Chapter 3 Chapter Two: The Mystery of the Golden Seal——The Demonstration of Communication in the Han Dynasty

The clear records of Sino-Japanese exchanges in Chinese historical records began in the Han Dynasty. "Hanshu Geographical Records" mentioned that there were Japanese people in the Korean Sea (the ancient Chinese called Japan Japanese), who were divided into more than a hundred countries and often paid tribute to the Han Dynasty.Of course, the Han Dynasty also gave many gifts in return.This is confirmed by a large number of Western Han bronze mirrors, jade jade and other valuables unearthed from the Kyushu and Kinki areas of Honshu, Japan. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" specially set up the "Japanese Biography" for Japan, and further mentioned that since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered Korea, Japan sent envoys to more than 30 countries.It also introduces the social life and customs of Japan at that time. "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" also specifically records that in the second year of Jianwu Zhongyuan (AD 57), Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "the Japanese slave country offered tribute and congratulations", and Emperor Guangwu bestowed his seal.So is there such a thing in history?Now let's tell the story of this golden seal.

On February 23rd of the lunar calendar in 1784, in a small and beautiful fishing village in Hazaki, Shiga Island, northern Kyushu, Japan (at that time, it belonged to Naka County, Chikuzen Country, Kyushu, and is now part of Fukuoka County), a farmer named Jinbei, in the early morning Rise up and go down to the ground to build water channels.When digging the ground, I accidentally discovered a stone chamber, covered with huge stones, with small stones as pillars below, and a metal block hidden in the middle.He was very surprised, took the metal block home, and consulted the owner of the local rice shop, only to know that it was a seal carved in gold.The gold seal was handed over to the prefect and transferred to the lord of the Kuroda domain. After being identified by Kamei Nanming, a famous scholar of the Kuroda domain at that time, the five characters "Han Wei Nu King" were engraved on it. It turned out to be Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty more than 1,700 years ago. A golden seal bestowed upon the King of the Wonu.So it became a family heirloom of the feudal lord's family, and it is now a national treasure designated by the Japanese government and collected in the Fukuoka City Museum of Art.At the place where the golden seal was found on Shiga Island, a stone tablet engraved with "the place where the golden seal of the King of the Han Dynasty shines" was erected, and the surrounding area was opened as a "Golden Seal Park" for sightseeing and rest.

Is this golden seal really a gift from the emperor of the Han Dynasty?In the 200 years since the Gold Seal was unearthed, there have been constant doubts about it.According to textual research, the first word "Han" on the seal indicates that the recipient of the seal belongs to the Han Empire. generic.The seal was measured by the Japan Institute of Metrology, and the surface of the seal was 2.34 cm square, which was about one inch square of the copper ruler made in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was exactly in line with the system of the Han Dynasty that the gold seal bestowed to princes and kings did not exceed an inch.The printed button is in the shape of a snake, and there is a small horizontal hole underneath for hanging a ribbon.This is also consistent with the Han system that uses different shapes of buttons, such as Liehou tortoise, general tiger, barbarian snake, etc. to indicate names. In 1956, among the cultural relics unearthed from the Shisaishan Han Tomb in Jinning County, Yunnan Province, there was also a snake button gold seal engraved with the "Seal of the King of Dian".Especially in 1981, a tortoise button gold seal of "Guangling King's Seal" was unearthed in Han Tomb No. 2, Yingquan Town, Hanjiang County, near Yangzhou City, China. They are all one-inch made in Han Dynasty, and the seal characters are also very similar, and the seal buttons also have caviar patterns.The two seals were granted only one year apart.Chinese and Japanese archaeologists and historians, after repeated comparisons and research, further confirmed that the unearthed in Shika Island is indeed the golden seal bestowed by Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty, and finally solved the mystery of the authenticity of the golden seal that had been debated for nearly 200 years.The Japanese newspaper "Chonichi Shimbun" said when reporting this discovery: "The golden seal of Shiga Island, which has been shining in Japanese history, has finally found its brother after it was introduced to Japan more than 1900 years ago. There is a vague image of craftsmen in the later Han Dynasty showing their talents for the Japanese envoys and princes who came from afar."

The gold seal is the symbol and evidence of the friendly exchanges and cultural exchanges between China and Japan around AD.At that time, China's advanced civilization first spread through the Korean Peninsula to Kitakyushu, the westernmost part of the Japanese archipelago, where iron tools were first used for farming.After the increase in productivity, tribal groups and slavery states mainly based on geographical integration emerged.Among them, the stronger slave-owner rulers, in order to expand their power and meet the development of production, military and life needs, gradually paid tribute to the Han Empire through the Han Dynasty’s ruling institutions on the Korean Peninsula (such as Lelang County). In order to get the political support and material rewards from the Chinese emperor.The precious cultural relics unearthed in Kitakyushu, such as bronze mirrors, bronze spears, bronze swords, and Gouyu, were gifts from the Han Dynasty at that time.King Wonu was a slave owner in Kitakyushu, the most productive area in the Japanese archipelago 2,000 years ago, and even received a golden seal from Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty.A cast of a thin bronze sword was found near the place where Jinyin was unearthed, indicating that the place was able to smelt and make bronze wares at that time.However, around the 2nd century AD, the productivity center of the Japanese archipelago gradually moved eastward from Kyushu to the Kinki region of Honshu, and an ancient slavery country with a considerable scale like the Yamatai Kingdom ruled by Queen Himiko appeared. "Wei Zhi·Wain Biography" in "Three Kingdoms" records that 21 small countries in Japan were under the rule of Queen Himiko at that time.However, the Wonu Kingdom in Kyushu might have failed in the annexation war, and its rulers had to secretly bury the golden seal, a symbol of power and the support of the Han Empire.

After the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty, according to the "Three Kingdoms: Wei Zhi Woren Biography", in the third year of Jingchu (AD 239) of Emperor Wei Ming, Queen Himiko of Yamatai Kingdom used China's prestige to deal with the war with the Wonu Kingdom in order to strengthen her political and economic strength. In the conflict, envoys were sent to Luoyang, the capital of Wei State, to pay tribute to ten slaves and two pieces of linen. Emperor Wei Ming not only granted the gold seal of "Pro-Wei King", but also rewarded a large number of rich gifts, such as gold eight taels and bronze mirrors. One hundred pieces, three pieces of brocade, 50 pieces of white silk, 50 catties each of pearls and red lead, etc., the Japanese envoys returned with a full load.Later, during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the king of Japan sent envoys to offer tribute many times, and China sometimes sent envoys to Japan, which became an important form of cultural exchanges between China and Japan during this period.Although the golden seal of "Pro-Wei Wo Wang" bestowed by Emperor Wei Ming to the Queen of Yamatai has not yet been discovered, and its rubbings are also difficult to distinguish from authenticity.However, in 1951, the mythical animal mirror of the Han Dynasty unearthed in Xintai Village, Quanbei County, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, has an inscription on the edge of the mirror, "Chen Guozuo inscribed Baozi Yisun in the third year of Jingchu", which proves that this bronze mirror was rewarded by Emperor Wei Ming in 239 AD. One of the 100 bronze mirrors owned by the Queen of Matai Kingdom, it is also a demonstration of the cultural exchanges between China and Japan at that time.