In the hearts of many Japanese people, Seofuku has always been their ancestor and is worshipped as a god by them. Some Japanese tourists who come to China will regard the Xufu Tomb in China as the first choice for their trip to China.
So is the real ancestor of the Japanese really Xu Fu?
When it comes to the story of Xu Fu, we must first start with Qin Shi Huang. Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries, unified weights and measures, made great achievements, and truly achieved great unification.
However, although Qin Shi Huang had the ability to unify the world, he could not prevent himself from growing old. In particular, he was so busy with government affairs and trivial matters that he became more and more overwhelmed. At this time, a bold idea suddenly appeared in the mind of the First Emperor: he wanted to find the "elixir" in the mythical story so that he could live forever.
In the beginning, Qin Shi Huang kept visiting the local scholars with one purpose - to find a panacea for longevity. However, after several rounds of inspections, Qin Shi Huang was either deceived by quack magicians, or the "elixir" he found did not work at all.
Even so, Qin Shi Huang still did not give up. So, he announced to the world that he was looking for capable people, hoping that these people could find the "elixir of life" for him. Among these people is Xu Fu.
Xu Fu was born in the state of Qi. He is the gate of Guiguzi**. At this time, Xu Fu was already 40 years old. Xu Fu said that he was willing to help Qin Shi Huang find the gods who lived in the mountains and obtain the elixir of immortality for him. Qin Shi Huang was very happy when he heard this, and gave him a lot of manpower and material resources to find the elixir of immortality.
Xu Fu first set out to sea in 219 BC and spent years searching for it, but found nothing, and Xu Fu spent his life unable to find the elixir of immortality.
Xu Fusheng was afraid that Qin Shi Huang would blame him, so he wrote a letter to defend himself: "Penglai has an immortal medicine to be found, but it is blocked by a shark. "Actually, Xu Fu said this just to prevent Qin Shi Huang from looking for the elixir of immortality. However, he did not expect that Qin Shi Huang would send a large army to clear the way.
In this case, Xu Fu had to go to sea for the second time. This time he made many unreasonable demands to Qin Shi Huang. He said, "I am going to offer a batch of precious jewels and other things to the gods, and I need three thousand boys and girls, with which the gods can give us the elixir of immortality." ”
Qin Shi Huang once again believed in Xu Fu and fulfilled all the demands he made. Xu Fu succeeded in taking away a large number of advanced tools, precious jewelry, 3,000 boys and girls, and many skilled craftsmen from the Qin Dynasty. But Qin Shi Huang did not wait for Xu Fu to bring back the elixir until his death.
So what did Xu Fu go to?Xu Fu led a huge fleet to the east and went directly to Japan, and brought China's advanced shipbuilding and shipbuilding technology to Japan, promoting the development of ancient Japanese shipbuilding and navigation industry.
Xu Fu brought not only China's advanced material culture, but also the wealth of China's spiritual civilization, including medical knowledge, astronomical meteorology, and navigation knowledge, as well as Yin and Yang, Taoism, and Confucianism absorbed by the monks.
As a result, many Japanese people believe that their ancestors were Seofuku. But there are also those who believe that Xu Fu is not their ancestor. Because before Xu Fu's eastward crossing, there were already many indigenous people living in Japan after all.
Since there were already other inhabitants before Sufuku, who were the ancestors of Japan?
Later, some experts believed that the Yamato people who looked similar to the Chinese were the Yamato people of Japan, the main ethnic group of the Japanese, and the composition of the Japanese was not only this race. There are two other races, they are Ainu and Ryukyuan.
The Ainu people inhabit Hokkaido, Japan. Their appearance is markedly different from that of the Yamato people. The eyebrows are thicker and more Mongolian-like. Due to racial discrimination against the Yamato people, there are now only more than 20,000 Ainu left, just like the Indians of the past. Although they are an indigenous race, they are in danger of extinction. Under pressure from the United Nations, Japan began to protect the race.
The Ryukyuan people are the indigenous people of Ryukyu Island, which was later changed to Okinawa by Japan. After the assimilation of the Yamato people, the current Ryukyuan people are not much different from the Yamato people.
