554 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



peoi^les both by land and by sea.^- Again, when the "barbarian" 

 kingdom of Yiieh, corresiDonding roughly to the modern Chinese 

 province of Chekiang, overthrew the rival state of Wu, in the Yang- 

 tze embouchure region, in 473 B. C, the ruling class of the latter are 

 said to have made their escape to certain islands to the eastward, 

 which can hardly have been other than the Avestern portion of the 

 Japanese groups.^^ 



The earliest distinct reference to Japan in the Chinese writings, 

 however, is one in the work Imown as the Shan Hai Ching, to the 

 effect that the northern and southern Wo are tributary to Yen, a 

 Chinese feudal kingdom at the head of the Gulf of Chihli.^* Inas- 

 much as Yen ceased to exist as an independent state in the year 226 

 B. C, this notice carries us back at least as far as the middle of the 

 third century before our era, and possibly even farther still, since 

 we know that Yen had been sending out exploring expeditions by 

 sea as early as the reign of King Wei (378-343 B. C.).^^ We need 

 not infer, however, that an actual conquest by Yen of any part of 

 the Japanese islands ever took place. As is well known, it was long 

 an official convention in China that all outsiders resorting to her for 

 purposes of trade came to her as "tribute bearers." It may there- 

 fore be fairly concluded from the passage in the Shan Hai Ching 

 that the two Wo peoples were in the habit of sending trading parties 

 to Yen which had the cognizance of its government in days when 

 foreign commerce was kept as far as possible a close state monopoly. 



Precisely where the two Wo are to be sought, it is impossible to 

 say. Perhaps the northern branch inhabited the lower extremity 

 of the Korean peninsula;" or, on the other hand, they may both 

 have dwelt in western Japan. That the southern, or " Great," Wo 

 were located in Kyushu seems quite clear. For another name ap- 

 plied to their country by Chinese writers is that of Ye-ma-t'ai. 



" Compare C. W. Bishop : The Geographical Factor in the Development of Chinese 

 Civilization, Geogr. Rev., vol. 12, 1922, pp. 19-41. 



"Albert Tschepe : Histoire du loyaume de Ou (1122-473 av. J.-C), Vari^tes Sinologi- 

 ques, No. 10, Shanghai, 189G, p. 15G, quoting from the T"ung-chien K'ang-mu. Eiirly 

 Chino.se writers describe an enchanted isle in the Eastern Sea where the customs are 

 like those of the people of Wu ; see E. II. Parker : Early .Japanese History, The China 

 Review, vol. 18, 1889-1890, pp. 212-248 ; reference on p. 214. 



'* W. G. Aston: Early Japanese History, Trans. Asiatic Soc. of Japan, vol. 16, 1888- 

 89, pp. 39-75 ; reference on p. 40 and in note 5. While the date of composition of the 

 Shan Ilai Ching has not yet been settled beyond dispute, the weight of evidence iK)ints 

 toward the third or second century ln^fore Chri.st, althou.;,'h it undoubtedly contains much 

 earlier elements. 



'S For the maritime explorations of Yen, see lOdouard Chavaniies, Memoires Ilistoriques 

 de Se-ma Ts'ien (5 vol.s., Paris, 189r)-190r)), vol. 3, pp. 43G et seq. ; on the conquest of 

 Yen by Ch'in Shih Ilwang-ti in B. C. 220, ibid., vol. 4. p. l.'iO. Inasmuch as the state 

 archives of Yen, like tho.se of practically all the rest of the ancient Chinese feudal states, 

 have been lost, we know nothing regarding the details of her maritime explorations. 



"• Cf . E. II. Parker: China: Her History, Diplomacy, and Commerce, from the Earliest 

 Times to the Present Day, 2d ed., London, 1917, p. 21. 



