A Confucian Founding Myth for the Japanese State: Wu Taibo as Progenitor of the Imperial Line

The myth of Amaterasu, the sun goddess and progenitress of the imperial
family of Japan, played a crucial role in discourses on Japanese national
identity in early modern and modern times. This myth emphasizes Japanese
uniqueness and centrality by situating the creation of the world in a
purely Japanese setting. Less well known is an alternative founding myth
that enjoyed popularity among Japanese Neo-Confucian scholars especially
in the early seventeenth century: the myth of Wu Taibo, which is the
topic of this chapter. In contrast to the Amaterasu myth which asserted the
Japanese emperors’ heavenly descent, this narrative traced the sovereigns’
genealogy back to a Chinese prince. The Japanese scholars who endorsed
this myth were less interested in emphasizing Japanese uniqueness than in
showing its affiliation to the sphere of Confucian civilization. The theory
of the imperial family’s Chinese origin provided a historical legitimation
for their endeavors to introduce Neo-Confucian teachings to Japan. However,
when China was conquered by “northern barbarians” in the midseventeenth
century, the Wu Taibo myth fell from favor in Japan. As the
Sinocentric world order that contrasted civilized China with the allegedly
barbarian countries surrounding it was increasingly questioned, Japanese
scholars came to prefer a founding myth that was unrelated to China. Employing
the concept of cultural memory, this chapter analyses how changes
in a group’s world view necessitate a rewriting of history.