pmjs logs for April 2001. Total number of messages: 44
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dissertations [on otogi-zoshi, follow-up] (Linda K. Letten)
Japan Foundation Programs (Laura Potter/Masaki Hirano)
Bungo text/notes (Michael Watson)
EMJNet cross-postings
Jeffrey Mass Obituary (G. Cameron Hurst)
Library position available (Frederic Kotas)
Sorobun (Peter Kornicki) --> Sorobun & kanbun
Noh Training Project 2001 ( Richard Emmert)
history of mathematics / Japanese math (Carol Tsang)
Japanese traditional music newsletter (Steven Nelson)
new members: Andrew Goble, Toshiko Yokota, Christopher Baskind, and Sakurako Handa.
Call for Papers CUEAGA 4th Annual Conference (October 26-28, 2001) (Laurel Rasplica Rodd)
"Animals / History / Japan" symposium at Columbia University. Saturday, April 21, 2001 (Gregory Pflugfelder)
Versus volume on Japan (Nobumi Iyanaga)
4th International Conference on Okinawan Studies (Johannes H. Wilhelm)
A Symposium in Honor of Jeffrey Mass
Japan 2001 Waka Website (Thomas McAuley)
Logs have been created from the weekly digests. They could do with further editing, but I assume it is better to have something now, no matter how rough.
I have included some of the original "pmjs footers" added to mail. These contain bibliographical information or notes on interesting internet sites.
From: "Linda K. Letten" <...et...@...robe.edu.au>
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 16:17:06 +1000
Subject: dissertations
Dear all,
Thank-you to everyone who responded to the request for info regarding
dissertations. I have located both Barbara Ruch's (order #6513987) and
Randle Keller Kimbrough's (order #9954329) through UMI.
Linda K. Letten
l.let...@...robe.edu.au
From: "Potter, Laura" <...ra_pot...@...y.org>
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 10:53:19 -0400
Subject: FW: Japan Foundation Programs
The Japan Foundation promotes mutual understanding and cultural exchange between Japan and other countries. Please take note of our various grant programs open to US applicants:
Our Institutional Support programs assist in the study and understanding
of Japan at the institutional level:
Visiting Professorship program: for support of visiting scholars from
Japan Staff Expansion program: for the creation of new faculty positions in Japan Studies Research/Professional Conference program: for support of Japan-related conferences Library Support program: for funding of resource acquisitions
Fellowship programs give scholars, researchers, and professionals the
opportunity to conduct research in Japan. There are two fellowship categories:
Research Fellowship: for scholars and researchers
Doctoral Fellowship: for doctoral dissertation candidates
The Japan Foundation also provides support to Japanese Studies and Arts
through other programs. Please contact the Japan Foundation for
information on the upcoming 2002-2003 programs. New Program Guidelines
and Applications will be available in September 2001. The deadline for
the Japan Foundation programs listed above is November 1, 2001. For
further information on these and other programs, please visit our website
at www.jfny.org/jfny/programs.html or contact our office by phone at (212)
489-0299, by fax at (212) 489-0409, or by e-mail at i...@...y.org.
For information on our Japanese Language-related programs, please visit
the Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office website at www.jflalc.org or
contact their office by phone at (310) 449-0027, by fax at (310) 449-1127,
or by e-mail at jfl...@...alc.org.
The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership supports collaborative
projects between U.S. and Japanese Organizations, including educational
and public outreach, exchange, public research, and dialogue. For further
information, please check their website www.cgp.org/cgplink/ or contact
them by phone at (212) 489-1255, by fax at (212) 489-1344, or by e-mail
at: i...@....org.
Masaki Hirano
Deputy Director
The Japan Foundation
152 West 57th Street, 39th Floor
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 489-0299
Fax: (212) 489-0409
From: Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2001 22:43:09 +0900
Subject: Bungo text/notes
I mentioned some days ago that Kyoko Selden has been re-editing Royall
Tyler's "bungo" texts for the pmjs website. I've put the first up online
today: Ise monogatari sections 1-4.
The web page
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/bungo/05_Ise.html
contains
(1) the text with selected readings in parentheses,
(2) the text without readings, and
(3) a list of words and expressions with Royall's explanations.
(1)-(3) are also available in Microsoft Word format at:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/bungo/
05 Ise.kakko.doc [text with selected readings in parentheses]
O5 Ise.plain.doc [plain text]
05 Ise.rubi.doc [readings given above characters]
05a Ise.words.doc [list of words and expressions]
Note the addition of a file with "proper" rubi. Please tell us if you spot
any errors or inconsistencies.
Do tell me (off list, perhaps) if you have any trouble downloading and
opening these files. I have downloaded the files successfully on Windows and
Mac. I'd be interested to know if the rubi appear correctly on earlier
versions of Microsoft Word.
On Windows with Office 2000 (J) installed, the file appears in the Internet
Explorer browser. Choose "Save as..." to save to your hard disk.
On Mac the files will download to your hard disk. With Internet Explorer
they will open automatically with Microsoft Word. (Check "Window"
menu-->"Download Manager" to see where the file is saved.) With Netscape
4.5, a dialog box opens to save the file, and it must then be opened
manually.
This is one of 13 texts for the teaching of classical Japanese. For further
explanation see:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources.html#bungo
I'll use the "pmjs footer" to tell you when the other texts are ready.
01 1941 oboegaki
02 Nihon shoki
03 Kokinshu preface
04 Wakanashu
[Text is in fact the preface to Shimazaki Touson's poetry collection: Touson
shishuu jo]
05 Ise monogatari
06 Makura no soshi
07 Genji
08 Hojoki
09 Heike
10 Oku no hosomichi
11 Uchiharai rei
12 Chohei kokuyu
13 Kyoiku chokugo
Japanese titles and original versions can be found here:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/bungo/00_index.html
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/rtv/
Many thanks again to Royall Tyler for providing these texts, and to Kyoko
Selden for the ongoing work of proof-reading and editing.
Michael Watson
--------
Forgive me if I add some reminders about how this mailing list works. Some
items are widely accepted on the internet, others specific to this mailing
list. Online discussion groups tend to develop customary ways of doing
things. The best way to gauge the pmjs "house style" is to watch on the
sidelines for a bit.
* Mail sent to p...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp goes to all list members.
* If you answer a list message, it will also go to all list members. This is
fine if this is what you intend. If you want to answer that person off-list,
then make sure to address the mail to him or her.
* Keep or change the subject line as appropriate. If moving to a related
topic, some members use the expression WAS, e.g. "online resources (WAS:
CD-ROM resources)"
* Only retain as much of the original message as necessary. It may be
helpful to refer to other members by name when responding to an earlier
message. A variety of styles are used, from "In response to XY" to "As XY
commented" to "Dear XY." You'll find that some pmjs regulars are referred to
by first name, but it's usually clearer use full names, even for people you
otherwise call by first name.
* Pseudonyms and "handles" are not appropriate for an academic list. So that
others know who the message is from, set your e-mail software so that your
name appears at the top of mail and NOT just your e-mail address.
* Keep your signature file short. Most of us use full name, or full name
<...il>. Add your affiliation if you like, but I'd appreciate if you avoid
the inclusion of telephone numbers and other personal information, both for
the sake of your own privacy and to save me time when editing messages later
for the website.
* Extended discussion is encouraged on the list. Many questions get two or
three replies. Longer "threads" last for days, with dozens of members
participating. There are no hard and fast rules about length, formality or
style, but we are certainly Most of us avoid very short comments of the "I
agree!" sort. For past examples of longer threads see the edited archives
at:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/archive.html
* Monthly logs of messages are being added to a password protected
directory:
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/logs/
The messages have only been lightly edited for the web, and contain original
e-mail addresses and signatures. To keep out "spammers" and other
undesirables, access is restricted to pmjs members. The current log-in is
"yayoi" with "yayoi" as password.
* A list of members' names and addresses is not currently available, but I'd
be happy to check for you whether someone belongs to the list or not, and to
forward your message to him/her.
* You can only post to the list from your registered e-mail address. If you
have other e-mail addresses and want the option of posting, it can be
arranged.
* More information about the list and its operations can be found on the FAQ
page
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/faq.html
* Contact me about any questions concerning the list or its web resources. I
would also value any comments that you might about the web resources. I try
to keep the metalinks and bibliographical information accurate and up to
date. Do point out any errors and omissions that you notice.
From: Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2001 12:14:55 +0900
Subject: EMJNet cross-postings
Two cross postings from EMJNet, the first an announcement passed on by
Lawrence Marceau, the second information I sent to that list concerning a
CD-ROM of an Edo emaki.
> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 18:08:38 -0400
> From: Daniel J Bial <...alage...@...o.com>
>
> I have been asked by a major publisher to find someone to write an
> introductory book on Japanese language and culture. The author should
> have academic credentials as well as some writing credits--and be willing
> to start the project right away.