But it can also be inferred from this that the Yamato people are the later human race, and in the end, because the dove occupies the magpie's nest, this became the main force of the Japanese, so what about the Yamato people?
With the development of science and technology, a medical research project called "DNA" has emerged. If the Japanese want to trace the roots, they can naturally find the answer through DNA comparison.
However, after research by scientists, it was concluded that the Japanese were not descendants of Xu Fu, and another secret was discovered in their genes. DNA comparison analysis showed that 1% of the genes of Japanese people are very similar to those of ancient humans who entered China from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. At the same time, more than 30% of the genes are from Southeast Asia, and 50% are genetically similar to Tibetans.
Such a huge discovery reveals the truth about the origin of humanity in Japan, but the truth makes it impossible for the Japanese to accept reality. This is also the most pertinent statement of the ancestors of the Japanese so far. However, some Japanese scholars have a different view of Japanese ancestors.
In 1979, Kenzaburo Torigoshi, a professor at Osaka University of Education in Japan, first published the statement that "the Japanese language originated in Yunnan Province, China". The reason is that the customs and Xi of many ethnic minorities in Yunnan are similar to those of Japan, and the language is also very close to Japanese.
The ethnic minorities in Yunnan have a torch festival, which the Japanese believe is similar to their "Obon Festival", and even the time is the same day. In addition, the beliefs of the Hani people in Yunnan are very similar to those of the Yamato people in Japan.
Japanese scholars believe that the most authoritative "Anamerasu single" in Japan and the "Apime smoke" of the Hani people are both women and sun gods. In addition, the Japanese revere cherry blossoms as their national flower, and the Hani people also regard cherry blossoms as sacred flowers ......Japanese scholars also believe that Yunnan people are genetically similar to the Japanese.
They conducted a field survey of ethnic minorities in Yunnan, China, and found that the babies had blue spots on their buttocks, waists, and backs. These melanocytes gradually disappear with age, and the Japanese happen to have this type of placental plaque.
This statement has been sought after by people from all walks of life in Japan, and many people have even traveled to Yunnan, China, to find the traces left by Japanese ancestors. In 1988, Nippon TV arrived in Yunnan with the task of filming "The Origin of the Japanese".
Of course, there are also people who disagree with this result. These experts believe that Japan was in the Jomon period before Sufuku's arrival. Xu Fu and his followers arrived in Japan during this period, where they exchanged and integrated with the local Yayoi people, spread Chinese culture, and accelerated the diversification of Japanese culture. Therefore, some Japanese believe that a small number of Japanese people today are descendants of Xu Fu.
However, in order to find out where Japan's ancestors came from, Japanese historians have conducted DNA tests on some of the unearthed Xu Fu bones. It was found to be of the same origin as the Jomon people. Even genetic fragments of the Chinese Loess Plateau and ** people have been discovered.
In the end, in Cell Research, which was named the most internationally influential academic journal in China in 2021, they showed that the genes of the Japanese are basically the same as those of the northerners of our country, which means that the Japanese are likely to come from the northern provinces of our country: Henan and Hebei.
The reason for this inference is that researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences cleverly conducted an investigation based on the experience of alcohol metabolism. They used this aspect to conduct surveys, first ruling out South Asia, Europe, and Latin America, and then screening in South and North China. The screening results showed that the metabolic genes of the northern Chinese population were generally better than those of the southern population, and the two types of DNA gene chains were very similar to those in Japan.
Either way, the ancestors of the Japanese point directly to China. This fact is unacceptable to the Japanese because it challenges their national identity and pride. They were reluctant to admit that they had such a close relationship with the Chinese, nor were they willing to give up their belief in the legend of Xu Fu. They even doubt the motives and reliability of this genetic research, believing that it is a lie deliberately concocted by the Chinese in order to weaken the national spirit of the Japanese.
In short, the origin of the Japanese is not the descendants of Xu Fuku, but the mixed blood of the Yayoi and Jomon people. This has been scientifically proven, but the Japanese find it difficult to accept. This may affect the perception and attitude of the Japanese people towards themselves and neighboring countries, and may also lead to some social and political problems. We hope that the Japanese will face this fact rationally, rather than avoiding or denying it. Only in this way can we promote peace and development in Japan and East Asia.