Xu Fu’s Legend: In Search of Immortals in the Eastern Sea

Xu Fu (dates of birth and death unknown) was a famous fangshi of the Qin dynasty, from Langya in the state of Qi (present-day Langya Town, Qingdao, Shandong). Learned in Daoist arts, astronomy, navigation, and medicine, he won the deep trust of Qin Shi Huang. In 219 BCE, he submitted a memorial claiming that three immortal mountains, Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, lay in the Eastern Sea, and volunteered to seek the elixir of immortality for the First Emperor. His first voyage east, with three thousand boys and girls, artisans, and seeds of the five grains, failed. Nine years later, he again set sail by imperial command, carrying copies of the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, crossbowmen, and craftsmen of all kinds. In the end, he “found a vast plain and marshland, and stayed there as king, never to return.” Numerous Japanese historical sources record that he reached Kumano in Kishu (present-day Wakayama Prefecture), where he taught agriculture, weaving, medicine, and metalworking. He came to be revered as the “God of Plowing” and the “Ancestor of Medicine.” His voyage east opened a new chapter in cultural exchange between China and Japan. More than twenty sites associated with him, including Xu Fu’s tomb and shrines, still remain in Japan, making him an important symbol of ancient East Asian maritime exploration and the spread of civilization.