The earliest written account of the inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago appears in the 'Weizhi', a history of the Chinese Wei dynasty (AD 221-265) completed in AD 297.
In this 'Record of Wei', the Chinese describe the 'people of Wa' as having a well-ordered and highly structured society with rulers, vassals, ambassadors, taxes, granaries and officially controlled markets.
Visits to Chinese commanderies such as Tai-fang on the Korean Peninsula in the Han period by these people of Wa are mentioned. Thirty communities are described as being in contact with the Chinese and the archipelago was divided into many small 'countries'.
