Ties between Little Village in Ningbo and Japanese Scholar

Wang Jing

Recently, some descendents of Oka Senjin (1833-1914), a Japanese historian and sinologist, have come to visit Huangshan Village in Cixi, Ningbo. The visit has brought into spotlight the friendship of Oka Senjin and the Wang brothers of Huangshan Village.

Ningbo became Chinas foreign trade city in 1844. Wang Renqian, a young man from Huangshan Village, went all the way to Japan and started a business in Tokyo. His business ties gave him an insight into to markets and Japanese life. Wang Renqian soon learned that there was a market for Chinese books and calligraphic works in Japan as many Japanese had a passion for cultural products from China. After a few years, Wang Renqian opened a shop named Lingyunge in Tokyo.The shop sold Chinese stationeries such as brush pens from Huzhou, ink from Anhui and ink stones, Chinese classic novels such as the “Outlaws of Marshes” and “The Plum in a Golden Vase”, calligraphic works, silk, herbs such as ginseng and jujube, and corals from the South Sea.

At this time, Wang Benzhi, Wang Fanqing and Wang Ruxiu, cousins from Huangshan Village, joined Wang Renqian in Tokyo. The Wang brothers were poets and calligraphers (every educated Chinese was a poet and calligrapher in good old days) and painters. And they soon established their names in Japan and made many friends. One Japanese friend was Teruna Okochi (1848-1882), a hereditary feudal lord who had a passion for Chinese literature and art.

Wang Renqians cousins were employed as interpreters for Chinese diplomats who had just arrived and had little knowledge of the Japanese language. Their jobs naturally enabled Chinese diplomats to meet Teruna Okochi.

There are records of the literary gatherings of Chinese scholars and Japanese celebrities on various occasions. As Chinese and Japanese scholars shared the Chinese characters, they overcome the language barrier and exchanged their views on various topics by writing down during these gatherings.Works of Teruna Okochi keep some of the records of these gatherings. One record is about a flower-viewing gathering under cherry trees in full blossom in the spring with Teruna Okochi as host and Chinese diplomats as guests in Tokyo. The Chinese guests and the Japanese host composed poems orally on the spot singing of the beauty of cherry blossoms.

Oka Senjin and the Wang brothers

Among the scholars the Wang brothers met in Japan was Oka Senjin. Just like all those chance meetings recorded in history that led to friendships and scholastic achievements, the friendship between Oka Senjin and the Wang brothers, which first started in Japan, brought Oka Senjin to visit China in 1884. Oka Senjins visit across China was accompanied Wang Renqian. Oka Senjin spent more than a month in Ningbo, the longest stay in one place during his visit to China.

Oka Senjins first stop in Ningbo was a visit to Yuyao. He visited a pavilion and a monument in the birthplace of Zhu Shunshui (1600-1682), a Chinese who exiled himself to Japan after the fall of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Zhu was highly appreciated in Japan. In 1665, Okugawa Mitsukuni, a member of the shoguns family and a great feudal lord in his own right, invited Zhu to aid him in the historical project he had begun. Zhu agreed and played a decisive role in establishing the general outlines of the work and in making its paramount theme. Oka Senjin was the first Japanese who visited the hometown of Zhu Shunshui in China.

The textual research of modern scholars indicates that Oka Senjin was the first overseas scholar who paid a visit to Cixi in 1,000 years. He was the distinguished guest of the Wang Family. Oka Senjin describes extravagant banquets of the Wang family in his travelogue.

During his stay around Ningbo, Oka Senjin visited the Tiantong Temple, a Buddhist sanctuary. He also took a boat ride on the Yong River and visited the city of Ningbo where he visited the City God temple. He was impressed by the prosperity of the urban Ningbo and compared Ningbo to Shanghai. Accompanied by Wang Renqian, Oka Senjin also toured Cixi and visited local celebrated scholars.

Oka Senjin then came to the home of Wang Renqian in Huangshan Village in Cicheng.

His travelogue records what he saw around the Wang clans houses. His record features the life of a distinguished clan in the south of the Yangtze River Delta and is often quoted by scholars at home and abroad who studied the history of the Qing Dynasty.

During his tour across China, Oka Senjin with nearly 200 Chinese scholars, regional celebrities and high-ranking government officials including Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai. □