Wani is a semi-legendary scholar who is said to have been offered as a tribute to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by Baekje

Baekje

Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

 of southwestern Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 during the reign of Emperor Ōjin

Emperor Ojin

, also known as Homutawake or , was the 15th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 270 to 310....

. He used to be associated with the introduction of the Chinese writing system to Japan.

Original sources and analysis

Wani is mentioned only in Japanese history books; He is not recorded in Chinese or Korean sources. The main sources of Wani's biography are the Nihon Shoki

Nihon Shoki

The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...

and the Kojiki

Kojiki

is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...

.

According to the article of the 15th year of Emperor Ōjin's reign from the Nihon Shoki (720), the emperor asked Achiki, who had been offered by the king of Baekje along with two horses, "Is there any Confucian master (博士) who surpasses you [in his learning]?", and Achiki recommended Wani (王仁). Then the emperor dispatched officials to Baekje to summon him. According to the article of the 16th year, he came to Japan. Crown Prince Uji no Waki Iratsuko studied under him. Wani was the founding ancestor of the Fumi no Obito (書首) clan among others.

According to the Kojiki (712), Emperor Ōjin ordered Baekje to offer wise men, if any, and it was Wani Kishi (和邇吉師) who was dedicated as a tribute (貢上) by the order. Along with him, Baekje offered as tributes ten volumes of the Analects, one volumes of the Thousand Character Classic

Thousand Character Classic

The Thousand Character Classic is a Chinese poem used as a primer for teaching Chinese characters to children. It contains exactly one thousand unique characters. It is said that Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty commissioned 周興嗣 to compose this poem for his prince to practice calligraphy...

. Wani Kishi was the ancestor of the Fumi no Obito (文首) clan among others.

These stories have long been questioned by scholars. Ten volumes are too much for the Analects, and more importantly, his alleged arrival predates the composition of the Thousand Character Classic (the early 6th century). Arai Hakuseki

Arai Hakuseki

was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo Period, who advised the Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi . Hakuseki was his pen name...

 (1657–1725) considered that Wani had brought a certain book of Elementary Learning which the Kojiki had confused with the Thousand Character Classic. Motoori Norinaga

Motoori Norinaga

was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is probably the best known and most prominent of all scholars in this tradition.-Life:...

 (1730–1801) claimed that it was pointless to care about details because the Thousand Character Classic was mentioned just as a typical book of Elementary Learning. Some assume a different version of the Thousand Character Classic was brought but this theory has no clear basis. In short, it is not unnatural for people like Wani to have came to Japan around that time, but there is no strong evidence determining whether Wani really existed.

Dating the alleged arrival of Wani is rather difficult since there are long-lasting disputes over the accuracy of these sources on early events. According to the traditional dating, it would be 285 though is considered too early by historians. Based on the reign of King Akue (阿花王; identified as King Asin 阿莘王) of Baekje, who, according to the Nihon Shoki, died in the 16th year of Emperor Ōjin's reign, it would be 405. However, this theory contradicts the description of the Kojiki

Kojiki

is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...

, which says that Wani's arrival was during the reign of King Shōko (照古王; usually identified as King Geunchogo 近肖古王, r. 346-375) of Baekje. The Kojiki suggests that Wani arrived sometime after 372.

His name is not straightforward either. The Kojiki calls him "Wani Kishi". The Nihon Shoki and most of the subsequent documents read 王仁. Although the reading Wani is irregular (the standard reading is Ō Jin or Ō Nin), these characters looks like a Chinese name (the surname Wang and the personal name Ren). This leads some scholars to consider that Wani was of Chinese descent. In fact his descendants claimed so. A supporting fact is that the Wang clan was powerful in China's former Lelang Commandery

Lelang Commandery

Lelang was one of the Chinese commanderies which was established after the fall of Gojoseon in 108 BC until Goguryeo conquered it in 313. Lelang Commandery was located in the northern Korean peninsula with the administrative center near modern P'yongyang....

 in northwestern Korea. After the downfall of the commandery around 313, some members of the Wang clan might have fled to Baekje, and then to Japan. A more skeptical view is that the legend of Wani was influenced by much later events: the surname Wang was selected as the most appropriate name for the ideal man of letters because in the late 6th century, several scholars surnamed Wang came to Japan from southern China via Baekje.

Descendants

The descendants of Wani, or more precisely, those who claimed Wani to be their ancestor, were collectively called Kawachi no Fumi clan. They lived in Kisaichi of Kawachi Province

Kawachi Province

was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province...

 together with their branch families. The head family had the uji "Fumi" [literature] after their duty as scribes, and similarly their branch families were given the kabane "Fuhito" [scribe].

