengers with the countries of the Korean Peninsula. When Himiko died in 247, a mound was built and 100 people were buried there. After that, a male king was established, but the whole country did not accept him, and more than 1,000 people were killed. After the death of Himiko, a 13-year-old Toyo, a girl of Himiko's clan or sect, was appointed as ruler and the country was pacified. Zhang Zheng, who had been dispatched to Japan earlier, presented Toyo with a proclamation, and Toyo also sent an envoy to Wei.

Diplomacy with the Wei and Jin dynasties

* In June of the second year of the Jingchu era (238), the Queen sent her husband, Natome (難升米), and her second emissary, Tsushigori (都市牛利), to Daifang commandery to request an audience with the

son of heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty ...

. In December, the emperor

Cao Rui Cao Rui () (204 or 205 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarr ...

was pleased and proclaimed the queen as the King of Wei, bestowed a gold seal and purple ribbon, gave her a huge gift including 100

bronze mirror Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today. This type of mirror, sometimes termed a copper mirror, has been found by archaeologists among elite assemblages from various cultures, from Etruscan Italy to Japan. Typically they are round a ...

s, and named Natome as the General of the Household (中郎將). * In 240, the Grand Administrator of Daifang, Gong Zun (弓遵), dispatched a group of emissaries to Japan with an imperial decree and ribbons, temporarily conferred the title of King of Japan, and gave them gifts. * In 243, the queen again sent an envoy to Wei, this time with a group of slaves and cloth. The emperor Cao Fang made them Generals of the Household . * In 245, the emperor Cao Fang issued an imperial decree to send a yellow banner to Nanshōme through Daifang. However, this was not carried out, as the Grand Administrator Gong Zun was killed in battle against the Eastern Ye. * In 247, a new Grand Administrator, Wang Qi (王頎), arrived in office. The queen sent a messenger to report on the war against Kununokuni. This was not based on the report from Japan in the same year, but on an edict issued in 245. * After assuming the queen's throne, Toyo (it is possible that the queen was already Toyo at the time of the dispatch in 247) had 20 people accompany Zhang Zheng's return to China. In addition, the "Jingū-ki" in ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'' quotes the now-lost ''Imperial Diaries of Jin'' (晉起居注) that the queen of Wa presented tribute through interpreters in October of 266. The extant ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, ...

'' notes that the Wa made a tribute in November of 266 in the annals of the

Emperor Wu of Jin Emperor Wu of Jin (; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan (), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was a grandson of Sima Yi, nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty a ...

. The embassy was recorded elsewhere in the ''Book of Jin'' in the "Biography of the Four Barbarians" (四夷傳), although the Wa ruler was not specified to be a queen. It is probable that Toyo made a tribute to

, who overthrew the Wei.

The Wa afterwards

After the record of Toyo's

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

in the mid-3rd century, there would be no record of Japan in Chinese historical books for nearly 150 years until the tribute of King San (one of the

five kings of Wa The were kings of ancient Japan ( Wa) who sent envoys to China during the 5th century to strengthen the legitimacy of their claims to power by gaining the recognition of the Chinese emperor. Details about them are unknown. According to written re ...

) in 413. The Gwanggaeto Stele fills in this gap, stating that in 391 people from Wa crossed the sea to invade

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

and

Silla Silla (; Old Korean: wikt:徐羅伐#Old Korean, 徐羅伐, Yale romanization of Korean, Yale: Syerapel, Revised Romanization of Korean, RR: ''Seorabeol''; International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) was a Korean kingdom that existed between ...

, and battled with Gwanggaeto of

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

The text

According to the ''Wajinden'', the Wa people made the mountainous island as their state, and paid tribute to the continent through the

that was established by the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

near present-day

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. As for the route from Daifang Commandery to Japan, the passages relating to the Korean peninsula in fascicle 30 of the ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'' describes the location and boundaries of

Samhan Samhan, or Three Han (), is the collective name of the Byeonhan, Jinhan, and Mahan confederacies that emerged in the first century BC during the Proto–Three Kingdoms of Korea, or Samhan, period. Located in the central and southern regions o ...

and Wa to the south of Daifang Commadery:

The Han (Korea) is south of Daifang, bounded by the sea to the east and west, connecting with Wa to its south, with an area of 4,000 '' li''. There are three Han, the first is called Mahan, the second is called Jinhan, the third is called Byeonhan.

The ''Book of the Later Han'''s treatise on the Dongyi makes the positional relationship of Samhan more concrete:

Mahan is to the west, consisting of 54 chiefdoms, bordering Lelang to the north and Wa to the south. To the east is Jinhan, with twelve chiefdoms, bordering
Yemaek The Yemaek or Yamaek are an ancient tribal group native to the northern Korean Peninsula and Manchuria and are commonly regarded as the ancestors of modern Koreans. The Yemaek have ancestral ties to multiple kingdoms in Northeast Asia including G ...
to the north. Byeonhan is south of Jinhan, consisting of twelve chiefdoms of its own, also bordering Wa in the south.

The journey to Yamatai

There are various theories about official names. An excerpt of and an English translation (romanizations mainly follow J. Edward Kidder).

Other chiefdoms

Other than the chiefdoms mentioned on the journey from Daifang to the Queen's domain in Yamatai, there are other distant countries that are only known by name. In addition, mention is made of a Kona chiefdom south of Yamatai ruled by a male king that lies outside of the Queen's control. An excerpt of and an English translation follows:

Distance from Daifang Commandery to Yamatai

Descriptions of Wa

Excerpts from and an English translation:

Chronology

Contains excerpts from and an English translation It is important to note that the Wei imperial decrees were dated to the time they were written, not the time they arrived in Wa, which typically took two years to arrive.

The "Yamatai controversy" over its location

Following the distance in ''Wajinden'' exactly as they were written would land a hypothetical traveller past the

and into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. As such, there is considerable debate over the locations of the Wa chiefdoms named in the ''Wajinden'', primarily Yamatai. The prevailing theories are the " Honshu Theory" and the " Kyushu Theory". The interpretations of the journey to Yamatai are split into the "continuous theory" and the "radiation theory" (see

Textual relationship with other sources

''Book of Later Han''

There is a description about Wa in Fan Ye's ''Book of Later Han'' written in the 5th century. Its contents have much in common with the Wajinden, but it also includes details that are absent from Wajinden such as the approximate time-frame of the Civil War of Wa, which the ''Book of Later Han'' records to be during the reign of Emperor Huan and Ling (146–189).

''Book of Sui''

The passages about Wa in the 7th century ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' () is the official history of the Sui dynasty, which ruled China in the years AD 581–618. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, ...

'' are seen as a compilation of similar passages from the '' Weilüe'', ''Wajinden'', ''Book of Later Han'', ''

Book of Song The ''Book of Song'' (''Sòng Shū'') is a historical text of the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties of China. It covers history from 420 to 479, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories, a traditional collection of historical records. ...

'', and the '' Book of Liang''. As such, many passages from ''Wajinden'' can be found in the ''Book of Sui'' with minor modifications. Notably, the ''Book of Sui'' updated the distances found in ''Wajinden''.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Yayoi Museum
{{Authority control Three Kingdoms Twenty-Four Histories Yamatai History books about Japan Wajinden