Xu Fu, a native of Longkou, an alchemist in Qin Dynasty and a great navigator, traveled to Japan more than 2,000 years ago, leaving an eternal story for the historical and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Located in the northwest of Longkou City, the island is the starting point for its eastward crossing to Japan.
In Longkou City, there has always been the "youth dream" of the ancient Japanese emperor. More than 2,200 years ago, in the Qin Shihuang era, the famous alchemist Xu Fu led thousands of boys and girls across the sea to Japan in the name of becoming immortal, creating a history of friendly exchanges and cultural exchanges between China and Japan and becoming a pioneer of ancient Japanese civilization.
Located in the northwest of Longkou City, the island is the starting point for its eastward crossing to Japan. Xu Fu, whose ancestral home is in Longkou, Yantai, has long been respected as a pioneer of Sino-Japanese exchanges by the Chinese and Japanese people. ...
Seeking medical treatment: opening up the first air route between China and Japan
In 22 1 year BC, Qin Shihuang unified China and divided the world into 36 counties. Huangxian County is located in the east of Huangchengji Village, Liang Shi Town, Longkou City, and belongs to Qixian County. In 2 19 BC, Qin Shihuang traveled east to Shandong. After the closing ceremony of Mount Tai, he led his ministers to Huangxian (now Longkou, Shandong), the ancient capital of Qi, along the south bank of Bohai Sea. During his stay in Huangxian County, Xu Fu was summoned by Qin Shihuang and was ordered to accompany Qin Shihuang to Laishan to worship the moon god. Soon, Qin Shihuang and his party left Huangxian County and arrived at Chengshantou (now Rongcheng, Shandong Province), the easternmost part of Shandong Peninsula. On the way back, Qin Shihuang and others boarded Zhifu Island (now Zhifu District, Shandong Province); Then he went south to Langya Mountain and lived there for three months. Then 30,000 people moved from other places to live here, and their taxes were exempted in 12. At the same time, Qin Shihuang also ordered people to build Langya platform, erect stone carvings and sing praises, which indicated that his wishes were met.
At this time, in order to cater to Qin Shihuang's dream of being emperor forever, Xu Fu wrote that there are three sacred mountains in the Bohai Sea: Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou. There are many immortals living in the palace on the mountain, and there is a magical medicine that people can eat to live forever. He is willing to get it and give it to the emperor. Qin Shihuang hoped that one day he could take this elixir and rule China forever, so he readily agreed.
In 2 18 BC, when Qin Shihuang traveled eastward for the second time, he was catching up with Xu Fu and did not return to the sea. Nine years later (2 10 BC), Qin Shihuang once again sent Xu Fu with more than 500 boys and girls, craftsmen, warriors and shooters, loaded with grain seeds, grain, utensils and fresh water, and went to the sea to ask for medicine. Cui Fu's fleet sailed along miaodao islands to the south of Liaodong Peninsula, then eastward to the west coast of Korean Peninsula, and southward to Jeju Island. After resting in Jeju Island, it crossed the opposite Ma Haixia to Kitakyushu. The route taken by Xu Fu's fleet is not only safe and reliable, but also can ensure the supply of fresh water along the way. This was the only air route between China and Japan before the 7th century.
Avoiding disaster: living in Kitakyushu, Japan.
Xu Fudong didn't get the "elixir of life", but discovered the "Guangze Plain" (Kyushu, Japan) after landing in Kumanopu. The elixir of life was not found. In order to avoid being killed, he decided to stay here and never come back.
A large number of boys and girls, skilled workers and archers led by Xu Fudong mainly come from Shandong Peninsula. They brought the advanced culture and industrial and agricultural production technology of Shandong Peninsula in Qin Dynasty to Japan, mainly including planting mulberry and sericulture, hand weaving, collecting medicine and pharmacy, sailing and whaling, which solved the problems of food, clothing, housing and transportation of local people, and made the Japanese archipelago in the Stone Age develop by leaps and bounds, and entered the yayoi cultural period characterized by using metal tools and planting rice.
After they arrived in Japan, the accompanying agricultural water conservancy technicians taught the Japanese to use iron farm tools to reclaim land, select seeds for cultivation, water and fertilize, weed and loosen soil, help them build water conservancy projects, fight drought and drain water, irrigate farmland and plant rice. The development of agricultural production not only solved the problem of eating for a long time for Japanese primitive people, but also had surplus grain. The Japanese began to move from fishing and hunting economy to farming economy, from alpine forests to plain areas, and from nomadic life to settled life.
The development of agriculture and the surplus of food accelerated the disintegration of primitive society in Japan. The accompanying hundred workers actively taught the knowledge of textile, iron smelting and wood processing, which made the handicraft industry in Japan rise and develop rapidly. Professional workers in textile, iron smelting, wood processing and other industries have appeared one after another. These craftsmen bring their goods to the market and exchange them for what they need through equivalent exchange. The commodity economy eventually led to the polarization between the rich and the poor and the emergence of classes, and Japan entered the class society from the primitive society.