>
> If you or anyone you know may be interested in this project, please
> e-mail me a resume.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> --Daniel Bial
If interested, contact Daniel Bial directly.
*********
Readers be interested to know of a CD-ROM produced by the
Museum for East Asian Art, Berlin, of an illustrated scroll ca. 1800 showing
Edo street scenes. The title of the 12m scroll is Kidai Shouran (kanji?
trans. as "splendid view of our prosperous age"). The CD-ROM is bilingual,
German and English, and is available from a German bookseller:
http://www.buchhandlung-walther-koenig.de/
If this [long] link causes problems, the CD-ROM is mentioned on the top page
Note that the circumflex on their page is misplaced.
Here follows a description in German:
Kidai Shoran. Vortrefflicher Anblick unseres prosperierenden Zeitalters.
Hrsg. vom Museum fuer Ostasiatische Kunst. Berlin 2000. CD-ROM ab Windows 95 und Mac ab PPC VERLAG DER BUCHHANDLUNG WALTHER KOENIG.
Mit mehr als 1000 Figuren, 40 verschiedenen Haeusern, zahlreichen
Restaurants, Teestuben usw. veranschaulicht die farbige japanische Bildrolle
die um 1800 wichtigste Einkaufsstrasse von Edo, dem heutigen Tokyo. Die
CD-Rom macht das 12 m lange Kunstwerk erfahrbar, bietet simultan
Bild-Text-Informationen zu Religion, Brauchtum und Mode. Das Kustwerk ist
hier erstmals wissenschaftlich aufgearbeitet und publiziert. Fuenf
Bildspaziergaenge erschliessen zusaetzlich die Querrole aus
unterschiedlichen Perspektiven.
DM 49.00
Michael Watson
::::: pmjs footer:::::
Early Modern Japan Network (EMJNet)
http://emjnet.history.ohio-state.edu/
From: "Philip C. Brown" <...wn....@....edu>
Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 19:15:49 -0400
Subject: Jeffrey Mass Obituary (G. Cameron Hurst)
Jeffrey P. Mass, 1940-2001
Jeffrey P. Mass, Yamato Ichihashi Professor of Japanese History at
Stanford University, died on Friday March 30 in Palo Alto. Mass, 60, was
the premier American scholar of medieval Japanese history, a mantle he
inherited from his own mentor, John Whitney Hall, who passed away in 1997.
A specialist in the legal and institutional history of the Kamakura
Period
(1185-1333), Professor Mass was regarded as the Western historian of
pre-modern Japan with the most profound knowledge of the primary sources of
the period. Indeed, his passion for documents was legendary. His own
collection is the most extensive private library of primary sources outside
of Japan. It was a passion that he passed on to a large cohort of graduate
students. In fact, the field of Japanese medieval history is largely
composed of Professor Mass's own students: Mikael Adolphson (Harvard),
Bruce Batten (Obirin-Japan), Thomas Conlon (Bowdoin), Karl Friday
(Georgia), Andrew Goble (Oregon), Thomas Keirstead (Indiana), Thomas Nelson
(Oxford University), Joan Piggott (Cornell), and Hitomi Tonomura
(Michigan). Mass was as proud of the success of his students as he was of
his own scholarship.
Professor Mass was a native of New York City, born in Manhattan on
June 29, 1940. He developed his interest in Japan, and more broadly East Asia,
as an undergraduate at Hamilton College, from which he graduated in1962. He
went on to receive an MA in East Asian History from New York University in
1965, and then entered the doctoral program at Yale University to work with
Professor Hall. Like many future historians of Japan, Mass was deeply
affected by Professor Hall's Government and Local Power in Japan, 500-1700:
A Study Based On Bizen Province (Princeton, 1966), a work that convinced
him to specialize in Japan's medieval history. While doing dissertation
research in Japan at Tokyo University's Historiographical Institute, Mass
became the first foreign researcher to study the reading of primary
documents with Professor Seno Seiichiro. Mass owed a life-long debt to
Professor Seno for helping to equip him with this most fundamental tool for
research. After receiving his doctorate in 1971, Mass served as a Lecturer
at Yale for a year before accepting a position as Assistant Professor in
the Department of History at Stanford University in 1973, where he was to
spend his entire career.
As a Stanford faculty member, Mass produced 10 books on medieval Japan, six
written outright and four edited. He wrote five volumes on the Kamakura
period, a goal he set for himself early in his career, and which he was
pleased to have met. Professor Mass's work fundamentally reshaped the study
of pre-modern Japanese history outside Japan. He established the study of
original sources-administrative documents, wills, land transfers, diaries,
and the like-as the fundamental approach and demonstrated that non-Japanese
could in fact master the challenging forms in which these sources were
written. The focus on original sources made possible new interpretations,
as scholars moved away from more literary sources and secondary works in
Japanese to confront the documents themselves. As a result Mass and his
students, and others influenced by his work, moved beyond an older approach
that saw Japan's medieval era as fundamentally analogous to that of the
West, demonstrating instead that Japanese history had a rhythm of its own.
Professor Mass urged his students to move beyond his own work and
into different periods. His scholarly approach also demanded that all
interpretations be questioned-even his own. Nothing better illustrates this
attitude than the fact that his last book on the Kamakura Period was a
rewriting of his first. His very first work, Warrior Government in Early
Medieval Japan: A Study of the Kamakura Bakufu, Shugo, and Jito (Yale,
1974) already established Mass as the premier young scholar in the field.
Good as this work was, Professor Mass saw that changing interpretations of
the late twelfth century in Japan-indeed many of them the fruit of his own
research and that of his students-made that work outdated, leading him to
totally rewrite the book. Yoritomo and the Founding of the First Bakufu:
The Origins of Dual Government in Japan was fittingly finished on the 800th
anniversary of Yoritomo's death in 1999 and published by Stanford in 2000.
His other books on the Kamakura Period are The Kamakura Bakufu: A Study in
Documents (Stanford, 1976); The Development of Kamakura Rule, 1180-1250
(Stanford, 1979); and Lordship and Inheritance in Early Medieval Japan: A
Study of the Kamakura Soryo System (Stanford: 1989)
Professor Mass presided over several major academic conferences at Stanford
and Oxford resulting in important edited volumes that have helped to shape
approaches to the study of medieval Japan. The most recent of these was
The Origins of Japan's Medieval World: Courtiers, Warriors, Clerics, and
Peasants in the Fourteenth Century (Stanford, 1997). Professor Mass also
contributed many articles to prestigious journals in Japanese studies,
several of which formed the basis of his Antiquity and Anachronism in
Japanese History (Stanford, 1992). His prodigious scholarly output was
widely acclaimed in the historical profession and the field of Japanese
studies, and Stanford recognized Professor Mass' excellence with the Yamato
Ichihashi Chair in 1992.
While Professor Mass spent his entire American academic career at
Stanford, his impact was much broader. From 1987 he was a Visiting
Professor at Hertford College, Oxford University, travelling to England
every year to teach in the late spring and summer. Shortly before his
death, he was made an Honorary Fellow at Oxford in recognition of his
important contribution to the development of medieval Japanese studies in
Europe. Professor Mass was extremely proud of his two appointments at
Stanford and Oxford and maintained a fierce loyalty to both institutions.
Like many American scholars of Japan, Professor Mass studied for a time at
the Stanford Center for Japanese Studies in Tokyo, which later became the
Inter-University Center for Advanced Japanese language Studies in Yokohama
(IUC). Sponsored by a consortium of 16 American universities, its
administration was coordinated by Stanford. Professor Mass had been
Executive Director of the IUC since 1995, and he worked tirelessly to place
this important academic training resource on a sound financial basis.
While teaching at Oxford, Professor Mass developed a keen interest
in English coins, which turned into a passion. He attacked it with same
intensity that he did Japanese scholarship, becoming a noted authority on
coins of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a period that corresponded roughly to his beloved Kamakura Period. He was very pleased that, shortly before his death, he had completed his manuscript The English Short Cross Coinage, 1180-1247,which will be forthcoming soon from Oxford University Press and the British Academy.
Jeffrey Mass is survived by his wife of 18 years, Rosa, two daughters,
Karen and Tara, both of New York, two stepsons, Joshua Waltzer of New York
and Ben Waltzer of San Francisco, and a sister, Mary dePaolo of New Jersey.
A memorial service for Professor Mass will be held at Memorial Church on
the Stanford University campus on Monday April 16 at 9:30 AM.
G. Cameron Hurst III
University of Pennsylvania
From: Frederic Kotas <....@...nell.edu>
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 14:28:30 -0400
Subject: Library position available (Japanese)
The Wason Collection on East Asia, Cornell University, is seeking to fill
the following position of Japanese bibliographic assistant:
Technical Services Assistant III
Band C/Full Time/39 Hours
Wason Collection
Job:
Main Function: Assist with Japanese acquisitions work, including pre-order
searching, creation of order records, claiming, processing of incoming
Japanese language materials, and pre-catalog preparation. Corresponds with
Japanese dealers; maintains acquisitions records and files.
