"Nippon" appeared in history only at the end of the 7th century. The "Old Book of Tang" (), one of the Twenty-Four Histories, stated that the Japanese envoy disliked his country's name "Woguo" (Chinese) (), and changed it to "Nippon" (Japanese; Mandarin Chinese: "Rìběn," Toisan Cantonese":" "Ngìp Bāwn") (), or "Origin of the Sun". Another 8th-century chronicle, "True Meaning of Shiji" (), however, states that the Chinese Empress Wu Zetian ordered a Japanese envoy to change the country's name to "Nippon". It has been suggested that the name change in Japan may have taken place sometime between 665 and 703, and Wu Zetian then acceded to the name change in China following a request from a delegation from Japan in 703. The sun plays an important role in Japanese mythology and religion as the emperor is said to be the direct descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu and the legitimacy of the ruling house rested on this divine appointment and descent from the chief deity of the predominant Shinto religion. The name of the country reflects this central importance of the sun. The association of the country with the sun was indicated in a letter sent in 607 and recorded in the official history of the Sui dynasty. Prince Shōtoku, the Regent of Japan, sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself . The message said: "The Son of Heaven, in the land of the rising sun, sends this letter to the Son of Heaven of the land, where the sun sets, and wishes him well".