Damjing

Who is Damjing?

Damjing or Donchō was a Buddhist priest who was sent to ancient Japan from Goguryeo around 610. How his name was pronounced in the Goguryeo language is unknown.

Almost nothing has come down about him besides a few lines in the Nihon Shoki, which is almost the only reliable source.

In the Spring, March, the 19th year [of Empress Suiko], the king of Koma offered up [the] priest[s] Donchō and Hōjō as tribute [to Japan]. Donchō was familiar with the Five Classics. He produced colors, paper and ink well, moreover made watermill. Has making watermill presumably started ever since?"

— Nihon Shoki, Vol. 22

On the grounds that this is the first appearance about the manufacture of paper, it has been said, all in all, from the Edo Period, that he brought papermaking skills to Japan first. However, there is no sufficient grounds to say so from the text; as to the watermill, it is mentioned that he probably introduced it first, while papermaking is not mentioned. If he had done so, it should have been mentioned along with the mention of the watermill. B. Jugaku, in his study The Japanese Paper, making a comparative review of surviving ancient documents, concludes the text is a compliment for the Buddhist priest who was also familiar with Confucianism, what is more, never ignorant of crafts; and if properly read, it does not state that he was the first person to bring the methods for color, ink and papermaking, rather that he was quite a craftsman for producing them. Additionally, at that time, maintenance of the state apparatus, which required enormous amounts of paper such as for family registers, had been started. The facts of the time support such a reading.