Wajinden

The Wajinden are passages in the 30th fascicle of the Chinese history chronicle Records of the Three Kingdoms that talk about the Wa people, who would later be known as the Japanese people. It describes the mores, geography, and other aspects of the Wa, the people and inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago at the time. The Records of the Three Kingdoms was written by Chen Shou of the Western Jin dynasty at the end of the 3rd century.

Overview

There is no independent treatise called "Wajinden" in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, and the description of Yamato is part of the Book of Wei, vol. 30, "Treatise on the Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Dongyi". The name "Wajinden" comes from Iwanami Bunko who published the passages under the name Gishi Wajinden in 1951. Therefore, some believe that it is meaningless unless one reads not only the passages on the Wa but also the whole of the Treatise on the Dongyi. Yoshihiro Watanabe, a researcher of the Three Kingdoms, states that the accounts about the Korean Peninsula and Japan were not based on Chen Shou's first-hand experience, but was written based on rumors and reports from people who had visited the Korean Peninsula and Japan, and its authenticity is questionable. He further recommended that "the worldview and political situation of Chen Shou be examined not only by reading the Records and its annotations in full, but also by familiarizing with the Confucian classics that form the worldview to understand it.".
The Wajinden represents the first time a comprehensive article about the Japanese archipelago has been written in the official history of China. The Dongyi treatise in the Book of the Later Han is chronologically earlier than the Wajinden, but the Wajinden was written earlier.
The book describes the existence of a country in Wa at that time, centered on the country of Yamatai, as well as the existence of countries that did not belong to the queen, with descriptions of their locations, official names, and lifestyles. This book also describes the customs, flora and fauna of the Japanese people of the time, and serves as a historical record of the Japanese archipelago in the 3rd century.
However, it is not necessarily an accurate representation of the situation of the Japanese archipelago at that time, which has been a cause of controversy regarding Yamatai
On the other hand, there are also some researchers such as Okada Hidehiro who cast doubt on the value of the Wajinden as a historical document. Okada stated that there were large discrepancies in the location and mileage and that it lacked credibility. Takaraga Hisao said, "The Wajinden is not complete, and it cannot be regarded as a contemporaneous historical material because of the lack of total consistency and the long transcription period. Although it is certain that the Book of Wei predates the Records of the Three Kingdoms, there are many errors in the surviving anecdotes. In addition, Yoshihiro Watanabe stated that the Wajinden contains "many biases due to the internal politics and diplomacy of Cao Wei at the time when Himiko sent her envoy and the world view of the historian.

Editions

Of the printed versions of the Wajinden that have survived, the one included in the Bainaben version of the Twenty-Four Histories from the 20th century during the Republican period of China is considered the best. The edition of Records of the Three Kingdoms that forms the Bainaben version is based on a copy from the Shaoxi period of Southern Song dynasty.
A punctuated edition of the Records of the Three Kingdoms was published in 1959 by Zhonghua Book Company in Beijing, and is available in Japan. In addition, Kodansha published a kanbun version named Wakokuden in 2010 featuring syntactic markers to aid the Japanese reader.
The Wajinden was written without paragraphs, but it is divided into six paragraphs in the Chinese-language versions and the Kodansha version. In terms of content, it is understood to be divided into three major sections.

