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Nakoku (
According to the Book of the Later Han, in 57 CE, Emperor Guangwu of Han granted Nakoku an imperial seal, patterned after the Chinese jade seals, but made of gold: the king of Na gold seal.[2]
In return, that same year, Na sent envoys to the Chinese capital, offering tribute and formal New Year's greetings. This seal was discovered over 1500 years later, by an Edo period farmer on Shikanoshima Island, thus helping to verify the existence of Nakoku, which was otherwise known only from the ancient chronicles. Engraved upon it are the Chinese characters
A reference is found in vol. 30 of the Chinese Book of Wei from the Records of the Three Kingdoms, titled "The Account of the Easterners: A Note on the Wa" (Chinese:
Some believe that Nakoku may also correspond to Na-no-Agata (儺県), a principality which preceded Fukuoka City.
See also
editNotes and references
edit- ^ In Japanese, the character
国 /國 , read as koku (in on'yomi) or kuni (in kun'yomi), can be translated as "country" or "province" - ^ a b "The Gold Seal, "Kan no Wa no Na no Kokuo"". Fukuoka Art Museum. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018.
- Much of the content of this article is derived from that on the corresponding article on the Japanese Wikipedia. Transcriptions of the relevant portions from the ancient texts can be found there as well.
- Frederic, Louis. "Nakoku." Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.