They brought back absurd stories of some
monstrous fish that had interfered with their landing, and they
reported that these fish could only be frightened away by
tattooing the body as the natives did, The people of Wu, who were
great fisherfolk and mariners, were also stated to have indulged
in universal tattooing because they wished to frighten dangerous
fish away. The first mission from Japan, then a congeries of petty
states, totally unacquainted with writing or records, came to
China in the first century of our era; it was not sent by the
central King, but only by one of the island princes. Later
embassies from and to Japan disclose the fact that the Japanese
themselves had traditions of their descent both from ancient
Chinese Emperors and from the founder of Wu, i.e. from the Chou
prince who went there in 1200 B.C.; of the medical mission sent by
the First August Emperor; of the flight from Wu in 473 B.C. of
part of the royal Wu family to Japan; and of other similar
matters--all apparently tending to show that the refugees from Wu
really did reach Japan; that a very early shipping intercourse had
probably existed between Japan, Ts'i, and Wu; and that, in
addition to the statements made by later Chinese historians to the
effect that the Japanese considered themselves in some way
hereditarily connected with Wu, the early Japanese traditions and
histories (genuine or concocted) themselves separately repeated
the story.
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