Relationship between Wa and Wei

Himiko and Toyo

Originally, there was a male king for 70 to 80 years, but there was a prolonged disturbance in the whole country. In the end, the confusion was finally quelled by appointing Himiko, a woman, as the ruler.
Himiko was described to be a shaman queen who held her people under a spell. She was elderly and had no husband. Her younger brother assisted her in the administration of the kingdom. She had 1,000 attendants, but only one man was allowed in the palace to serve food and drink and to take messages. The palace was strictly guarded by soldiers.
Himiko sent a messenger to Wei through Daifang Commandery in 238, and was appointed by the emperor as the King of Wa, Ally to Wei. In 247, Daifang dispatched Zhang Zheng to negotiate a peace between Wa and Kununokuni. According to the description in Wajinden, he exchanged messengers with the countries of the Korean Peninsula.
When Himiko died in 247, a mound was built and 100 people were buried there. After that, a male king was established, but the whole country did not accept him, and more than 1,000 people were killed. After the death of Himiko, a 13-year-old Toyo, a girl of Himiko's clan or sect, was appointed as ruler and the country was pacified. Zhang Zheng, who had been dispatched to Japan earlier, presented Toyo with a proclamation, and Toyo also sent an envoy to Wei.

Diplomacy with the Wei and Jin dynasties

In June of the second year of the Jingchu era, the Queen sent her husband, Natome, and her second emissary, Tsushigori, to Daifang commandery to request an audience with the son of heaven. In December, the emperor Cao Rui was pleased and proclaimed the queen as the King of Wei, bestowed a gold seal and purple ribbon, gave her a huge gift including 100 bronze mirrors, and named Natome as the General of the Household.
In 240, the Grand Administrator of Daifang, Gong Zun, dispatched a group of emissaries to Japan with an imperial decree and ribbons, temporarily conferred the title of King of Japan, and gave them gifts.
In 243, the queen again sent an envoy to Wei, this time with a group of slaves and cloth. The emperor Cao Fang made them Generals of the Household.
In 245, the emperor Cao Fang issued an imperial decree to send a yellow banner to Nanshōme through Daifang. However, this was not carried out, as the Grand Administrator Gong Zun was killed in battle against the Eastern Ye.
In 247, a new Grand Administrator, Wang Qi, arrived in office. The queen sent a messenger to report on the war against Kununokuni. This was not based on the report from Japan in the same year, but on an edict issued in 245.
After assuming the queen's throne, Toyo had 20 people accompany Zhang Zheng's return to China.

In addition, the "Jingū-ki" in Nihon Shoki quotes the now-lost Imperial Diaries of Jin that the queen of Wa presented tribute through interpreters in October of 266. The extant Book of Jin notes that the Wa made a tribute in November of 266 in the annals of the Emperor Wu of Jin. The embassy was recorded elsewhere in the Book of Jin in the "Biography of the Four Barbarians", although the Wa ruler was not specified to be a queen. It is probable that Toyo made a tribute to Emperor Wu of Jin, who overthrew the Wei.

The Wa afterwards

After the record of Toyo's tribute in the mid-3rd century, there would be no record of Japan in Chinese historical books for nearly 150 years until the tribute of King San in 413. The Gwanggaeto Stele fills in this gap, stating that in 391 people from Wa crossed the sea to invade Baekje and Silla, and battled with Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo.

The text

According to the Wajinden, the Wa people made the mountainous island as their state, and paid tribute to the continent through the Daifang Commandery that was established by the Han dynasty near present-day Seoul.
As for the route from Daifang Commandery to Japan, the passages relating to the Korean peninsula in fascicle 30 of the Records of the Three Kingdoms describes the location and boundaries of Samhan and Wa to the south of Daifang Commadery:

The Han is south of Daifang, bounded by the sea to the east and west, connecting with Wa to its south, with an area of 4,000 li. There are three Han, the first is called Mahan, the second is called Jinhan, the third is called Byeonhan.

The Book of the Later Han's treatise on the Dongyi makes the positional relationship of Samhan more concrete:

Mahan is to the west, consisting of 54 chiefdoms, bordering Lelang to the north and Wa to the south. To the east is Jinhan, with twelve chiefdoms, bordering Yemaek to the north. Byeonhan is south of Jinhan, consisting of twelve chiefdoms of its own, also bordering Wa in the south.

The journey to Yamatai

There are various theories about official names.
An excerpt of and an English translation.

