Wang Jin - Crocodile

Date of birth and death unknown. An ancient immigrant. Also called Wani Kishi. In the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, it is written that during the reign of Emperor Ojin, the King of Baekje presented ten volumes of the Analects and one volume of the Thousand Character Classic to Wang Jin. Wang Jin was a scholar of Han descent from Rakuro County, which was destroyed by Goguryeo, and is considered to be the ancestor of the Western literary leaders who worked for the imperial court. His family lived in Furuichi, Kawachi (Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture), and contributed to the use and spread of writing. Wang Jin is thought to have been related to the Wang clan, and Wang Shinji, who was active during the reigns of Emperor Kinmei and Emperor Bidatsu, was also a descendant of his. Wang's surname is found on many seals, lacquerware, bricks, clay seals, and tomb wall inscriptions excavated in Lelang, and he is known to have been a powerful clan leader in Lelang County. The Analects and the Thousand Character Classic were used as basic texts, and Wang Ren was considered the father of scholarship.

[Junichi Shida]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。古代の渡来人。和邇吉師(わににきし)ともいう。『古事記』『日本書紀』には、応神(おうじん)天皇のとき百済(くだら)王が王仁に『論語』10巻、『千字文』一巻をつけて貢進したとある。王仁は高句麗(こうくり)に滅ぼされた楽浪(らくろう)郡の漢人系統の学者らしく、朝廷の文筆に従事した西文首(かわちのふみのおびと)の祖とされている。一族は河内(かわち)の古市(ふるいち)（大阪府羽曳野(はびきの)市）に居住し、文字の使用、普及に貢献した。王仁は王氏との関係が考えられ、欽明(きんめい)・敏達(びだつ)朝に活躍した王辰爾(おうしんじ)もその後裔(こうえい)である。王の姓は楽浪出土の印章、漆器、塼(せん)、封泥(ふうでい)、墓壁銘などに多く記されており、楽浪郡の有力豪族であったことが知られる。『論語』『千字文』は基本的な典籍として用いられ、王仁は学問の祖とされた。

［志田諄一］

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