Fusang
Encyclopedia
In Shan Hai Jing
Shan Hai Jing
Shan Hai Jing is a Chinese classic text, and a compilation of early geography and myth. Versions of the text have existed since the 4th century BC, and by the early Han Dynasty it had reached its final form. It is largely a fabled geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a...
(Classic of Mountains and Rivers), and in several other similar text of this period, it refers to a mythological mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
tree of life
Tree of life
The concept of a tree of life, a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related, has been used in science , religion, philosophy, mythology, and other areas...
allegedly growing far to the east of China, and later to the Hibiscus
Hibiscus
Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world...
genus, and perhaps to various more concrete territories east of China.
A country named Fusang was described by the native Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
missionary Hui Shen in 499 CE, as a place 20,000 Chinese li east of Da-han, and also east of China (according to Joseph Needham
Joseph Needham
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA , also known as Li Yuese , was a British scientist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and as a fellow of the British...
, Da-han corresponds to the Buriat region of Siberia). Hui Shen went by ship to Fusang, and upon his return reported his findings to the Chinese Emperor. His descriptions are recorded in the 7th century text Book of Liang
Book of Liang
The Book of Liang , was compiled under Yao Silian, completed in 635. The book heavily relied on his father, Yao Ca's original manuscript, as his comments were quoted in several chapters....
by Yao Silian
Yao Silian
Yao Silian , courtesy name Jianzhi ,, formally Baron Kang of Fengcheng , was an official of the Chinese dynasties Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty and was the lead author of the Book of Liang and Book of Chen, official histories of Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty, which his father Yao Cha , a Chen...
, and describe a Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
civilization inhabiting the Fusang country. The Fusang described by Shen has been variously posited to be the Americas, Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
island, the Kamchatka peninsula or the Kuril islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
. The American hypothesis was the most hotly debated one in the late 19th and early 20th century after the 18th century writings of Joseph de Guignes
Joseph de Guignes
Joseph de Guignes , French orientalist and sinologist, was born at Pontoise, the son of Jean Louis de Guignes and Françoise Vaillant. He died in Paris....
were revived and disseminated by Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland
Charles Godfrey Leland was an American humorist and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe....
in 1875. Sinologists including Emil Bretschneider
Emil Bretschneider
Emil Bretschneider was a Russian sinologist of Baltic German descent and a correspondent member of Académie française. He graduated from the medical school of University of Dorpat in Dorpat Estonia and was first posted as a physician by the Russian legation to Tehran...
, Berthold Laufer
Berthold Laufer
Berthold Laufer was a German-American anthropologist and orientalist.Laufer was born in Cologne to a Jewish family. He attended the Friedrich Wilhelms Gymnasium from 1884-1893. He continued his studies in Berlin and completed his doctorate degree at the University of Leipzig in 1897...
, and Henri Cordier
Henri Cordier
Henri Cordier was a French linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, editor and Orientalist. He was President of the Société de Géographie in Paris.-Early life:...
refuted however this hypothesis, and according to Needham the American thesis was "stone dead" by the time of the First World War.
Later Chinese accounts used the name Fusang for other, even less well identified places.
Mythological accounts
An earlier account claims that in 219 BCE emperor Shi HuangQin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
sent an expedition of some 3,000 convicts to a place lying far off to the east, across the ocean, called Fusang to a be sacrifice to a volcano god who holds the elixir of life. There were, apparently, two expeditions under Xu Fu
Xu Fu
Xú Fú ; was born in 255 BC in Qi, and served as a court sorcerer in Qin Dynasty China. He was sent by Qin Shi Huang to the eastern seas twice to look for the elixir of life. His two journeys occurred between 219 BC and 210 BC. It was believed that the fleet included 60 barques and around 5,000 crew...
, the court sorcerer, to seek the elixir of life
Elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create...
. The first expedition returned c. 210 BCE when Xufu claimed a giant sea creature was blocking their path. Archers were then sent to deal with this monster when the expedition set out a second time, but it was never heard from again. However, ". . . . asides in the Record of the Historian imply that its leader Xu Fu had returned to China long ago and was lurking somewhere near Langya, frittering away the expedition's impressive budget."
Eastern Japan
A common interpretation of the term "Fusang" is JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, although in Hui-Sheng's report Fusang is presented as distinct from the statelet of Wo
Wa (Japan)
Japanese is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Chinese character 倭 until the 8th century, when the Japanese found fault with it, replacing it with 和 "harmony, peace, balance".- Historical references :The earliest...
, another name associated with ancient Japan and probably could have been describing Japanese communities in the island of Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
or Ryukyu Kingdom
Ryukyu Kingdom
The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...
.
In Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
, Fusang refers to a divine tree in the East, from where the sun rises. A similar tree, known as Ruomu exists in the west, and each morning the sun was said to rise from Fusang and fall on Ruomu. Chinese legend has ten birds (typically ravens) living in the tree, and as nine rested, the tenth would carry the sun on its journey. This legend has similarities with the Chinese tale of the fictional hero Houyi
Houyi
Houyi , also called Yiyi or simply Yi, was a mythological Chinese archer and the leader of Dongyi. He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind, and sometimes as the chief of the Youqiong Tribe during the reign of King Tai Kang of Xia Dynasty...
