Dei of Wa
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Dei of Wa (禰), also known as Sodei (祖禰, lit: great ancestor).[1]: 11 was a King of Wakoku, who was compared to Emperor Nintoku, founder of the Kawachi dynasty by the oriental historian Hidehiro Okada.[2] He was not among the Five kings of Wa but would be another King of Wa predating them.[1]: 11
He is sometimes identified with “Mye (彌),” the Wa leader mentioned in the Book of Liang,[1]: 11
Kuranishi Yūko identifies him as the father of Sai of Wa who she identifies with Emperor Ingyō.[1]: 11 Okada identifies him with Emperor Nintoku, the grandfather of Emperor Yūryaku.[3]
Some dispute the identification as an individual and take the phrase Sodei to refer to ancestors as a whole.[1]: 11
Basis for the name
This is the genealogy proposed by Okada
Dei of Wa(Emperor Nintoku) | |||||||||||||||||||||
San of Wa(Emperor Richū) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Chin of Wa(Emperor Hanzei) | Sai of Wa(Emperor Ingyō) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ko of Wa(Emperor Ankō) | Bu of Wa(Emperor Yūryaku) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The name Dei is recorded in the Book of Song as the Japanese king Wangmu[4] to the Song dynasty of the Northern and Southern dynasties of China in 487,[5]
Okada (岡田) said of Sodei (祖禰)
Sodei (祖禰) is Emperor Nintoku, the grandfather of Emperor Yūryaku.[3]。
Bu of Wa, wrote in a letter addressed to the Liu Song dynasty in China in 487 that he had been engaged in warfare both at sea and abroad since the generation of Grandfather-Dei「祖禰」or his grandfather Dei of Wa. There must be another King of Wa before San, Chin, and Sai.[6]