Possible Japanese Author of Ancient Chinese Epitaph Identified

BEIJING, CHINA—According to a report in The Asahi Shimbun, a Chinese epitaph at China’s Shenzhen Wangye Museum may have been written by Kibi no Makibi, a powerful Japanese scholar and official, while he was a student in China in the early eighth century A.D. The script, a eulogy for a Tang Dynasty bureaucrat named Li Xun, consists of more than 300 Chinese characters. “It is possible that Li took care of Makibi when he studied at Koro-ji,” said Haruyuki Toni of the Takeda Science Foundation. “When he received the news of Li’s death, Makibi may have picked up a pen and written the epitaph.” Makibi returned to Japan several months after Li’s death, but he eventually became a member of the Japanese envoy to Tang China. “The epitaph is an invaluable historical source for thinking about this history of Japan-China relations,” added Yasunori Kegasawa of Meiji University. To read about a pair of Xiongnu burials recently found in Mongolia, go to "Tomb of the Silver Dragons," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2019.