, sometimes referred to as the Archer, who is credited with saving the world by shooting down nine of the suns when one day all ten took to the air simultaneously. Some scholars have identified the bronze trees found at the archaeological site Sanxingdui
Sanxingdui
Sanxingdui is the name of an archaeological site and its deduced culture in China, now believed to be the site of an ancient Chinese city. The previously unknown Bronze Age culture was re-discovered in 1987 when archaeologists excavated remarkable artifacts, that radiocarbon dating dated as being...
with these Fusang trees. The term Fusang would later designate Japan in Chinese poems.
Fusang is pronounced Fusō (扶桑) in the Japanese language, and is one of the names to designate ancient Japan
Names of Japan
There are many names of Japan in the English, Japanese, and other languages. The word "Japan" is an exonym, and is used by a large number of languages. The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon . They are both written in Japanese using the kanji 日本...
. Several warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
were named Fusō (the ironclad Fusō, or the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
battleship Fusō
Japanese battleship Fuso
The Japanese battleship Fusō , was a part of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of the Fusō-class. She was laid down by the Kure Kaigun Koshō on 11 March 1912, launched on 28 March 1914 and completed on 18 November 1915...
). Several companies, such as Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation
The Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation is a German-owned, Japan-based manufacturer of trucks and buses. It is headquartered in Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, Japan. This company is one of the World's largest truck manufacturers...
also bear the name.
Gustaaf Schlegel
Gustaaf Schlegel
Gustaaf Schlegel [or Gustav Schlegel] was a Dutch sinologist and field naturalist.- Life and career :Son of Hermann Schlegel—a native of Saxony who had moved to the Netherlands in 1827 to work at the natural history museum of Leiden and became its second director—, Gustaaf begun to study Chinese...
thought Fusang was most probably "the long island of Karafuto or Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
". Joseph Needham
Joseph Needham
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA , also known as Li Yuese , was a British scientist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and as a fellow of the British...
added that "if Kamchatka and the Kuriles may also be considered there is no better means of identifying it at the present day."
The Americas
Joseph de Guignes
Joseph de Guignes , French orientalist and sinologist, was born at Pontoise, the son of Jean Louis de Guignes and Françoise Vaillant. He died in Paris....
(Le Fou-Sang des Chinois est-il l'Amérique? Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, tome 28, Paris, 1761), the distances given by Hui Shen (20,000 Chinese li) would locate Fusang on the west coast of the American continent
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, when taking the ancient Han-period definition of the Chinese li. Some 18th century European maps locate Fusang north of the State of California, in the area of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Descriptions of Fusang
- "Fusang is 20,000 li to the East of the country of Dàhàn (lit. 'Great Han'), and located to the east of China (lit. 'Middle Kingdom')."
- "On that land, there are many Fusang plants (perhaps red mulberryRed MulberryMorus rubra, commonly known as the Red Mulberry, is a species of mulberry native to eastern North America, from Ontario and Vermont south to southern Florida and west to southeast South Dakota and central Texas...
) that produce oval-shaped leaves similar to paulownia and edible purplish-red fruits like pears. The place was rich in copper and traces of gold and silver but no iron. The native tribes in Fusang were civilized, living in well-organized communities. They produced paper from the bark of the Fusang plants for writing and produced cloth from the fibers of the bark, which they used for robes or wadding. Their houses or cabins were constructed with red mulberry wood. The fruits and young shoots of the plants were one of their food sources. They raised deer for meat and milk, just as the Chinese raised cattle at home, and produced cheese with deer milk. They traveled on horseback and transported their goods with carts or sledges pulled by horses, buffalo, or deer." (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)
On the organization of the country:
- "An emperor, or a main chief, with the help of several officials, governed the country. The majority of people were law-abiding citizens. The country had no army or military defense but two jails, one in north and the other in south of the country. Those who had committed serious crimes were sent to the north and they stayed there for their entire lives. These inmates, however, could get married. If they got married and produced children, their sons became slaves and daughters remained as maids" (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)
On the social practices:
- "The marriage arrangement was relatively simple. If a boy wanted to marry a girl, he had to build a cabin next to the home of the girl and stay there for a year. If the girl liked him they would get married; otherwise he would be asked to go away.…When a person died in the community his body would be cremated. The mourning period varied from seven days for the death of a parent to five days for a grandparent and three days for a brother or sister. During their mourning period they were not supposed to consume food, only water. They had no religion." (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)
The Liang Shu also describes the conversion of Fusang to the Buddhist faith by five Buddhist monks from Gandhara
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
:
- "In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion, but in the second year of Da MingEmperor Ming of Liu SongEmperor Ming of Liu Song , personal name Liu Yu , courtesy name Xiubing , nickname Rongqi , was an emperor of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song...
of the Song dynastyLiu Song DynastyThe Liu Song Dynasty , also known as Song Dynasty , Former Song , or Southern Song , was first of the four Southern Dynasties in China, succeeding the Eastern Jin Dynasty and followed by the Southern Qi Dynasty....
(485 CE), five monks from Kipin (KabulKabulKabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
region of Gandhara) travelled by ship to that country. They propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a result, the customs of Fusang changed".
External links
- www.uh.edu/
- Description of Fusang in ancient Chinese literature 《梁書•五十四•列傳四十八》
- Article at CRIENGLISH.com on Xu Fu's expedition to Japan Also full view at Google Books.
- A full translation in French of the account in the Book of Liang was given by Schlegel (1892)