Takechi no Sukune, on behalf of the Prince Imperial, made an answering song, saying:—
This august liquor,
Setting up on the mortar
His drum,
Singing all the while,
He must have brewed it.
This august liquor
Is exquisitely more and more delightful.
Sa! Sa!
A.D. 239. 39th year. This year was the year Tsuchinoto Hitsuji (56th) of the Cycle.
The History of Wei says:—"In the reign of the Emperor Ming Ti, in the third year of the period King-ch'u (A.D. 239) the Queen of Wa sent the high officer Nan-teu-mi and others to the province, where they begged permission to proceed to the Emperor and offer tribute. The T'ai-sheu,[2] Tăng-hia, sent an officer to escort them to the capital."
A.D. 240. 40th year.
The History of Wei says:—"In the first year of Chêng-Shih, Kien Chung-kiao, Wéi T'i-hi and others proceeded to the Wa country charged with an Imperial rescript and a seal and ribbon."[3]
- ↑ The Japanese word for brew is kamu, which also means to chew. Was chewing ever a part of the process of making strong drink in Japan as it is in some of the South Sea islands at the present time? The last line of this poem is of very doubtful interpretation.
- ↑ T'ai-sheu means governor. Thé-pang (in Chinese Tai-fang) was at one time a district of the Chinese province of Lolang in Corea. A map of China under the Tsin dynasty, however, makes Thé-pang a separate district further to the north. But the Governor of Thé-pang mentioned in the Wei history under the name of 劉夏 and the Governor of Lolang called by the "Tong-kam" 劉茂 are probably the same person.
Another authority makes Thé-pang identical with Namwön in Chöllato.
- ↑ These officials, as we learn from other sources, were sent by the Chinese authorities of Sakpang in Corea, not far from the present Treaty Port of Wönsan. See "Early Japanese History," p. 58; "Ishōnihonden," I. 11; "Tongkam," III. 17.