Today, Xu Fu is still deeply respected by the Japanese people. Japan respects Xu Fu as "the god of agriculture" and "the god of medicine". There are traces of Xu Fu's activities in Wakayama, Saga, Hiroshima, Aichi, Akita and Mount Fuji. Saga, Shinomiya and other shrines regard Xu Fufeng as a deity, and hold huge sacrificial activities every year. In order to carry forward the spirit of blessing, China and Japan established the National Blessing Association, and Lianyungang, Longkou, Jiaonan, Cangzhou, Suzhou, Cixi, Shinomiya, Saga, Osaka, Fuji Yoshida, Kagoshima, Tokyo and other places also established the Blessing Association.
Settlement: the exchange of customs.
On the basis of working and communicating with local residents, Xu Fu and others brought their original customs to Japanese residents, and they gradually formed similar hobbies and customs.
A person in charge of Longkou Xufu Research Association told the reporter that Qi was a famous tea town at that time and had the habit of drinking tea. Xu Fu brought this culture to Japan and gradually developed into a world-famous Japanese "tea ceremony". It was Xu Fu who brought orchids that were deeply loved by the Chinese and Japanese people. Before and after the pre-Qin period, people in China had the habit of sitting, standing or kneeling, and eating with a low table. After Xu Fu brought these habits to Japan, the Japanese passed them down from generation to generation. "The names and places in ancient Japan are similar to those in Yantai now. Some even have homonyms, such as Toyama, also known as Penglai Mountain, and Dahei Island, also known as Penglai Island. "
As an alchemist, Xu Fudong showed his role as an alchemist after crossing Japan. Over time, the Japanese people influenced by it gradually formed primitive religious beliefs. They believe that there are mountains and rivers and sea gods, and both nature and ancestors have become gods believed by the Japanese people. In ancient China, the heresy and ideology of alchemists were unified into Taoism at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, in Japan, it gradually became a Shinto. There are many similarities between the two, from which we can see the influence of Xu Fudong's crossing the sea on Japanese primitive religious beliefs.
Xu Fudong's eastward journey has opened a new chapter in Sino-Japanese exchanges and has always been admired by people. The Japanese people regard Xu Fufeng, who spread Chinese civilization to his ancestors, as a "god" and call him a "flag bearer of Yayoi culture". From the14th century, Japanese documents began to record Xu Fudong's whereabouts. Many Japanese believe that Fulai Xu has come to their own country and brought advanced civilization. 1339 The Japanese ancient book The Official History of Emperor Shenzong once wrote: "In forty-five years, Qin Shihuang ascended the throne. The first emperor was a good fairy, seeking immortality medicine in Japan, and Japan wanted the suicide note of the five emperors and three kings of that country, so the first emperor sent it. " Since then, Xu Fu has gradually become a legend. In Japanese folk, Xu Fu is revered as the god of agriculture, medicine and mulberry cocoon, and is worshipped. Today, many places in Japan have the remains of Xu Fu, among which the earlier remains appeared in Kumano. In Jinli Mountain, north of Saga City, Japan, there is a Gionee shrine, in which mainly Xu Fu is enshrined. In Zhu Fu Town at the junction of Saga Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefecture, there are relics such as "Chuifu Landing Site" and "Chuifu Washing Site". There are also some old traces of Xu Fu in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, among which there is a hot field shrine in Nagoya City, also called Xiao Penglai. There is a Ozaki shrine in Kitazaki Prefecture, Aomori Prefecture, and Xu Fu is one of its ancestors.
It is understood that Xu Fudong's crossing has opened a new chapter in the history of world navigation. Xu Fu's voyages to the West were more than 900 years earlier than Jian Zhen's voyages to the West in the Tang Dynasty, earlier than Zheng He's voyages to the West 1600 years, and earlier than Columbus' discovery of the new American continent 1700 years. Although the voyage of this magnificent feat was not long, in ancient times as far away as the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fudong's crossing was unmatched by Columbus in terms of time, scale, purpose and method, navigation, exploration, courage and spirit. Xu Fudong's voyage to the Western Ocean has pushed forward the history of Chinese people's understanding and control of the ocean for more than ten centuries, and made unparalleled contributions to the development of world civilization and navigation.
Although Xu Fudong's crossing is called seeking immortality, it is actually an exchange and integration of Chinese and foreign cultures and an attempt to leap from inland civilization to marine civilization. With its unique charm, it has become a symbol of the friendship between the Chinese and Japanese peoples and has been praised by the two peoples for generations. We cherish Xu Fu's memory and carry forward Xu Fu's culture, which is not only tracing the origin of traditional friendship between China and Japan, but also a good wish for the development of Sino-Japanese relations. We believe that under the guidance of Xu Fu's spirit, the development of bilateral relations can carry forward the past, sail and break the waves, and blaze new trails!