Names for Japan
dobun...@tanuki.twics.com
in which language it is currently pronounced Riben. The usual translation
of it as Land of the Rising Sun, or sun origin, makes sense because
(sorry) Japan is to the East of China, so would lie in the same direction
as the rising sun.
As far as the term "wa" goes, my "A new dictionary of kanji usage" by Gakken
explains (p414) as follows:
In ancient Chinese geography, Japan was called (shift JIS 9860, JI4F41) or wa,
meaning dwarf. This kanji was later replaced with wa meaning harmony
(shift JIS 9861, JIS 4F42).
It doesn't say so here, but I gather the Japanese changed the kanji to avoid
the unpleasant connotations of the "dwarf" one.
David L Burkhead
>The word Nihon is not originally Japanese, but came from the Chinese,
>in which language it is currently pronounced Riben. The usual translation
>of it as Land of the Rising Sun, or sun origin, makes sense because
>
>(sorry) Japan is to the East of China, so would lie in the same direction
>as the rising sun.
Actually, when I first started studying Japanese history, I came
across a letter written a _long_ time ago from the then Emporer of
Japan to the then ruler of China. The letter contained language to
the effect (forgive my paraphrasing, but it's been close on ten years)
"From the land where the sun rises to the land where the sun sets."
The author of the text in which this letter was quoted suggested that
this was the origin of the "land of the rising sun" moniker for Japan.
It also suggeste that the Chinese ruler was less than thrilled by this
comparison in that it portrayed Japan as being on a par with China,
which as any Chinese ruler knew was just not possible. _No_ nation
could do more than stand in the shadow of China's greatness. (That's
irony folks.)
[ 8< ]
David L. Burkhead
r3d...@dax.cc.uakron.edu
d.l....@ix.netcom.com
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NAKANO Yasuaki
>In article <1995Sep21...@tanuki.twics.com> dobun...@tanuki.twics.com writes:
>>The word Nihon is not originally Japanese, but came from the Chinese,
>>in which language it is currently pronounced Riben. The usual translation
>>of it as Land of the Rising Sun, or sun origin
>across a letter written a _long_ time ago from the then Emporer of
>Japan to the then ruler of China. The letter contained language to
>the effect (forgive my paraphrasing, but it's been close on ten years)
>"From the land where the sun rises to the land where the sun sets."
>The author of the text in which this letter was quoted suggested that
>this was the origin of the "land of the rising sun" moniker for Japan.
This letter was sent in the early period in 7th century. I can't remember
if it was in 605, 608 or 612. The massage is recorded in the official
history book of the Zui dynasty (sorry, I don't know the spell of Zui in
Ping'Ying.)
The reading of the message in Japanese is:
"Hi iduru tokoro no Tensi, Syo wo Hi bossuru tokoro no Tensi ni itasu.
Tutuga nakiya?"
which means
"The Emperor of the land where Sun rises sends a letter to the Emperor
of the land where Sun sets. Are you healthy?"
Having read the letter, the Emperor of China became angry, and ordered
not to show him such barbarian things.
The Emperor of Japan is believed as Shotoku Taishi (Umayodo no Miko). But
some historians doubt the theory because the Emperor Suiko (or the Empress)
at the period was female. Shotoku Taishi was the Crown Prince. Since an
envoy from China met the Emperor and reported him as male (the Emperor had
a Harem), there are something wrong.
Anyway, I think many researchers believe that the origin of the name of
Japan was the end of 7th century. Please read my another article.
Yasuaki Nakano
charles lippert
written with pleasent characters. Consequently, WA meaning dwarf was changed
to WA meaning peace. Similarly, AOMORI was changed from AO(Ainu kanji for
big)MOI(Ainu kanji for bay) to AO(Japanese kanji for blue)MORI(Japanese kanji
for forest).
Kiyotake Yamazaki
with 'wai' as in 'waijin' (dwarf), and 'i' as in 'ishuku' (shrink). Thus
the pronunciation could have been closer to 'wai' or 'i'.
The mention of 'wa' occurs in China's "Sangoku-shi," in the section
commonly referred to as "Gi-shi Wajin-den." The 'Romance of the Three
Kingdoms' is based on this.
I think Shiba Ryotaro or someone pointed out that the fact that Chinese
referred to the 'wa-jin' using a character with the man-radical (rather
than some kind of a beast radical) showed that the Chinese considered the
wa-jin somewhat civilized.
I would speculate further that the Chinese used the beast radicals to
refer to these other barbarians because they in fact had the practice of
wearing furs (leopard skins and colobos headdresses?) The Japanese
perhaps wore silk or linen, or whatever fiber.