Ancient Chinese Historian Describes Japan // First Full Description of Japan // 'Wei-Zhi' (297 AD)

Here we have the first full description of the island east of China - what would become Japan. Straight from the 3rd century History of the Kingdom of Wei, these words give us our first insight into life on that remote island and their mysterious female rulers.

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— Music courtesy of:-
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Trans. by Tsunoda and Goodrich: Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories.

Thanks to:

Xuan Che

[VoicesofthePast]

Hello all! Another Ancient China video, hope you like it. Happy new year! If this channel is something you like, if you think saving primary sources is important, head over to the patreon and join up! :)
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[nohbuddy]

And they were great neighbors from then on with absolute no issues forever after

[stanleysmith]

"People live long, up to 80-100 years...there is no theft.."
Yup, sounds like Japan to me.

[MaycroftCholmsky]

"We, the kingdom on the eastern isles, therefore establish diplomatic relations with you by sending 4 male and 6 female slaves and a couple of towels."


Man, I love the ancient politics.

[unifieddynasty]

"Stop! You violated the law. Your wife and children are now forfeit." - Wa Guard

[pfefferfilm]

"They are fond of liquor"
Some things never change

[MegaTang]

daamn, even back in the 3rd century japanese people lived very long lives.

[takezokimura]

Chinese: And their names are extremely long.
Japanese: And their names are extremely short.

[the-chillian]

Note that clapping is still a feature of Shinto worship. (3:00)

One of the greatest controversies in ancient Japanese historiography is exactly where the state of Yamatai lay in the Japanese archipelago. According to Chinese records, this was the name of the state ruled by the shamaness Pimiko. The historian who wrote the "Account of Wa", Chen Shou, described the route to get there from Daifang near Seoul, but if you follow his directions exactly you end up deep underwater. This leads to two alternatives: Assuming he got the distances right but the compass directions wrong, you end up in the Kinai near Kyoto and Osaka, in the historic kingdom of Yamato that eventually gave rise to the modern Japanese state. Assuming he got the compass directions right but the distances wrong, and you're in northern Kyushu. This is still an unsettled question because archaeology supplies arguments in support of both possibilities.

[koalitaDormilona]

7:50 The name of Wei's capital still survives in one of the Japanese words that means "going to Kyoto", _jōraku_ (上洛, literally "going to Luoyang"), where the _raku_ is the Japanese pronunciation of "luo" in "Luoyang" (洛陽, _Rakuyō_ in Japanese)

[Fenristhegreat]

Very interesting to hear how some aspects of Japan remain the same and yet some were clearly to be heavily influenced by China subsequently.

[shalashaskalives]

A moment of pure class amongst the noise of Youtube. Wonderful!

[yorp]

Wonderfull, i love this method of learing about history

[LodiJP]

ooh! I was the one requesting this video ! And it didn't disappoint! It's so well done! The video is nice too, but.. actually; you can just close your eyes and find yourself in a different time ^__^. Sure, there are documentaries.. and you can find these texts.. but having them read to you in this style, it's such a fantastic idea! Keep up the good work!

[TanitAkavirius]

Clapping hands when praying, isn't it still part of shinto prayers today?

[BATTIS]

"They are fond of liquor" I see some things never change.

[franciscobizzaro]

297AD "They are fond of liquor"
2020AD "SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS!"

[nicksalvatore]

The first mention of the Japanese archipelago was in the Chinese historic text Book of Later Han, in the year 57, in which it was noted that the Emperor of the Han dynasty gave a golden seal to Wa (Japan). The King of Na gold seal was discovered in northern Kyūshū in the eighteenth century. From then on Japan was repeatedly recorded in Chinese historical texts, at first sporadically, but eventually continuously as Japan matured into a notable power in the region.

[natureman]

I always hear how ancient historical documents are exaggerated or having a motive to degrade the subject of the piece. But this just seems like a objective account of what ancient japan society was like

[talvilai]

There are many paragraphs skipped, including:
- A guide to reach Himiko's capital, as well as settlements (implied to be self-ruling, by the use of the term 国 guó/kuni for each settlement, variously rendered as "settlements" and "provinces" in the translation in the video) along the way. Unfortunately, it quickly becomes unclear after reaching Fukuoka and thus there is still a debate where exactly the sphere of influence of Himiko's state end. My personal theory is roughly two-thirds of Kyushu.
- The assignment of an intendant of Himiko in the settlement of Ito (either Itoshima or far west of Fukuoka)
- A list of minerals, plants and animals produced by or present in Japan (pearls and jade top the list)
- Further interactions between Japan and Wei in the period 240-248 (Jingchu 2 corresponds to 238 in Gregorian/Julian calendar)