Minimum Requirements: Formal training beyond high school diploma of one to
two years, two years of college coursework, or Associates Degree or
equivalent. More than one, but less than two years of experience or
equivalent required. Native or near native command of educated and formal
written Japanese. Ability to work in a highly computerized environment:
familiarity with Japanese and English word processing. Basic accounting
skills. Good interpersonal and communication skills. Desirable: ability to
use RLIN-CJK terminal, familiarity with the rules of modified Hepburn
romanization of Japanese, and relevant library experience. Reading
knowledge of Korean highly desirable.
This is a two year position, renewable.
Send cover letter and resume to Lyndsi Abbey, Library Human Resources, .
235 Olin Library, Ithaca, NY 14853-5301. All inquiries are confidential.
From: Peter Kornicki <.....@...mes.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2001 22:30:31 +0100
Subject: Sorobun
Readers of the messages on this list might like to know about an excellent
book on sorobun I acquired recently. It is by one E. Voruz, who was evidently a captain in the French artillery, and is entitled _Style epistolaire japonais_; it was published in Japan in 1916. It was written for the guidance of French army officers attached to the Imperial Japanese Army who apparently needed to write sorobun to communciate with Japanese officers in a dignified manner, though it may have had something to do with the survival of a marked epistolary style in French. Be that as it may, it is a very thorough study of sorobun usage and is full of examples as well as analysis; as such it is an invaluable guide for anyone having to tackle sorobun. If it were still available I would recommend it highly. Indeed, I am sorely tempted to start using sorobun in notes to my colleagues!
By the way, does anybody know anything good in the way of a guide to Japanese kanbun and the yomikudashi reading traditions that I could recommend to a very good student? Or do you still have to pick up 'owannu' and all the other quirks by oral transmission from a sensei?
Peter Kornicki
Faculty of Oriental Studies
Sidgwick Avenue
Cambridge CB3 9DA
UK
From: David Pollack <...l...@...l.rochester.edu>
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 21:49:37 -0400
Subject: Re: Sorobun
I am wondering if Peter might be willing to take the trouble to scan
the Voruz book and send it to Michael to install on the pmjs site?
Could the book be worth this degree of trouble? I've certainly always
wanted a good reference for sorobun usage, even if from 1916 army
usage via epistolary French. Provided the examples aren't all of the
"Tell the second hussars brigade to reset the fuses on their
bangalore torpedos" sort, it might be quite useful to medievalists.
Of course, it's also true that there's no end to useful reference
works one could wish for, once THAT camel's nose is under the tent.
David Pollack
From: Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 12:03:39 +0900
Subject: Sorobun
> I am wondering if Peter might be willing to take the trouble to scan
> the Voruz book and send it to Michael to install on the pmjs site?
> Could the book be worth this degree of trouble?
My interest was piqued, too, but I'm one step ahead of David Pollack. I've already ordered the Voruz book on interlibrary loan from Todai--the only Japanese library to have it according to Webcat. I could scan a few pages and see what everyone thinks. OCR would be a tall order, presumably!
Michael Watson
P.S. From sorobun to kanbun is a bit of a jump, but this jogged my memory of
this query in my Inbox from a general reader. Inspired by a good course on
Japanese history at UCLA "many long years ago" he was hoping to find English
translations for the kanbun diaries mention in Sansom's History. I've told
him already that the translations I know are in French. Help anyone, on list
or off?
> "Koke Shidai" by Oye Masafusa;
> "Gyokuyo" and "Imakagami" by Fujiwara Kanezane;
> "Shoyuki" by Fujiwara Sanesuke;
> "Gonki" by Fujiwara Yukinari;
> "Chuyuki" by Fujiwara Munetada;
> "Sakeiki" by Minamoto Tsuyenori;
> "Taiki" by Fujiwara Yorinaga;
> "Shunki" by Fujiwara Sukefusa; and
> "Sankaiki" by Fujiwara Tadachika.
From: Joan Piggott <....@...nell.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 07:59:43 -0400
Subject: Re: Sorobun
Hello Michael and all,
Michael, you've left out the earliest of the courtier diaries, Fujiwara Tadahira's <...shinkoki>, which we only have abstracted through the <...shinkokisho>. Several members of last summer's Cornell Kambun Workshop are preparing a translation of entries from the year 939 of same. We will publish therewith the original kambun, a yomikudashi version, facsimile of the text at Tenri, and the annotated translation with introductory essays by Profs. J. Piggott (Cornell) and Yoshida Sanae ( U Tokyo, Shiryohensanjo). We hope to see our efforts in press early in 2002. I hope that future Kambun Workshops will also publish at least some of their work.
Along those lines, word is that there will be at least one Kambun Workshop
next summer, on the <...cho monzui>. Those interested should contact Prof.
Edward Kamens at Yale, where the workshop will be held.
Best,
J. Piggott
Joan Piggott, Associate Professor of Pre-1600 Japanese History
Cornell University
History Department McGraw Hall
Ithaca, New York 14853-4601 U.S.A.
From: Janine Beichman <...i...@....vc-net.ne.jp>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 21:13:36 +0900
Subject: Re: Sorobun
Okay, Peter, please explain "owannu"--sounds interesting!
>By the way, does anybody know anything good in the way of a guide to
>Japanese kanbun and the yomikudashi reading traditions that I could
>recommend to a very good student? Or do you still have to pick up 'owannu'
>and all the other quirks by oral transmission from a sensei?
From: Ivo Smits <....sm...@....LeidenUniv.nl>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 01 15:01:46 +0200
Subject: Re: Sorobun (& kanbun)
I, too, would be interested in seeing a few sample pages from _Style
epistolaire japonais_.
Meanwhile, I wish to point out that Jeroen Lamers (he of _Japonius
tyrannus_) is finishing an annotated translation with introduction of
Joao Rodrigues' late sixteenth-century treatise on Japanese epistolary
style, to be published by the University of Michigan. He tells me that he
hopes to finish the manuscript by the end of this year, so with a bit of
luck Michigan should be able to bring it out in 2002. In it you'll find
not only soro-bun, but much more.
Concerning kanbun manuals:
Peter, if your student prefers a text book in English, then I still
recommend:
Akira Komai and Thomas H. Rohlich. _An introduction to Japanese kanbun_.
Nagoya: University of Nagoya Press, 1988. (Nanzan University academic
publication series) ISBN 4-930689-90-2.
It works pretty much as most introductory text books to classical Chinese
(wenyan), which I found somehow reassuring.
Ivo Smits
From: Roberta Strippoli <...er...@...nford.EDU>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 06:16:50 -0700
Subject: Re: Sorobun
Hello Peter,
If your student is a beginner Komai and Rohlich's book An
Introduction to Japanese Kanbun (The University of Nagoya Press,
1988) could be a good starting point.
Does anybody have a kanbun guide in Japanese to recommend?
Roberta
hear Nara deer belling
http://www.pref.nara.jp/nara/oto/2.html
Four bungo texts now online as RTF files ("rich text format" opening on a
range of word processing software), and others as PDF files. We're still
experimenting to find a format that will suit most people.
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/bungo/rtf/
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~pmjs/resources/bungo/pdf/
Reminders: (1) please add romanization if using kanji (2) please don't use
diacritics as they cannot be sent together with kanji without resorting to
Unicode, still unreadable on most mail software.
From: David Pollack <...l...@...l.rochester.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:33:48 -0400
Subject: Re: Sorobun (& kanbun)
The problem is that while there is no shortage of books, in Japanese and
in other languages, for teaching the reading of kanbun meaning actual
"Chinese texts" written in China, what we are talking about here is
Japanese "kana-majiri sorobun no kanbun," which is a very different
business. Little knowledge of Chinese or yomikudashi kanbun helps when
it comes to reading certain styles of medieval and early-modern
documents sorobun, the idiosyncratic nature of which increases over time.
I have the two-volume "Readings in Japanese History and Literature"
(Nihonshi shiryo senshu), edited and published from notes used by Noburu
Hiraga (1922-1984) in his course in "Documentary Japanese" at the
University of Washington, where he taught 1961-1983. The first volume
comprises numerous handwritten examples selected from a wide variety of
texts, while the second volume is an annotated glossary of terms and
usage (in Japanese) for each passage. The texts volume begins with the
Chinese Wei Zhi "Treatise on Yamatai" and moves on through selections
from every style and period, from the Kojiki all the way up to Meiji and
even two pieces from the Taisho press ("Rice Riots Spread," Asahi
Shinbun 1918, and "Japan and the Restoration of Peace," Jiji
Shinpo,1920).
The work was published posthumously by his wife Shyoko (sic) Hiraga from
his notes, and widely offered several years ago (I forget by what
medium) to anyone who might be interested -- I was, and I'm sure many
others were as well. It was published in 1990 by Bonjinsha (ISBN
4-89358-049-3), but I have no idea as to its present availability.
