Fusang

Fusang (扶桑) is a country described by a Buddhist missionary, Hei-Shin (慧深) in 499 CE, as a place 20,000 Chinese miles (around 10,000 kilometers) beyond the sea to the east of China. Hei-Shin went by ship to Fusang, and upon his return reported his findings to the Chinese Emperor. His descriptions are recorded in the Liang Shu (History of the Liang Dynasty, by Yao Silian, 7th century).

The distances given by Hei-Shin, which would locate Fusang on the west coast of the American continent, and the description of the plants and people in the strange land led some scholars to suggest that the Chinese had visited America a thousand years before Columbus. Some Chinese and Buddhist artistic influences on the Mayan art of the period have also been suggested.

A less ambitious, yet common intepretation of the term is Japan. In Chinese mythology, Fusang refers to a divine tree in the East, from where the sun rises. The term Fusan would later designate Japan in Chinese poems. Fusang is pronounced Fuso (扶桑) in the Japanese language, and is one of the names to designate ancient Japan.

The Chinese mile, or li unit of distance, varied through time, and although it was roughly 435 meters during the Chin and Han dynasties, it was approximately 77 meters under the Wei and Western Chin dynasties, as used as such in the Sanguo Zhi or Three Country Record. The Liang Shu very accurately describes that the statelet of Wa (in Kyushu, Japan) was 2,000 li (150 kilometers) accross the sea from the Korean peninsula with an island in the middle (modern Tsushima Islands) (Ch:從帶方至倭,循海水行,歷韓國,乍東乍南,七千餘里始度一海.海闊千餘里,名瀚海,至一支國.又度一海千餘里,名未盧國). For Fusang, the distance of 20,000 li would then represent about 1,500 kilometers, and would be roughly consistent with north-eastern Japan.

According to the report of Hei-Shin to the Chinese emperor upon his return, described in the Liang Shu (History of the Liang Dynasty, 7th century):

"Fusang is 20,000 li to the East of the country of Da Han, and located to the east of China" (扶桑在大漢國東二萬餘里,地在中國之東, Liang Shu)

"On the land of Fusang, the mulberry plants produced oval-shaped leaves similar to paulownia and edible purplish red fruits. (Ch:其土多扶桑木,故以為名.扶桑葉似桐,而初生如,國人食之,實如梨而赤). The place was rich in copper and traces of gold and silver but no iron. The native tribes in Fusang were civilized, living in well-organized communities. They produced paper from the bark of the red mulberry plants for writing (Ch:有文字,以扶桑皮為紙) and produced cloth from the fibers of the bark (Ch:績其皮為布以為衣,亦以為綿). Their houses or cabins were constructed with red mulberry wood. The fruits and young shoots of the plants were one of their food sources. They raised deer for meat and milk, just as the Chinese raised cattle at home, and produced cheese with deer milk. They traveled on horseback and transported their goods with carts or sledges pulled by horses, buffalo or deer." (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)

On the organization of the country:

"An emperor, or a main chief, with the help of several officials, governed the country. The majority of people were law-abiding citizens. The country had no army or millitary defense (Ch:無城郭.有文字,以扶桑皮為紙.無兵甲,不攻戰) but two jails, one in north and the other in south of the country. Those who had committed serious crimes were sent to the north and they stayed there for their entire lives. These inmates, however, could get married. If they got married and produced children, their sons became slaves and daughters remained as maids" (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)

On the social pratices:

"The marriage arrangement was relatively simple. If a boy wanted to marry a girl, he had to build a cabin next to the home of the girl and stay there for a year. If the girl liked him they would get married; otherwise he would be asked to go away.…When a person died in the community his body would be cremated. The mourning period varied from seven days for the death of a parent to five days for a grandparent and three days for a brother or sister. During their mourning period they were not supposed to consume food, only water. They had no religion." (Liang Shu, in Lily Chow)

The Liang Shu also describes the conversion of Fusang to the Buddhist faith by five Buddhist monks from Gandhara:

"In former times, the people of Fusang knew nothing of the Buddhist religion, but in the second year of Da Ming of the Song dynasty (485 CE), five monks from Kipin (Kabul region of Gandhara) travelled by ship to that country. They propagated Buddhist doctrine, circulated scriptures and drawings, and advised the people to relinquish worldly attachments. As a results the customs of Fusang changed" (Ch:"其俗舊無佛法,宋大明二年,罽賓國嘗有比丘五人游行至其國,流通佛法,經像,教令出家,風 俗遂改.", Liang Shu, 7th century CE).

See also: Silk Road transmission of Buddhism

References

• "Chasing Their Dreams. Chinese Settlement in the Northwest Region of British Columbia" by Lily Chow, Harbour Publishing, ISBN 0920576834
• "The Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century", Leland, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1973.

See also

• Chinese mythology
• Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact

External link

• [1] (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1028.htm)
• [2] (http://www.uglychinese.org/japanese.htm#puso)
• Description of Fusang in ancient Chinese literature 《梁書•五十四•列傳四十八》 (http://ms.chgsh.chc.edu.tw/~chi/chi_ebook/lian6.htm) in Big5 Chinese

ja:扶桑