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> He had sent a minister on a voyage far over the eastern seas in search of a mythical potion of eternal life. But that expedition never returned Makes me wond
by avian 7y ago
> He had sent a minister on a voyage far over the eastern seas in search of a mythical potion of eternal life. But that expedition never returned
Makes me wonder about the details of that arrangement. What promise could possibly make the minister return from such an expedition?
If he does find the secret to eternal life, the obvious choice for the minister would be take it himself. The emperor would have a strong motive to get rid of anyone else knowing the secret after he got it from the minister.
If he doesn't, well, why go back to a tyrant and face potential punishment for failure?
- winkeyless 7y agoHardly any reason to return to the emperor. To quote Wikipedia if I may: > The Records of the Grand Historian says he came to a place with "flat plains and wide swamps" (平原廣澤) and proclaimed himself king, never to return. > Ancient scholars credited Xu Fu for being the founding father, and catalyst of the development of ancient Japanese society.
- garmaine 7y agoExcept that genetically there is no connection between China and Japan...
- stjohnswarts 7y agoLol WTF are you talking about? If you diff Chinese and Japanese DNA (typical population) there is a hell of a lot less than if you were to do the same with a European or African genetics. Of course Japanese and Chinese genetics overlap a lot; so of course they're related, but distinct genetic groups.
- garmaine 7y agoRacial stereotyping aside, genetic and anthropological studies show no connection between the mainline populations of Japan and China. They derive from different migrations into asia.
- coldtea 7y ago>Makes me wonder about the details of that arrangement. What promise could possibly make the minister return from such an expedition? Something like: "Don't forget I have your parents, brothers, sisters, wife, kids here, and I'll behead them or worse if you don't return".