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The Hata clan(秦氏, はたし) was an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period, according to the epic history Nihonshoki.

Hata is the Japanese reading of the Chinese (state and dynasty) name 秦 given to the Qin Dynasty (the real family name was Ying), and given to their descendants established in Japan. The Nihonshoki presents the Hata as a clan or house, and not as a tribe; also only the members of the head family had the right to use the name of Hata.

The Hata can be compared to other families who came from the continent during the Kofun period: the descendants of the Chinese Han Dynasty, by Prince Achi no Omi, ancestor of the Yamato no Aya clan, the Sakanoue clan, the Tamura clan, the Harada and the Akizuki clan; also, the descendants of the Chinese Cao Wei Dynasty by the Takamuko clan. The descendants of Baekje (Kudara in Japanese) who sought refuge in Japan, for example the Yamato no Fubito (also called Yamato no Fubito-和史 later given a new title, Takano no Asomi-高野朝臣), Kudara no Konikishi clan, and the Sue clan.

Nihonshoki

The Hata are mentioned by name more often than almost any other immigrant clan in the Nihonshoki, one of Heian-period Japan's epics, combining mythology and history.

The first leader of the Hata to arrive in Japan, Uzumasa-no-Kimi-Sukune, arrived during the reign of Emperor Chūai, in the 2nd century CE. According to the epic, he and his followers were greeted warmly, and Uzumasa was granted a high government position.

Roughly one hundred years later, during the reign of Emperor Ōjin, a Hata prince called Yuzuki no Kimi visited Japan from the Kingdom of Baekje in Korea. He said he had come from Baekje, and he wanted to emigrate to Japan, but that Silla would not permit him to do so. So 120 persons of his clan were staying at Minama. Having enjoyed his experience, he left Japan and returned with members of his clan "from 120 districts of his own land", as well as a massive hoard of treasures, including jewels, exotic textiles, and silver and gold, which were presented to the Emperor as a gift.

Origins

According to the theory which most scholars follow, the clan was descended from Prince Yuzuki no Kimi, who in turn was a descendant of the first Emperor of Qin of the Qin Dynasty.Prince Yuzuki (弓月君) had become a Korean prince, and emigrated to Japan in 283 with a great number of his countrymen. They are said to have come to Japan from China through the Chinese Lelang Commandery then through the Kingdom of Baekje (both on the Korean peninsula). Lelang, near what is today Pyongyang, was the greatest of the Four Commanderies of Han created in 108 BC in the areas captured after the conquest of the Wiman Joseon state (194 BC-108 BC) by Emperor Wu of the Chinese Han Dynasty, which corresponds to the current North Korea. A flux of Chinese immigration into the Korean peninsula continued without cessation, implanting there Chinese culture and technology. Some scholars say Hata clan did not come from Baekje, but Silla or Gaya area.

The Hata are said to have been adept at financial matters, and to have introduced silk raising and weaving to Japan. For this reason, they may have been associated with the kagome crest, a lattice shape found in basket-weaving. During the reign of Emperor Nintoku (313-399), the members of the clan were sent to diverse parts of the country to spread the knowledge and practice of sericulture. Members of this clan also served as financial advisors to the Yamato Court for several centuries. Originally landing and settling in Izumo and the San'yō region, the Hata eventually settled in the areas of what are now Japan's most major cities. They are said to have aided in the establishment of Heian-kyō (modern-day Kyoto), and of many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, including Fushimi Inari Taisha, Matsunoo Taisha, and Kōryū-ji. Emperor Yūryaku granted the clan the family name of Uzumasa in 471, in honor of Sake no kimi's contributions to the spread of sericulture. Over the next few centuries, they were given the rights to the status (kabane) of Miyatsuko and later Imiki.

A number of samurai clans, including the Chōsokabe clan of Shikoku, the Kawakatsu clan of Tamba and the Jinbō clan of Echigo province, claimed descent from the Hata. The Koremune clan, also descended from the Emperor of Qin, were related to the origins of the Hata as well. Prince Koman-O, in the reign of Emperor Ōjin (c. 310), came to dwell in Japan. His successors received the name Hata. This name was changed to Koremune in 880. The wife of Shimazu Tadahisa (1179–1227) (son of Minamoto no Yoritomo and ancestor of the Shimazu clan of Kyūshū), was a daughter of Koremune Hironobu. In addition, many towns in Japan are named after the clan, such as Ohata, Yahata, and Hatano. The population of Neyagawa in Osaka Prefecture includes a number of people who claim descent from the Hata. The Hata were also claimed as ancestors by Zeami Motokiyo, the premiere Noh playwright in history, who attributed the origins of Noh to Hata no Kawakatsu. According to Zeami's writings, Kōkatsu, the ancestor of both the Kanze and Komparu Noh lineages, was the first to introduce kagura Shinto ritual dances to Japan in the sixth century; this form would later evolve into sarugaku and then into Noh.

While most scholars believe the family descended from the Emperors of Qin, others attest that the clan was originally from Central Asia. Ken Joseph Jr explains that Yuzuki no Kimi means Lord of Yuzuki, and he found a place written 弓月 in Central Asia.

Evolution

Shinshūkyō and the common origin idea

The notion that the Hata clan were among the Lost Tribes of Israel, though far from widely accepted or even seriously considered in formal scholarship, is central to the beliefs of several Japanese New Religions and to the writings of various contemporary Japanese antiquarians.

Hata tribe members of note

• Hata Sake no Kimi
• Hata no Kawakatsu
• Hata no Ujiyasu

See also

• Yíng (Chinese surname)
• Zhao (surname)

References

1. KOREA JOURNAL / SUMMER 2007
2. Michael Hoffman's Homepage
3. Shinsen Shōjiroku "出自秦始皇帝三世孫孝武王也"

• Frederic, Louis (2002). "Japan Encyclopedia." Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Rimer, J. Thomas and Yamazaki Masakazu trans. (1984). "On the Art of the Nō Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami." Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Teshima, Ikuro (1973). The Ancient Refugees From Religious Persecution in Japan: The Tribe of Hada - Their Religious and Cultural Influence. 1.

• People of ancient Japan
• Classical Japan
• Aristocracy of ancient Japan
• Japanese clans