Note 16 — Chapter II
Reading edition
The terms Chengecu and Chenghequu are represented in two letters, one dated in 1651 (“Selectarum Epistolarum ex India,” Lib. i.), addressed to Xavier by a companion of his; the other, dated in 1560, and written by Lawrence, a converted Japanese and a Jesuit (Ibid., Lib. ii), as commonly employed in Japan to designate Europe.
Golownin mentions that at the time of his imprisonment (1812) he found a prophecy in circulation among the Japanese that they should be conquered by a people from the north. Possibly both these prophecies—that mentioned by Pinto and that by Golownin—might be a little colored by the patriotic hopes of the European relaters.