Despite Wani's fame as a scholar, the Kawachi no Fumi clan was not so active as secretaries for administration. A rare exception was Fumi no Nemaro (文禰麻呂; ?-707). Instead of being active in civil administration, he rose to a rank unusually high for a mid-level bureaucrat for his performances in the Jinshin War

Jinshin War

The was a succession dispute in Japan which broke out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji. The name refers to the jinshin or ninth year of the sixty-year Jikkan Jūnishi calendrical cycle, corresponding to the Western year 673....

 (672). Some historians consider that this was the reason why the legend of Wani was recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. It is known that scribes of foreign origin had similar and mutually conflicting legends about their founders. Features common in their stories include the arrival during the reign of Emperor Ōjin, the introduction of Chinese literature and/or Confucianism, and the surname Wang. The legend of Wani was chosen with the rest of them ignored because the Kawachi no Fumi clan was relatively powerful at the time of the compilation of the history books.

In 791 Wani's descendants including Fumi no Mooto (文最弟) and Takefu no Makata (武生真象) made a successful attempt to elevate their kabane or family rank. According to the Shoku Nihongi

Shoku Nihongi

The is an imperially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the Six National Histories, coming directly after the Nihon Shoki and followed by Nihon Kōki. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as the primary editors...

(797), their appeal was as follows:

Luan (鸞) was a descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Han. Luan's descendant Wang Gou (王狗) moved to Baekje. During the reign of King Kuso of Baekje, the imperial court sent envoys to summon literati. King Kuso offered Gou's grandson Wang Ren (Wani) as a tribute. He was the founder of Fumi, Takefu and other clans.

A similar story can be found in the description of the Fumi no Sukune (文宿禰) clan by the Shinsen Shōjiroku

Shinsen Shojiroku

is an imperially commissioned Japanese genealogical record. Thirty volumes in length, it was compiled under the order of Emperor Saga by Princes Manda, Fujiwara no Otsugu, Fujiwara no Sonohito et al. It was initially completed in 814, but underwent a revision to be recompleted in 815.-Contents:The...

(815).

Later interpretations

The article of the Nihon Shoki was traditionally interpreted as the introduction of Confucianism and/or Chinese literature although not clearly stated in the history book.

According to the preface to the Kokin Wakashū (905), a famous Waka

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

 poem starting with "Naniwa-zu" was traditionally attributed to Wani. At that time, the imperial throne was vacant for three years because the future Emperor Nintoku

Emperor Nintoku

was the 16th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.No firm dates can be assigned to this emperor's life or reign, but he is conventionally considered to have reigned from 313–399.-Legendary narrative:...

 (successor to Emperor Ōjin) and his brother Crown Prince Uji no Waki Iratsuko renounced succession to the throne to coronate the other. Historians and philologists are skeptical about the attribution to Wani because it cannot be found in earlier sources. Anyway, from the early 10th century on, this poem was regarded as a chorus that praises Emperor Nintoku. As a result, Wani was portrayed as a sage submitting to the emperor's virtue.

From the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 onward, references to Wani mostly involved the Naniwa-zu poem. Oddly some commentaries to Waka poems describe Wani as a man from Silla in southeastern Korea. Although this error was corrected by Fujiwara no Norikane's Waka dōmōshō (1145-53) and Kenshō's Kokinshū jo chū (1183) with the reference to the Nihon Shoki, it survived for a long time. To solve the contradiction, Reizei Tamesuke even claimed in 1297 that Wani was transferred from Baekje to Silla and then from Silla to Japan. A possible reason for this error is that Wani's arrival at Japan was interpreted as a result of Empress Jingū's conquest of Silla, which was recorded in the Nihon Shoki.

Hirakata

The so-called tomb of Wani is located in Hirakata

Hirakata, Osaka

is a city located in north-eastern Osaka, Japan, near the prefectural borders of Nara and Kyoto. It is renowned for its chrysanthemum doll exhibition, as well as Hirakata Park — an amusement park featuring five roller coasters....

, Osaka Prefecture

Osaka Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the Kansai region on Honshū, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area.- History :...

. It is, however, most likely that the alleged tomb identified in the 18th century has nothing to do with Wani.

Originally, the "tomb" was a pair of stones known to local people as "Oni Tomb" (於爾墓) in Fujisaka Village, Kawachi Province (part of the modern-day Hirakata city). In other words, they were not associated with Wani. The situation changed in 1731 when the Confucian scholar Namikawa Seisho (並河誠所) visited there to compile a geography monograph named Gokinaishi (五畿内志). He claimed that he discovered an old document at Wada Temple of Kinno Village (also part of the modern Hirakata) that read the name "Oni Tomb" was the corrupt form of Wani Tomb. At his recommendation, a stonetomb was built behind the stones. It is generally considered that the "tomb" in Hirakata is Namikawa's fabrication. There is no ancient record that refers to Wani's burial site. Archaeologically speaking, there was no such custom of setting a tombstone on a mound before the introduction of Buddhism.

