徐福

[Ian_Lee]

There were plenty of losers in Chinese History. But of course there were some winners too.

I would say Mr. Xu was one of the rare winners.

When Qin Shihuang was getting old, he did what every powerful people wanted to do – live forever. So he consulted his personal Shamanist/Pharmacist – Mr. Xu – on ways to prolong his life.

Mr. Xu said of course there were ways (I guess he didn’t have the guts to say there was no way) to let Shihuang live forever. Xu said that outlying in the East Sea (Yellow Sea), there were three hilly islands where angels lived. The angels would have the pills to let Shihuang live forever.

Shihuang believed thoroughly in Xu and dispatched him to get the pills. Xu further said that in order to get goodwill from the angels, there must be 3,000 virgin boys and 3,000 virgin girls accompanying him.

Therefore the flotilla set on the journey from the coast of Shandong. And of course Mr. Xu never came back and Shihuang died as everybody had to.

But where did Mr. Xu and his boys and girls go? Did they land on some islands or drown after their ships capsized?

According to Japanese legend, Mr. Xu indeed set foot on Japan. In Wakayama prefecture, there is the grave of Mr. Xu. And the 6,000 Chinese boys and girls looked likely to be the ancestors of the Yamato race.

But Japanese legend also said that Yang Gui Fei did not die and had lived the rest of her life in Japan.

So believe it or not is up to you.

[skylee]

I remember reading some material saying that Xu Fu also stopped in Korea (Jeju Island?) en-route to Japan.

[林彪]

Nice story.

[Ian_Lee]

I remember reading some material saying that Xu Fu also stopped in Korea (Jeju Island?) en-route to Japan.

It might be. I have approached Cheju Island by ferry in early June which weather was cool and foggy. Suddenly the Island appeared out of nowhere from the mist. It looked just like a mirage.

Nice story.

It was not a story but part of history.

[pazu]

In Cheju of Korea there's a place called 西歸蒲 (xi1 gui1 pu2 in Mandarin pinyin, I don't know how it is pronounced in Korean), my Korean friend (who lives there) told me this was the place where Xu Fu settled down, and he named the place as "Xi gui" (west-return) because he was longing to go back to the West (that's China).

[Ian_Lee]

It is the town of Sogwipo on Cheju Island. Interestingly 蒲 is the character modern Chinese hardly uses it nowadays.

[Ian_Lee]

It seems Mr. Xu and his 3,000 boys and girls really settled down in Cheju Island, Korea. Read:

http://chinese.chosun.com/big5/site/data/html_dir/2005/03/07/20050307000027.html

中國龍口市將向西歸浦捐贈徐福雕像

据韓國濟州道西歸浦市政府7日介紹，被稱為徐福故鄉的中國山東省龍口市將捐贈徐福雕像。

龍口市在發來的信函中表示，將由中國著名雕刻藝術家仇志海負責雕刻的該石像高3米，材質采用白花崗岩。石像正面和背面將分別用漢語和韓國語標注“徐福”和“徐福故里——中國山東省龍口市贈”的字樣。龍口市表示，雕像將于4月份完成，用船運到韓國。

相傳，在中國秦朝時期，為了給秦始皇尋找不老草，徐福帶領3000名童男童女前往据說有不老草的海上瀛洲山（漢拿山），并在那拋了錨，找到不老草之后去了西邊。

西歸浦正房瀑布的崖壁上刻有“徐市過之”的字樣，“西歸浦”也由此得名。西歸浦市在2003年建立了徐福紀念館，今年計划投資10億韓元建立公園。

据悉，龍口市向西歸浦市捐贈的徐福雕像將根据龍口市徐福文化廣場中的徐福雕像進行雕刻。