David Pollack
From: Richard Emmert <......@....com>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 23:27:25 +1000
Subject: Noh Training Project 2001
Dear List members,
I sent this same email in January with detailed information about our
annual summer Noh Training Project in Bloomsburg, PA. Our application
deadline of May 1st is fast approaching. We have already accepted a
number of applicants for the program but still have several spaces
available. If you know of any interested persons/good candidates for
this program, please feel free to forward this information to them or
to print it out and post it at some appropriate venue.
Anyone who wishes further information about the program can contact
me or our Coordinator, Elizabeth Dowd <...@...link.net>, or check out
the website within the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble homepage:
www.bte.org. If you need flyers, also please contact Elizabeth.
Thanks,
Rick Emmert
_______________________
Noh Training Project 2001
Summer Intensive Workshop in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Dates: July 16th through August 3rd, 2001
[shortened by ed.]
The Noh Training Project is a three week intensive, performance-based
training in the dance, chant, music, and performance history of Japanese
Noh Drama. Taught by internationally acclaimed Noh expert Richard Emmert
and hosted by the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, NTP is now entering its
seventh summer of bringing intensive training in Noh to the United States.
Again this summer, Mr. Emmert will be joined for the final week of training
by Noh Master actor/teacher Akira Matsui. In addition to teaching
traditional perfomance practice, Matsui will lead special sessions designed
to help participants experiment with using Noh techniques with non-Noh
musical accompaniment and/or text. The training project culminates in a
final recital for an invited public.
Training sessions go from 9-4:30 M-F under the guidance of Mr. Emmert and
teaching assistants. In addition to daily training sessions, twice weekly
evening sessions are held to discuss the history, literature and
performance elements of Noh, along with viewing videos of Noh
performances. Students are divided into beginner or intermediate/advanced
sections. New students will learn a number of short dances and chants from
Noh plays, learn about the musical instruments associated with Noh, and
work briefly with a Noh mask. Intermediate/Advanced students will work on
longer pieces.
One of the oldest continually performed theatre forms in the world, Noh
combines dance, chant, music and mask in a powerful and stately
performance experience requiring intense inner concentration and
physical discipline. Actors, directors, dancers, musicians
(particularly vocalists) and academics interested in a non-Western
performance experience are encouraged to apply.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: MAY 1, 2001
Applications should include a resume and a brief statement describing what
the applicant hopes to gain from the training program. Limited scholarship
money may be available based on artistic merit and need. If funding is
secured, priority will go to returning students. Enrollment is limited
Send to: Noh Training Project
c/o Learning Tomorrow
53 West Main Street
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
Phone: (570) 387-8270
Fax: (570) 784-4160
e-mail: ...@...link.net
www.bte.org
Publications available through the Noh Training Project:
CD: Noh in English $22.00 (includes a 75 page booklet in English and
Japanese) Teichiku Records, Tokyo.
Eliza - an English Noh play $32.00 (includes video and text)
National Noh Theatre Performance Guide Series by Monica Bethe and Richard
Emmert: includes Matsukaze $20.00, Fujito $20.00, Miidera $22.00, Tenko
$22.00, Atsumori $23.00, Ema $23.00, and Aoinoue $23.00 (shipping and
handling included)
For information on noh workshops
in Japan and the United States see:
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/NOH-KYOGEN/english/english3.html
http://www.bte.org/programs/noh/index.html
______________________________
Richard Emmert
[Home]
Hon-cho 2-27-10, Nakano-ku
Tokyo 164-0012 Japan
email: emm...@....com
[University]
Noh Research Archives
Musashino Womens University
email: r_emm...@...ashino-wu.ac.jp
From: HITOMI TONOMURA <...it...@...ch.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 11:58:55 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Sorobun (& kanbun)
Dear all.
I have been asked to disseminate information by Mrs. Hiraga and her
daughter about the volumes David mentions below. Her daughter, Yoko
Colpitts has an e-mail address and would like to receive inquiries
regarding the volumes, including price, availability, etc. Apparently
Mrs. Hirage has many sets left. Please message yokonm...@...st.net for
information.
Tomi Tonomura
Hitomi Tonomura
Associate Professor of History and Women's Studies
Director, Center for Japanese Studies
The University of Michigan
1080 South University, Suite 3603
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
From: Robert Borgen <...r...@...avis.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:03:16 -0700
Subject: Kanbun
Another useful English-language introduction to kanbun is Sydney Crawcour's
An Introduction to Kambun, published by the University of Michigan's Center
for Japanese Studies in 1965. The examples are exclusively from the Chinese
classics.
Robert Borgen
From: "Paul S. Atkins" <...k...@...tana.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 11:52:14 -0600
Subject: Kanbun--Japanese primer
Someone asked for a Japanese introduction to kanbun. I have enjoyed using
this one:
Tobata Shigenao. Kabun no kiso. Nikken, First printing 1985, 8th printing 1997
515 yen. #(Japanese title)
What I like most is the exercises (answer book included), which start out
easy. First he has you learning how the kaeriten, etc. work, without
kanji. The kanji are replaced by blank boxes, and you put numbers in the
boxes to show the order in which they would be read if they were
characters. Then, of course, it soon gets trickier. It's also useful as a
reference guide.
Paul Atkins
From: wfarris <...r...@....edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 16:38:21 -0400
Subject: kanbun
Dear all,
As usual I will add a dissident note. To me, kanbun (and here I mean
classical Chinese, not the mixed up hybrids of aristocratic diaries and the
like) is Chinese. The Japanese techniques for reading classical Chinese are
confusing and misleading and do not correctly convey the grammar, style, or
sense of the original Chinese.
To do the job correctly, a student wishing to learn classical Chinese
must LEARN CLASSICAL CHINESE, not kanbun. That means memorizing texts and
undergoing extensive training IN CLASSICAL CHINESE. And as I have previously expressed on this list, for my money the best I ever saw was (is) E. Bruce Brooks of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He put together a text in classical Chinese, starting as if the student had no background, and built up to reading the ANALECTS and SHR GYI by the end of one year. He not only had the firmest grasp of grammar; he used a computer (in 1973) to calculate the frequency of appearance of various Chinese characters and introduced them accordingly.
Unfortunately, my copy of the text burned up, and Brooks no longer produces them. But for those who would like an inkling, I refer you to his website on the Warring States' Period in China at www.umass.edu/wsp
Regards,
Wayne Farris
From: David Pollack <...l...@...l.rochester.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 18:43:29 -0400
Subject: Re: kanbun
> As usual I will add a dissident note. <...p>
Interesting problem. I have been in seminars at Kyoto University where
Chinese was read "as Chinese," using Chinese pronuniation, and explained
in modern Japanese; and I have been in far more seminars where the
Chinese text was read not in Chinese, but first in bou-yomi (like
o-kyou-yomi but without the go-on pronounciations), then interpreted
into that never-never language of yomi-kudashi kanbun, and finally
"explained" in modern Japanese, though even that tended to be full of
otherwise unexplained "yuyu-taru" type fudgings of the Chinese. A
problem was that often a text had no helpful Chinese gloss (except for
the usual historical "A, B ye" or "A, B qie" for individual characters),
while the Japanese glosses might (though not always) prove wonderfully
helpful. I've always valued the 1920 Kokuyaku kanbun taisei for its
extensive translations and annotations of things I'd never seen
helpfully glossed or explained in Chinese texts, but of course even it
has problems.
My 1986 study "The Fracture of Meaning" was largely motivated by my
experience of studying the Japanese traditions of "reading" Chinese (and
China) long after I'd already learned to read wenyan on its own terms
(my doctoral work was in Tang poetry). I see it as an entirely different
sort of experience of the Chinese texts, one valuable in its own right,
in offering another view of those texts. As it turns out, of course,
that view is entirely Japanese, and may or may not take into account how
the Chinese understood the same texts.
But of course when Peter started this discussion he wasn't talking about
"Chinese" texts, but rather about Japanese texts often lumped in with
Chinese under the misleadingly ambiguous term "kanbun." I would suggest
using "wenyan" or "guwen" (as in the compendium Guwen guanzhi) for
Chinese texts written in China as a way of distinguishing them from
Japanese texts, even those that might have passed muster to a
contemporary Chinese (and plenty of them didn't). Crawcour's kanbun
primer and many others are helpful in learning to render actual Chinese
texts into the intermediary of kanbun, and thence into actual meaningful
Japanese (you can even get Japanese high-school textbooks on the
subject). Learning to read kanamajiri sorobun no kanbun is however
entirely a different matter.
Sorry about blithering,
David Pollack
From: Carol Tsang <......@....edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 17:41:48 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: history of mathematics
A student asked me if it is true that Japan developed no geometry or
algebra. I didn't know the answer, and ended up looking at Needham's
abridged History of Science in China to get some idea. I now know enough
to answer the question, but was wondering if anyone knows of a source or
sources on the history of science--or even just mathematics--in Japan.