The new myth spread as the Kokugaku

Kokugaku

Kokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...

 movement became active. Wani was praised as a talented and faithful servant to the ancient emperors. In 1827, a monument in honor of Wani was erected near the tomb, on which his name was engraved by Prince Arisugawa

Prince Arisugawa Takahito

was the 10th head of a cadet branch of the Japanese imperial family and a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy.-Early life:thumb|left|Prince Takehito was born in Kyoto as a scion of the house, one of the shinnōke branches of the Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to...

. After the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

, a ceremony was held at the tomb in 1899 to commemorate the 1500-year anniversary of the death of Emperor Nintoku.

After the annexation of Korea, another symbolic role was given to Wani in relation to modern Korea/Koreans. As part of an effort to integrate Korea into the empire, conciliatory approaches were adopted. Wani was utilized as a historical precedent for serving the emperor loyally in spite of non-Japanese root. In 1927 a society was set up in Tokyo to build a shrine for Wani. Its member included Uchida Ryōhei from the Black Dragon Society

Black Dragon Society

The was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...

. The project for building a shrine in the site of the Wani tomb began in 1930. In 1932 the society celebrated the 1650-year anniversary of Wani's arrival there. The construction of Wani shrine started in 1940 but was never completed. In addition to Wani Shrine, a pair of monuments was built in honor of Wani in Tokyo's Ueno Park

Ueno Park

is a spacious public park located in the Ueno section of Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It occupies the site of the former Kan'ei-ji, a temple closely associated with the Tokugawa shoguns, who had built the temple to guard Edo Castle against the north-east, then considered an unlucky direction...

 in 1939.

With the disintegration of the Japanese Empire, the political role of Wani ceased to exist. Instead, Wani was targetted by Korean political exploitation. Koreans, in turn, use Wani as a symbol of ancient Korea's "cultural superiority" over Japan. Since 1980s Korean nationals in Japan have led various events visualizing Wani's alleged arrival at Japan. President Kim Dae-jung sent a personal letter to a ceremony at the tomb in 1998, and Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil

Kim Jong-pil

Kim Jong-pil is a South Korean politician and founder of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency , who served as Prime Minister twice, from 1971–1975 and from 1998–2000.-Early life:‎...

 visited there in 1999.

Yeongam

Even though Korea has no historical records on Wani, "Doctor Wang In's Historical Sites" (Wang In is the Koreanized form of Wani, 왕인) are located in Gurim Village, Yeongam Country, South Jeolla Province, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

today. It is based on a new myth that can date back only to the early 20th century.

Earlier geography books including the Taekriji (1751) never link Wani to Yeongam. The first known record that associates Wani with Yeongam is the Joseon Hwanyeo Seungnam (朝鮮寰輿勝覧; 1922–37) by Yi Byeong-yeon (이병연, 李秉延). It claims without providing any evidence that Wani was born in Yeongnam. It is known that around the same time, a Japanese monk named Aoki Keishō claimed on the basis of "oral tradition" that Yeongam was Wani's homeland. In 1932 he made an appeal to erect a bronze statue of Wani in Yeongam.

A new myth about Wangin was publicized in South Korea in 1970s. In 1972 the social activist Kim Changsu reported a series of essays titled "Korean spirit embodied in Japan," which appealed to South Koreans who felt starved for Korean superiority to Japan. In the framework of Korean national history, Wani was regarded as a Korean. Upon being informed by a reader from Yeongam, Kim issued a statement identifying Yeongam as the birthplace of Wani in the next year. In spite of the weakness of the evidence, Wani's "relic site" was designated as Cultural Asset No. 20 of South Jeolla Province in 1976.

The development of Wani's "historical sites" was led by the governments of South Jeolla Province and Yeongam Country. The governor of South Jeolla Province was from Yeongam Country. The construction was carried out from 1985 to 1987, "restoring" the "birthplace", schools where Wani allegedly studied, and others. Yeongam Country started to fully exploit the old-looking new theme park as a tourist attraction because the introduction of local autonomy of 1990 forced the local government to look for its own source of revenue. For example, Youngam County began to host the annual "Wangin Culture Festival" in 1997 that was previously organized by local people under the name of "Cherry blossom festival". The exploitation was not done without opposition. In fact, it is attached by a faction which attempts to use Buddhist monk Doseon (827–898) as the main tourism resource of Yeongam.