Shin'okoku
Shin'okoku (秦王国, lit. 'Kingdom of Shin'o') is the name of a country or location that appears in the book of Sui as being in the region of Wa.
Outline
The Shin'okoku (秦王国) appears in the book of Sui in volume 81, which mentions the Japanese missions to Sui China brought by Japanese envoys to the Sui dynasty sent by king Tarishihiko to Emperor Yang of Sui; the visit was reciprocated by the Sui dynasty, whose envoy passed by a location named Shin'okoku.[1] The visit is also mentioned in the History of the Northern Dynasties in volume 94.[2]
In the next year, the king sent Pei Qing, a royal official, to Wa, passing through Baekje, reaching Jukdo, going south to Tamna, through Tsushima, in the middle of the sea, and going east towards Iki island, and then to Tsukushi, and then east to the Shin'okoku, whose people were the same as Huaxia, and who thought that barbarians could not be understood. — Book of Sui, Volume 81[1]
The precise location of the region is unknown. In Japan in the Official Histories of China, Ishihara Michihiro covered multiple hypothesis: Mirin Matsushita suggested it was Itsukushima, while Yasue Yamada suggested it was a corruption of the similar sounding Suō to Shin'o; it could also be related to the Hata Clan (秦氏) in the western part of the Chūgoku region.[3]
See also
References
- 1 2 隋書 卷81 [Book of Sui – Volume 81].
明年，上遣文林郎裴清使於俀國。 度百濟，行至竹島，南望𨈭羅國，經都斯麻國，迥在大海中。 又東至一支國，又至竹斯國，又東至秦王國，其人同於華夏，以爲夷洲，疑不能明也。
- ↑ 北史 卷094 [History of the Northern Dynasties – Volume 94].
- ↑ 石原道博 編訳,《新訂 魏志倭人伝・後漢書倭伝・宋書倭国伝・隋書倭国伝――中国正史日本伝 (1)》, 岩波文庫, p. 72. "不詳であるが、松下見林は厳島とし、山田安栄は周防の音を秦王に写したとする。山陽道西部にあった秦氏の居住地とも関係あるまいか。"