Preferably in English, as that's the only language in which my vocabulary
has a prayer of being adequate to understand science-talk. Actually, I
guess French would also do.
Any information that list members can share on the topic would be greatly
appreciated.
Carol Tsang
History Department
University of Illinois at Chicago
cts...@....edu
From: Yasuhiro Kondo <...o...@...aoyama.ac.jp>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 09:09:47 +0900
Subject: Re: history of mathematics
Dear all,
Carol Tsang wrote:
> A student asked me if it is true that Japan developed no geometry or
> algebra. I didn't know the answer, and ended up looking at Needham's
> abridged History of Science in China to get some idea. I now know enough
> to answer the question, but was wondering if anyone knows of a source or
> sources on the history of science--or even just mathematics--in Japan.
This web page is very interesting for you.
http://www.nkfu.edu.tw/~jochi/
(History of Science Traditional Mathematics in Eastern Asia
by Prof Shigeru Jochi, Ph.D)
Japanese, English and Chinese available.
p.s. I am NOT an expert of history of mathematics. :-)
---
Yasuhiro Kondo
Dept. of Japanese Literature
Aoyama Gaukuin University
yhko...@...aoyama.ac.jp
From: "Noel John Pinnington" <.....@...rizona.edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 18:50:05 -0700
Subject: Re: history of mathematics
The Japanese did develop an advanced geometry and algebra, notably
discovering a solution to the Bell numbers before western mathematicians,
and also developing something akin to calculus.
See particularly:
Masayoshi Sugimoto and David L. Swain: Science and Culture in Traditional
Japan: AD 600 - 1854, MIT Press, 1978.
Smith, David E. and Mikami Yoshio: A History of Japanese Mathematics.
Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company, 1914.
Mark Ravina: "Wasan and the Physics that Wasn't: Mathematics in the Tokugawa
Period," Monumenta Nipponica, 48:2
Noel Pinnington
From: wfarris <...r...@....edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 22:59:31 -0400
Subject: kanbun
Dear all,
I read David's message with interest.
But what about "Japanese texts" like the RIKKOKUSHI or RITSURYOO or RUIJU SANDAI KYAKU? The kanbun readings are occasionally all wrong, and a good knowledge of classical Chinese makes the meaning clear. And what does one do about citations of the Chinese classics found in one of these "Japanese" texts? Also, I wonder, does reading Tang texts in classical Chinese and Japanese texts yomikudashi style impose contemporary national consciousness where there was none? Isn't it more appropriate to think of classical Chinese as one element, perhaps superficial and limited only to the literate elite, that
bound China, Korea, Japan, and Viet Nam into one cultural zone?
I'm open to suggestions.
Regards,
Wayne Farris
P.S. "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas."
----------
From: "Philip C. Brown" <...wn....@....edu>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 23:48:04 -0400
Subject: Re: history of mathematics
Les mathematiques japonaises a l'eoque d'Edo : (1600-1868) : une Etude des
travaux di Seki Takakazu / Annick Horiuchi
The Tetsujutsu Sankei (1722), an 18th Century Treatise on the Methods of
Investigation in Mathematic / Annick Horiuchi
There are also some early 20th century works in English, but I can't locate
the titles at the moment.
Land surveyors were aware of and used the Pythagorean Theorem as did
engineers in the Tokugawa era. While there were tables that effectively
substituted for trigonometric functions, trigonometry was not part of a
surveyor's tool kit and even the tables developed for wasan do not seem to
have been employed in practical applications.
Philip C. Brown
Associate Professor
Department of History
Ohio State University
From: Carol Tsang <......@....edu>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 08:22:22 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Japanese math
Many thanks to all who replied to my query. You've given me a lot of
useful suggestions, and plenty to get the kind of information I'd like to
have.
Thank you!
Carol Tsang
History Department
University of Illinois at Chicago
From: "M.Joly Jacques" <...yj...@...x.kyoto-inet.or.jp>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 20:02:14 +0900
Subject: Re: history of mathematics
If you read French, you have to take in touch with (and read her numerous
publications) Annick Horiuchi, currently Maitre de Conferences at Paris 7 :
horiu...@...is7.jussieu.fr
Bien a vous,
Jacques Joly
[diacritics removed by ed.]
From: "M.Joly Jacques" <...yj...@...x.kyoto-inet.or.jp>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 20:07:44 +0900
Subject: Re: Sorobun
In French too :
Jean-Noel Robert : Lectures Elementaires en style sino-japonais (Kanbun),
Universite Paris 7, 1985.
It is a very practical course intended for Paris 7 students. It is not a
publication and so you cannot get it in libraries; the best way is to ask
someone you know in Paris to get it (if there is some left) at the
Secretariat of UER LCAO at Paris 7, or write to Jean-Noel who is currently Directeur de Recherches at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.
Good luck,
Jacques Joly
Two links to listen to bird songs:
http://www.blk.mmtr.or.jp/~yuri/birdsongs.html
http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~hira/birding/song/
for searchable texts of Manyoshu, Kokin wakashu, Ise monogatari, Kagero
nikki, Genji monogatari, Izumi Shikibu nikki, Sarashina nikki, Makura no soshi,
Saigyo's poetry, Gosenshu, Shuishu, Goshuishu, Kin'yoshu, Shikashu,
Senzaishu. Shinkokinshu, Hojoki, Ogura hyakunin isshu, Tsurezuregusa, Heike monogatari, Noh... see Japanese Text Initiative at
http://etext.virginia.edu/japanese/texts.html
From: Lawrence Marceau <...rc...@...l.Edu>
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 10:20:10 -0400
Subject: Japanese math
Another book that is aimed for the general readership, but still might
be helpful is:
Kawamoto Ko^ji. Edo no Su^gaku bunka. ("Iwanami Library of Science" 70)
Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1999. ISBN: 4-00-006570-X. \1000+consumer tax.
Lawrence Marceau
From: "Steven G. NELSON" <...l...@...a.ac.jp>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 14:35:01 +0900
Subject: Japanese traditional music newsletter
Dear PMJS members,
The new research centre where I work (Research Centre for Japanese
Traditional Music, Kyoto City University of Arts) has just published its
first newsletter, in Japanese with a smattering of English, and I have been
asked to draw up a list of individuals and institutions to send it to
outside Japan. The city authorities limit our postage budget severely
(though they want the centre to act as the 'global centre' for research in
the field!), and I would like to send it where it will be appreciated. I am
fairly confident that I can cover the (ethno)musicology people adequately,
but I need some help with individuals and institutions in other fields.
I would like to request, then, that those members of PMJS who would like a
copy, for themselves or their institution, please send an e-mail to my
account (snel...@...a.ac.jp), or a fax to the number below, with a mailing
address for my list.
There are also plans to make the newsletter available electronically; I will
send out a notice when all is ready.
With thanks,
Steven G. Nelson
----------------------------------------------
Associate Professor
Research Centre for Japanese Traditional Music
Kyoto City University of Arts
13-6 Ooe Kutsukakechoo, Nishikyooku
Kyooto, 610-1197, Japan
Tel/Fax +81-75-334-2395
e-mail snel...@...a.ac.jp
From: Ivo Smits <....sm...@....LeidenUniv.nl>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 01 11:52:19 +0200
Subject: Re: Kanbun
Dear all,
Two remarks. (1) The Komai and Rohlich book does use Japanese kanbun
sources (e.g. Nihon gaishi, Honchou monzui), which is what I like about
it. Its treatment of grammar, however, largely follows the pattern I
learned when I was first subjected to wenyan as a freshmen, which I also
found reassuring (i.e., tremendous emphasis on particles or "empty
words").
(2) The gist of the remarks by Wayne Farris and David Pollack is that
here is a vast difference between 'wenyan' (classical Chinese
proper) and 'kanbun'. But even if one defines 'kanbun' as "(more or
less) Chinese texts by Japanese authors," it still remains a very
comprehensive term, ranging from kanshi that earnestly try to pose as
proper wenyan (but, as Professor Wilt Idema, now of Harvard, always
lectured me, "This is not Chinese") to David Pollack's' "kana-majiri
souroubun no kanbun" of later ages. In between there are such diaries as
Joan Piggott's "Teishinkou ki" but also Heian and Kamakura legal texts
and other documents (komonjo). All these texts are 'kanbun', but some are
more kanbun than others, so to speak.
The reason why Japanese textbooks that call themselves "Introduction to
kanbun" (Kanbun nyuumon, or whatever) deal with proper Chinese (i.e.,
Mencius, etc.) is of course the old kokugaku heritage that has led modern
Japanese academia in the late nineteenth century to define fields of
study in which 'kanbun' meant "texts from China" and 'kokugaku' meant
"texts in Japanese," leaving Japanese kanbun to more or disappear in the
mist of time.