Original Chinese	English translation
倭人在帶方東南大海之中、依山㠀爲國邑.舊百餘國、漢時有朝見者.今使譯所通三十國.	The Wa lived in the seas southeast of Daifang, and established chiefdoms in the mountains and islands. It originally had more than 100 chiefdoms. During the Han dynasty, there were those who came to see the Emperor, and now there are thirty chiefdoms that have been in contact with envoys and interpreters.
從郡至倭、循海岸水行、歷韓國、乍南乍東、到其北岸狗邪韓國、七千餘里.	In order to reach Wa from the commandery, one must follow the coast and go through Han, heading to the south and east, to reach Kuyahan on its northern shore, 7,000 li from the commandery.
始度一海千餘里、至對馬國、其大官曰卑狗、副曰卑奴母離、所居絶㠀、方可四百餘里.土地山險、多深林、道路如禽鹿徑.有千餘戸.無良田、食海物自活、乗船南北市糴.	After crossing the sea for the first time for more than 1,000 li, one arrives at Tsushima chiefdom. The governor was called hiko. His second-in-command was called hinamori. They are on an island in the middle of nowhere, about 400 li in every direction. The land is mountainous and heavily wooded, and the roads are like the paths of birds and deer. There are more than 1,000 houses. There are no good rice fields, so they subsist by eating marine products and taking boats to the north and south to buy rice.
又南渡一海千餘里、名曰瀚海、至一大國.官亦曰卑狗、副曰卑奴母離.方可三百里.多竹木叢林.有三千許家.差有田地、耕田猶不足食、亦南北市糴.	Crossing the sea again for more than a thousand li south, the sea named the Vast Sea, one arrives in Idaikoku. Its top official is again named hiko and his second-in-command hinamori. The distance in all directions was about three hundred li. There are many bamboo groves and thickets, and more than 3,000 houses. There is a little rice field, and even after cultivating the field, there is not enough to eat, so they go north and south to buy rice.
又渡一海千餘里、至末廬國.有四千餘戸、濱山海居.草木茂盛、行不見前人.好捕魚鰒、水無深淺、皆沈没取之.	After crossing another sea for more than 1,000 li, one arrives at Matsuro chiefdom. There are more than 4,000 houses. They live on the coast between the mountains and the sea. They live on the shore between the mountains and the sea, where the vegetation is so thick that they cannot see the people in front of them as they walk. They like to catch fish and abalone, and whether the water is deep or shallow, they all dive for them.
東南陸行五百里、到伊都國.官曰爾支、副曰泄謨觚・柄渠觚.有千餘戸.丗有王、皆統屬女王國.郡使往來常所駐.	Five hundred li to the southeast, and one arrives at Ito chiefdom. The official is called niki. The second-in-commands are called imoko and hikoko. There were more than 1,000 houses, ruled by a hereditary king, all belonging to the queen's domain. This was the place where the travelling envoys of the commandery stayed.
東南至奴國百里.官曰兕馬觚、副曰卑奴母離.有二萬餘戸.	A hundred miles to the southeast is the Na chiefdom. The official is called shimako. The second-in-command is called hinamori. There are more than 20,000 houses.
東行至不彌國百里.官曰多模、副曰卑奴母離.有千餘家.	Eastward for a hundred miles is the Fumi chiefdom. The official is called tamo. The second-in-command is called hinamori. There are more than 1,000 families.
南至投馬國、水行二十曰.官曰彌彌、副曰彌彌那利.可五萬餘戸.	It takes twenty days of water travel southward to get to the Toma chiefdom. The official was called mimi. The second-in-command was called miminari. There are more than 50,000 houses.
南至邪馬壹國、女王之所都、水行十日、陸行一月. 官有伊支馬、次曰彌馬升、次曰彌馬獲支、次曰奴佳鞮.可七萬餘戸.	Going south, one will reach the country of Yamatai, the capital of the queen. It takes ten days by water and one month by land. The official is ikima, subordinates mimato, mimawaki, and nakato. There are more than 70,000 houses.