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Wani (Japanese: ) is a semi-legendary scholar who is said to have been sent to Japan by Baekje of southwestern Korea during the reign of Emperor Ōjin. He used to be associated with the introduction of the Chinese writing system to Japan. ==Original sources and analysis== Wani is mentioned only in Japanese history books; he is not recorded in Chinese or Korean sources.〔Early Korean books referring to Wani were written more than a millennium later and were clearly based on Japanese sources, not on their own. See (Kim:2001).〕 The main sources of Wani's biography are the ''Nihon Shoki''(720) and the ''Kojiki''(712). These stories have long been questioned by scholars. Ten volumes are too much for the ''Analects'', and more importantly, his alleged arrival predates the composition of the ''Thousand Character Classic'' (the early 6th century). Arai Hakuseki (1657–1725) considered that Wani had brought a certain book of Elementary Learning which the ''Kojiki'' had confused with the ''Thousand Character Classic''. Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801) claimed that it was pointless to care about details because the ''Thousand Character Classic'' was mentioned just as a typical book of Elementary Learning. Some assume a different version of the ''Thousand Character Classic'' was brought but this theory has no clear basis. In short, it is not unnatural for people like Wani to have come to Japan around that time, but there is no strong evidence determining whether Wani really existed.〔Seki Akira 関晃: ''Kodai no kikajin'' 古代の帰化人, 1996.〕 Dating the alleged arrival of Wani is rather difficult since there are long-lasting disputes over the accuracy of these sources on early events. According to the traditional dating, it would be 285 though is considered too early by historians. Based on the reign of King Akue (阿花王; identified as King Asin 阿莘王) of Baekje, who, according to the ''Nihon Shoki'', died in the 16th year of Emperor Ōjin's reign, it would be 405.〔Pan Jixing 潘吉星: 王仁事蹟與世系考, 國學研究, Vol. 8, pp. 5–31, 2001.〕 However, this theory contradicts the description of the ''Kojiki'', which says that Wani's arrival was during the reign of King Shōko (照古王; usually identified as King Geunchogo 近肖古王, r. 346-375) of Baekje. The ''Kojiki'' suggests that Wani arrived sometime after 372.〔 His name is not straightforward either. The ''Kojiki'' calls him "Wani Kishi".〔Kishi is considered to be a kind of honorary title used then in southern Korea.〕 The ''Nihon Shoki'' and most of the subsequent documents read 王仁. Although the reading ''Wani'' is irregular (the standard reading is ''Ō Jin'' or ''Ō Nin''), these characters look like a Chinese name (the surname Wang and the personal name Ren). This leads some scholars to consider that Wani was of Chinese descent. In fact his descendants claimed so. A supporting fact is that the Wang clan was powerful in China's former Lelang Commandery in northwestern Korea. After the downfall of the commandery around 313, some members of the Wang clan might have fled to Baekje, and then to Japan.〔Inoue Mitsusada 井上光貞: ''Wani no kōei shizoku to sono Bukkyō'' 王仁の後裔氏族と其の仏教, Nihon kodai shisōshi no kenkyū 日本古代思想史の研究, pp. 412–467, 1986.〕 A more skeptical view is that the legend of Wani was influenced by much later events: the surname Wang was selected as the most appropriate name for the ideal man of letters because in the late 6th century, several scholars surnamed Wang came to Japan from southern China via Baekje.〔Ukeda Masayuki 請田正幸: ''Fuhito shūdan no ichi kōsatsu'' フヒト集団の一考察, Kodaishi ronshū (jō) 古代史論集 (上), pp. 179–202, 1988.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wani (scholar)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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