My experiences are basically limited to Heian and early Kamakura kanbun,
specifically poetry (kanshi) and diaries (kanbun nikki). As for the
poetry, I certainly benefited tremendously from first having learnt
wenyan. Even so, Japanese kanshi are littered with expressions that you
can only understand when having learnt classical Japanese. The problem
with kanshi usually isn't the grammar, but the words. As for the kanbun
nikki, well that took much longer and knowledge of wenyan wasn't always
helpful. The comparison with the neo-Latin of the medieval and
renaissance Europe has often been made in this respect. On the side, it
would have been helpful had someone explained to me early on the use of
kanji such as REI and SHOKU in passive constructions, etc.
In a private e-mail message Peter Kornicki pointed out that most people
will learn their kanbun (in whatever form) by being "apprenticed to a
Japanese chuuseishi man who will teach you what he learnt - but the
reading traditions vary from gakubatsu to gakubatsu, with consequent
implications for the rendering!" (sorry to be quoting you like this,
Peter.) This is an important point and it underlines that fact that there
is no one 'correct' way of learning kanbun and helps explain why there
can be so many 'wrong' interpretations of texts.
Concretely, students and teachers alike must ask themselves what it is
they want to learn when they set out to study 'kanbun'. If it is reading
texts from China, I agree with Wayne Farris: learn wenyan, not kanbun.
Most "kanbun nyuumon" books are not really going to help you here,
because they are meant to learn Japanese students how to read wenyan. The
only benefit is that it becomes easier to communicate with Japanese
colleagues (when I first arrive dat Todai, wenyan readings didn't help me
much in asking questions). However, if you want to tackle Japanese kanbun
texts, you will have to change tracks and acquaint yourself with the
Japanese idiosyncrasies.
After having published the "Teishinkou ki" translation, perhaps the
Cornell & Yale Kambun workshop might consider producing a new kanbun
grammar? A tall order, I know, but everyone would be ever so grateful...
Best wishes,
Ivo Smits
From: "Rein Raud" <...n.r...@...l.ee>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 17:59:51 +0300
Subject: Re: Kanbun
I think we all agree that there are languages called Classical Chinese,
Greek and Latin, the standards of which might be clearly defined, say, by
Confucius or Han Yu, Euripides and Horatius, and that then there are authors
like the Japanese authors, or St.Paul and Erasmus. As long as it is
permissible to speak about medieval Latin and New Testament Greek, I find no
problem in speaking about kanbun. There are many manuals of the
non-classical versions of Greek and Latin, for the obvious historical
reasons, as also there are people who need to read the New
Testament, but are not very interested in Homer or Sappho. Then there are
also
people who need to read the Chinese written by the Japanese. Nobody has said
it is a different language, but mere classical Chinese does not always carry
you through. Admittedly it is trickier when a certain amount of literary
competence in the classical literature is necessary for understanding the
text. Perhaps we should just agree that clear national boundaries are not
useful for describing the historical linguistic realities of the region?
Rein Raud
From: wfarris <...r...@....edu>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 19:41:56 -0400
Subject: kanbun
Dear all,
I think I agree mostly with Rein. His last point is the one I was
trying to make.
And it makes perfect sense to read many articles of the RITSURYOO,
passages from the RIKKOKU SHI, and laws from the RUIJU SANDAI KYAKU in
classical Chinese. In fact, as I wrote earlier, in some cases the Japanese
kanbun markings are WRONG--make no sense. Also, kanbun handles many aspects
of the language found in the above-mentioned texts very awkwardly--like
ignoring or misunderstanding them.
But I wonder if the situation is akin to that in Western Europe after
the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. There is an influx of peoples trying
to be literate, but they're not Ciceros. So one gets messed-up classical
Chinese. There are cases of this, too. But as for the three texts I cited
above, they were all written at court by literate and learned persons and
scribes, who knew their classical Chinese. It's no secret how they composed
these texts, but I wonder how they read them.
And in mokkan, there are lots of examples of "practicing" with the
1000-Character classic, but I don't think that there are any indications of
kanbun readings. Again, one may get "messed up classical Chinese" that
clearly indicates an ancient Japanese speaker, but that's to be expected.
Where is David Lurie when we need him?
Best wishes,
Wayne Farris
From: David Lurie <...idlu...@...oo.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 19:45:44 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: kanbun
I wish I had time to write more extensively about these issues, in which I am deeply interested, but at this point I am unable to do more than briefly
summarize my thoughts about 'kanbun' and the reading/writing of 'literary Chinese.' I am just now struggling to finish a dissertation that deals with
these problems at length....
I think there are two separate issues intertwined in the discussion so far: the pedagogical problem of how to learn to read premodern East Asian texts (I include training oneself in this category), and the historical problem of how those texts were written and read in earlier periods. About the former I little to say other than that I don't think it is a matter of choosing between 'wenyan' and 'kanbun,' even when studying texts that originate in China. As previous participants in this discussion have pointed out, without training in the former, it is difficult to understand many points of grammar and usage, and also very hard to communicate with China specialists outside of Japan, but without the latter, one does not have full access to tremendously valuable Japanese references and editions, and one cannot communicate with Japanese scholars. It goes without saying that when studying texts that originated in Japan, one needs to be aware of kanbun reading techniques, even if particular 'orthodox' texts are far easier to read and understand if one has wenyan training (of course, as has been pointed out several times already, there are also a great many usages and textual styles that _cannot_ be read without knowlege of kanbun, such as the sorobun epistolary style that initiated this discussion).
Concerning the latter, historical issue of earlier reading and writing practices, I believe that we must abandon a firm linguistic distinction between 'Chinese' wenyan and 'Japanese' kanbun. (I will limit myself to early Japanese textuality here, but I believe that most of my argument applies to reading and writing practices up to the 19th century.) Concrete evidence in the form of mokkan and epigraphic material shows that from the mid-7th century on, texts were being read and composed 'in Japanese' by means of the technique of kundoku. (Put very briefly, kundoku involves making connections between characters and Japanese words with meanings similar to those of the Chinese words that were originally associated with the characters, and then rearranging the order of those characters to fit Japanese grammar.) In some cases, the syntax of particular domestic inscriptions clearly illustrates this process, through, for example, the use of the Japanese object-verb order rather than the Chinese verb-object order. However, kundoku involves semantic and syntactic transformations of the text that are mental and vocal, and therefore not necessarily expressed in material form. (The practice of recording kundoku readings with _kunten_ diacritic marks and phonographic characters does not appear until the early Heian period.) This means that _any_ piece of writing, even the Analects, was subject to reading via kundoku, and therefore could become a 'Japanese' text. Of course, there was the alternate reading method of ondoku, which depending on the quality of one's pronunciation could approach 'Chinese' reading, but I suspect that even among highly literate individuals, ondoku played a largely supplementary role. Students who studied with 'pronunciation professors' [_on hakase_] at the state university did so not in order to learn how to _read_, but rather to learn how to compose rhymed poetry and consult reference works organized by rhyme. As in later ages, reading of 'Chinese' poetry is likely to have involved the double procedure of ondoku (for rhymes and meter) and kundoku (for comprehension). But in prose works, and most certainly in non-literary texts like mokkan or paper documents, all signs point to kundoku being the primary, and often unaccompanied, method of reading and writing. Passages from the Rikkokushi and other early texts that are consistent with literary Chinese usage are thus not necessarily written 'in Chinese.' (Of course, this is a historical problem; I am not taking sides in the pedagogical question of how we moderns should best read them.) In the 7th and 8th century, one finds a wide variety of written styles among domestic and imported texts. Leaving aside the use of phonograph characters to write primarily poetic texts (as in much of the Man'yoshu), most of these styles were governed by kundoku reading and writing techniques, and thus demonstrate an unexpected potential for linguistic homogeneity. Rather than see some of these texts as 'Chinese' and some as 'Japanese,' it is better to see them as exhibiting varying degrees of _written_ consistency with the _written_ norms of character usage and combination that are found in literary Chinese texts. The parallel of Latin in medieval Europe is an oft-cited and very provocative one, but in relying on it we risk missing one of the central elements of the history of Japanese textuality. In Europe, alphabetic writing ensures that the emergence of the vernacular (or its influence in the form of 'bad Latin') is immediately apparent. In Japan as well, a variety of practices traditionally categorized as hentai (non-standard) kanbun play a similar role, but the widespread use of kundoku means that vernacular reading and writing could also co-exist, invisibly, with orthodox written texts.
David Lurie
From: Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 11:23:31 +0900
Subject: new members
Let me take advantage of the weekend quiet to welcome new members Andrew
Goble, Toshiko Yokota, Christopher Baskind, and Sakurako Handa.
Andrew Goble <.....@...gon.uoregon.edu>
Head, Department of Religious Studies, Associate Professor of Japanese
History, University of Oregon.
* Kenmu: Go-Daigo's revolution. Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard
University, 1996. (Harvard East Asian monographs 169)
Toshiko Yokota <...k...@....edu>
I filed my dissertation "Buson as Bunjin: The Literary Field of
Eighteenth-Century Japan" last summer. Currently I teach modern Japanese at
University of California, Irvine.
Christopher Baskind <...i...@....com>
I'm part of a small circle of writers attempting to compose tanka in
English. We've been researching on our own for the better part of a year,
but lack strong connections to the academic community. Such ties would
deepen our understanding of the tradition we're attempting to embrace. We
run a pair of mailing lists. Our primary community is called Mountain-Home,
and its archives are open. I would be very pleased if you'd have a look, by
way of introduction:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mountain-Home
Sakurako Handa <......@...nceton.edu>
I am a fifth-year graduate student in the East Asian Studies Dept. at
Princeton University, focusing on Early Modern Japanese History. I am
working with Prof. David Howell on a dissertation concerning urban society
and urban life in 19th Century Osaka. While doing my research in Osaka, I
was affiliated with Osaka City University and Prof. Tsukada Takashi's
kinsei-shi graduate seminar. The materials for my research range from
documents generated at the level of urban neighborhoods (such as the
population registers and mizucho) to kabu-nakama documents, municipal
decrees, diaries, leaflets, travelogues. While my work is still in process,
I am envisioning a complex portrait of pre-Restoration Osaka, from the
perspective of urban commoners and the different levels at which they
related to urban life... the neighborhood, social relationships and
networks generated by commerce, vis a vis the city magistrate, and the
'idea' of the city of Osaka generated in the sphere of shared information,
knowledge, and culture. I look forward to participating in the PMJS
discussions.
* (Lest you miss it, let me also call your attention to today's "pmjs
footer" concerning a recently discovered Muromachi manuscript of Genji
monogatari.)
Muromachi manuscript of Genji monogatari discovered.
http://www.asahi.com/culture/update/0413/004.html
Complete fascimile online
http://www.lib.tais.ac.jp/genji/
From: Laurel Rasplica Rodd <....@...t.colorado.edu>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:14:55 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: Call for Papers CUEAGA 4th Annual Conference
With apologies for cross-posting:
---------------------------------------------------
Call For Papers
4th Annual
Cueaga Conference 2001
Creating Culture
The University of Colorado East Asian Graduate Association (CUEAGA) is proud
to announce our 4th Annual CUEAGA Graduate student Conference, +ACI-Creating
Culture.+ACI- The Conference will be held on the campus of the University of
Colorado in Boulder and will be held Friday, October 26 through Sunday,
October 28, 2001.
This conference will explore the definition of +ACI-culture+ACI- and what is
meant by +ACI-creating culture+ACI- in pre-modern and modern China and Japan. We welcome submissions on any topic relating to culture and the creation of it in China or Japan from graduate students in any discipline. Topics suggestions include, but are not limited to the role of literature, printing, history, religion, art, ritual, linguistics, politics, gender studies, technology,
material culture, music or pedagogy in the making of culture in China or
Japan.
All presentations of papers should be no longer than 20 minutes (about 8-10
pages, 11 point, double-spaced). Abstracts should be lo longer than 2 pages,
and are due by May 31, 2001. Abstracts may be submitted by email (preferred), fax or post to:
CUEAGA Conference 2001
C/O Sean Hamlin
email: sean.hamlin+AEA-colorado.edu
University of Colorado
fax: (303)-492-7272
Dept. OF EALC
Ph: (303) 735-4137 / (303) 492-0432
CB 279, Humn 240
Boulder, CO 80309-279
The Annual CUEAGA Conference strives to provide a supportive environment for
graduate students of all disciplines to meet and present original research
on China and Japan.
From: "Gregory Pflugfelder" <.....@...umbia.edu>
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 11:43:55 -0400
Subject: Animals/History/Japan
An updated program for the "Animals / History / Japan" symposium at Columbia
University follows. This event will take place on Saturday, April 21, 2001,
in 403 Kent Hall (corner of West 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue). The
symposium is co-sponsored by the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture and
the East Asian Institute Weatherhead Program Development Fund. All are
welcome to attend. For further information, please contact the Donald Keene
Center (donald-keene-cen...@...umbia.edu;
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/dkc; 212-854-5036).
OPENING REMARKS
9:15 - 9:30 AM
Greg Pflugfelder (Columbia University)
MORNING PANEL
"NOAH'S ARCHIPELAGO"
9:30 -11:45 AM
Grateful Animals, Inferior Beasts: Buddhist Ongaeshi Tales and Changing
Conceptions of the Animal in Early Japan
Hoyt Long (University of Michigan)
Swift Horses of Nukanobu: Three Approaches
Alexander Bay (Stanford University)
Fabled Liaisons: Serpentine Mates in Japanese Folktales (And What They Can
or Cannot Tell Us about Human Relationships)
Ria Koopmans-de Bruijn (Columbia University)
Feathered Friends: Japanese Demand for Exotic Birds in the Eighteenth
Century
Martha Chaiklin (University of Alabama)
Creating Canis Lupus: Discourse and Discontinuity in Japanese Wolf Taxonomy
Brett Walker (Montana State University)
Discussants:
Conrad Totman (Yale University)
Richard Bulliet (Columbia University)
AFTERNOON PANEL
"CREATURES OF MODERNITY"
1:30 - 3:45 PM
The Ambivalence of Whaling: Formation of a Japanese International Identity
Jessamyn Abel (Columbia University)
Meiji Metamorphosis: The Insect Literature of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904)
David Lurie (Columbia University; this paper will be read by Greg
Pflugfelder)
Menageries of Modernity: A History of Ueno Zoo, 1866-1924"
Ian Miller (Columbia University)
Fascism's Furry Friends?: Dogs, National Identity, and Racial Purity in
1930s Japan
Aaron Skabelund (Columbia University)
Discussants:
Brett Walker (Montana State University)
Kathleen Kete (Trinity College)
From: Maria Chiara Migliore <...igli...@...ero.it>
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 12:00:35 +0200
Subject: kanbun
I've been dealing with Kanbun and Nihon no kanbun since many years, by now,
and the discussion going on about this subject has, of course, attracted all my attention and induced me to write here.
I'll concentrate first on hentai kanbun.
When I started studing Ritsuryo, I asked the opinion of classical Chinese (literature) experts on the language used, and all answered me that it was not Chinese. But then, when I compared the Chinese Luling, I realized that the language of Ritsuryo had just been taken by Chinese Luling. Putting aside all cultural implications of the question, I'll concentrate only on the problem of the language. I do not thinnk that we can speak of hentai kanbun in the case of Ritsuryo, Kyaku, Shiki, etc. I would like to speak instead of a 'bureaucratic' or 'legal' Chinese, that is a particular language used in particular cases, i.e., codes and statutes, and the following legal activity, in China as in Japan (and maybe Corea and beyond, if only we had texts remained!). Anyway, even in our days legal texts - or technical text in general - are written in a non-orthodox language. This kind of technical Chinese can be found also in documents (komonjo), which are formed, in some parts, by formulas (it is true that the language of the content of the document differs according to periods and 'styles [shiki]' of documents, while the drawing up of laws is much more uniform. But this is another thing, again.) So, let say that hentai kanbun is the definition for a language used in officials' diaries - kanbun nikki of Heian and Kamakura periods (definition which I do not want to discuss, now). But then, the amount of works written in hentai kanbun is very limited, if compared with the huge number of works written in Chinese. Moreover, it seems that what is left, today, is only the 10% of the production in Chinese language. And there is no doubt that it IS Chinese, in some cases perfectly mastered. When I was a student, a 2 year Classic Chinese Course was very useful to me, and I recommend it to any student interested in pre-modern Japan. We cannot ignore anymore the great importance of China in Japanese culture and the knowledge of classical Chinese language and literature should be a must for all students, and not only for those interested in Nihon no kanbun. As for the problem of a manual of Nihon no kanbun, it should be a manual of 'styles' (since the grammar is Chinese), and I am eager to see the book of Hiraga Noboru (many thanks to Pollack and Tonomura). As for Japanese reading of Chinese, which many of us did and will have to do in Japan, well, why not, it can be an exercise anyway. I found Prof Goto Haruo (Kyodai) lessons very well done.
----------
From: Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 20:40:29 +0900
Subject: Re: kanbun
I'm glad to see another mention of _ Readings in Japanese History and
Literature_ by Hiraga Noboru. As Tomi Tonomura suggested, I wrote to his
daughter Yoko Colpitts <...onm...@...st.net> asking for more information to
pass on to this list, and have just received the following answer:
> Thank you for your offer. I just returned from vacation and found several
> requests for my father's book. I appreciate your offer and would like to pass
> on the following information:
>
> My father's book is a two-volume set which originally sold for 6000 yen. My
> mother has several copies in Seattle, enough even for a few classroom sets.
>
> Within the United States, they are $45 US/set plus $7 postage and handling for
> a total of $52.
> To Europe, they are $45 plus $12 postage and handling for a total of $57.
> My mother has some copies in Japan and can have them sent from her source
> there. They should arrive in a more timely manner and we assume will be more
> economical. Again, they would be $45 US plus appropriate postage and handling
> (we're not quite sure of that amount).
>
> Interested parties are welcome to e-mail me with complete addresses or they
> may contact my mother directly. She does not have e-mail.
>
> Shyoko Hiraga
> 18741 - 62nd Ave. N. E.
> Kenmore, WA 98028
> USA
>
> phone: 425-485-9238
>
> Thank you for including this information in your mailing list.
To remind you, David Pollack introduced the work as follows:
> I have the two-volume "Readings in Japanese History and Literature"
> (Nihonshi shiryo senshu), edited and published from notes used by Noburu
> Hiraga (1922-1984) in his course in "Documentary Japanese" at the
> University of Washington, where he taught 1961-1983. The first volume
> comprises numerous handwritten examples selected from a wide variety of
> texts, while the second volume is an annotated glossary of terms and
> usage (in Japanese) for each passage. The texts volume begins with the
> Chinese Wei Zhi "Treatise on Yamatai" and moves on through selections
> from every style and period, from the Kojiki all the way up to Meiji and
> even two pieces from the Taisho press ("Rice Riots Spread," Asahi
> Shinbun 1918, and "Japan and the Restoration of Peace," Jiji
> Shinpo, 1920).
Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
----------
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <...ya...@....bekkoame.ne.jp>
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 11:52:09 +0900
Subject: Versus volume on Japan
I am glad to announce the publication of a new issue of the Italian journal
of semiotic studies "VS" ["Versus"] (83/84: maggio-dicembre 1999) devoted
to the theme "Reconfiguring Cultural Semiotics: The Construction of
Japanese", edited by Fabio Rambelli and Patrizia Violi.
Table of Contents:
Fabio Rambelli and Patrizia Violi, Introduction: Semiotics and Japan
Fabio Rambell, The Empire and the Signs: Semiotics, Cultural Identity
and Ideology in Japanese History
Iyanaga Nobumi, Daakinii et l'Empereur. Mystique bouddhique de la
royaut'e dans le Japon m'edi'eval
Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan, Illuminating the Illuminator: Notes on a Votive
Transcription of the Supreme Scripture of the Golden Light
Kido Toshiroo, A Circle and a Square: Performance ans Setting
in Bugaku
Yamaguchi Masao, Nature and Culture in the Fudoki
Nakazawa Shin'ichi, Merveilleuse halieutique baleini`ere japonaise
d'antan!
Ochiai Kazuyasu, Japanese and Mexicans in Hollywood Eyes: Race,
Gender and Power among Cultures
Alessandro Gomarasca Youth, Crisis and Display: the Rhetoric in
Shinjinruin
in Contemporary Japan
Michael F. Marra ,Japan's Missing Alternative: "Weak Thought" and the
Hermeneutics of Slimness
Patrizia Violi, A Semiotics of Non-Ordinary Experience
VS Notizie Segnalazioni e recensioni
ISBN 88-451-7699-1
Exclusive distribution outside Italy:
Brepolis Publishers
Steenweg op Tielen 68, B-2300 Turnhout, Belgium
Tel. 32-14-40 25 00
Fax 32-14-42 89 19
[I shall send this message to PMJS mailing list and Budschol mailing list.]
From: "Alexander R. Bay" <...e...@...and.stanford.edu>
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 08:38:56 -0700
Subject: Animals/History/Japan
Greg-
Thanks for putting on, and inviting me to a great conference. I had a very
enlightening time meeting with all of the panelists and the discussants.
Hopefully this will be the first giant step into new lines of inquiry into
Japanese history.
take care
Alex
From: "Johannes H. Wilhelm" <...annes.wilh...@...-bonn.de>
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:01:00 +0200
Subject: 4th International Conference on Okinawan Studies: Call for
Papers
The 4th International Conference on Okinawan Studies will be held September
27/28, 2001 at the University of Bonn / Germany hosted by the Research
Center for Modern Japan, the Institute for Japanese Studies in cooperation
with the Organizing committee for the International Symposium on Okinawa
Studies.
Sections on History, Archaeology, Linguistics, Literature and Performing
Arts, Cultural Anthropology, Ethnology and Folklore, Arts and Crafts,
Sociology, Natural Sciences. No fees for the conference are charged. Papers
(20 minutes) in English or Japanese are invited (deadline for abstracts is
June 15th, 2001). Performances by leading artists of classical Okinawan
dance and music in Cologne (27th) and Bonn (28th).
For further information please contact the Bureau of the 4th International
Conference on Okinawan Studies, c/o Josef Kreiner and Johannes Wilhelm,
Japanologisches Seminar der Universitaet Bonn, Regina-Pacis-Weg 7, 53113
Bonn/Germany, Tel: +49(0)228-73-7223, Fax: +49(0)228-73-5054,
okinawa-confere...@...-bonn.de or visit our website at
http://www.okinawa-conference.uni-bonn.de Hotel reservation at
http://www.carisma-engine.de/Search/Hotel/searchBHotel.asp?lang=EN or at the
Tourist-Information, Windeckstraße 1, 53103 Bonn/Germany, Tel:
+49(0)228-7750-00, Fax: +49(0)228-7750-77, bonninformat...@...n.de
_________________________________________________
Johannes H. Wilhelm
Institute of Japanese Studies
University of Bonn
Regina-Pacis-Weg 7, 53113 Bonn / Germany
Tel.: +49-(0)228-73-9698, Fax: +49-(0)228-73-5054
e-mail: johannes.wilh...@...-bonn.de
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~upp912/Index.html
From: Michael Watson <......@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:21:38 +0900
Subject: A Symposium in Honor of Jeff Mass
"Reconstructing Medieval Japan: A Symposium in Honor of Jeff Mass"
Presentations by Former Students and Colleagues of Jeff Mass.
Saturday May 5, 2001
9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
A/P Scholars Room
3rd Floor, Encina Hall
Stanford University
*Introductory Remarks: Cameron Hurst
*Joan Piggott, "On Beyond Sh u: Thoughts on Palace and Kingship at
Heiankyo"
*Mikael S. Adolphson, "Benkei's Ancestors: The Monk-Warrior(s) of Heian
Japan"
*Karl Friday, "What a Difference a Bow Makes: Chivalry and the Early Samurai
Ethos in Comparative Perspective"
*Bruce Batten, "An Open and Shut Case?: Some Thoughts on Foreign Trade in
Late Heian Japan"
*Ethan Segal, "Mongol Invaders and Medieval Identity: A Critique of Writings
on Nationalism"
*Thomas Nelson, "Japanese Merchants and Mercenaries in Seventeenth Century
Siam"
*Hitomi Tonomura, "A Woman Who Visited Kamakura"
*Thomas Conlan, "From Sovereign to Symbol: A Liturgy of Legitimation in
Fourteenth Century Japan"
*Andrew Goble, "Uncovering Medieval Medicine: Sources, Approaches,
Discoveries"
*Tom Keirstead, "The New Medievalism and Japan"
*Martin Collcutt, "Re-writing Medieval Japan: Jeff's Legacy and Ours"
*Paul Varley, "The State of the Field of Medieval Japanese Studies"
*Closing Remarks: Gordon Berger
Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, the Department of
History, and the Japan Fund of the Institute for International
Studies.
**************
Sujatha Meegama <...eg...@...nford.edu>
Program Assistant
Center for East Asian Studies
Stanford University
From: "Thomas McAuley" <....McAu...@...ffield.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 16:07:48 +0100
Subject: Japan 2001 Waka Website
The 2001 _Waka_ for Japan 2001 web site is now on-line and can be
accessed at:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/japan2001/
Created as part of the celebrations for the JAPAN 2001 festival, the site
allows visitors to register themselves on a mailing list to receive daily
postings of _waka_ poetry romanised and translated into English, with the
first posting to the mailing list to be made on 30 April 2001. At the end of
each week, the poems circulated on the mailing list will be added to the web
site in vernacular, romanised and translated form, building up to a collection of 2001 poems by the end of the JAPAN 2001 festival in 2002.
The series will begin with poems from the earliest periods: songs from the
_Kojiki_, _nagauta_ and _tanka_ from the _Man'yooshuu_, followed by
poems from the _Kokinshuu_ and other imperial anthologies, and finally
_haiku_.
In addition to the poems and translations, articles, essays and other
materials will gradually be added to the site over the course of the year.
These will support and extend site visitors' understanding of _waka_, with
the aim of developing an educational resource for use both by students studying
_waka_ and those who are simply curious and wish to know more about the
subject.
Please visit the site and sign up to the mailing list if interested.
Thomas McAuley
School of East Asian Studies
University of Sheffield
Floor 5, Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TN
Tel: (0114) 222-8413
Fax: (0114) 222-8432
Email: T.E.McAu...@...ffield.ac.uk
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