pmjs logs for July 2003. Total number of messages: 39
* poisoned wit (Lewis Cook)
* Poisons "Sino-Iranica" Rhubarb (Thomas Howell, Rokuo Tanaka)
* Michinaga on Sundays (Richard Bowring, Michael Watson, Tony Bryant, William Bodiford, Niels Guelberg, Todd Brown, Karel Fiala, David Pollack, Hitomi Tonomura)
* Buddhist hermeneutics and Kokinshuu (Thomas Howell, Niels Guelberg)
* member news: [new members] Puck Brecher, Patricia Fister, Robert Jay Gould, Yukiko Hanawa, Horikawa Takashi, Imazeki Toshiko, Georgia Jarrett, Jinno Hidenori, Kanechiku Nobuyuki, Kido Kuniko, Tamah Nakamura, Nakamura Yasuo, Kendal Korach Parker, Robert B. Rama, Sakurai Yoko, Sato Nobuko, Suzuki Yasue, and J. Marshall Unger.
* poisons in Heian (Lawrence Marceau)
* Nisus Writer Express released, and new page on migrating to Unicode environment [Mac] (Nobumi Iyanaga)
* Kyoto Lectures: talk by Joan Piggott on July 23 (Roberta Stripolli)
* Daruma and Tea (Gabi Greve.
* Bizen Kakeizu (Chris Isherwood, Mary Louise Nagata)
* Onomastics, anyone? (Anthony J. Bryant)
* Miwa shrine (Noel Pinnington)
* Sayonara sale/give away (Hitomi Tonomura)
* Naming and the Court / Heian naming/genealogy (Michael Jamentz, Anthony J. Bryant, Robert Leutner)
* The color purple (John Dougill, Cynthea Bogel)
* Position Announcements: Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
* Position Announcement - University of California, Riverside.
* Position Announcement - Cornell
For proper names and technical terms you may find it helpful to refer to the translation in the Japanese-language digests (index). The pmjs editors would be grateful for any comments and corrections.
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 01:05:55 -0400
From: "Lewis Cook" <lc...@...thlink.net>
Subject: Re: poisoned wit
David Pollack writes:
Apparently humor does not play well on the internet.
Either you are joking, or you mean irony doesn't play well in e-messages to discussion groups. (Latter is widely attested and has even been demonstrated here on pmjs.....)
Lewis Cook
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 08:32:35 +0100
From: Richard Bowring <rb...@...mes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Michinaga on Sundays
I had always assumed that the concept of a week was new to Japan and came in
the modern period but (as with my earlier gaff with hototogisu qua cuckoo)
perhaps I am mistaken. Michinaga on Sundays? Never.
Richard Bowring
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 18:12:53 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
Just as we don't translate old calendar names as "January, February" etc., names like "Sunday" should perhaps be avoided in translating the titles in the Yin-Yang calendar known as shichi-you 七曜.
Michael Watson
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 10:58:17 +0100
From: Richard Bowring <rb...@...mes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
Michael is of course quite right to point out that a seven day system of
sorts did exist, part of the Sukuyoudou brought in from China in the early
Heian and marked in guchuureki calendars. It is assumed that this had its
roots in the Jewish seven day cycle, but does anyone know whether it would
have acted for Michinaga et al. as a 'week'? And was a seven day cycle ever
used as a 'week' in subsequent periods?
Richard Bowring
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 20:42:59 +0900
From: "Bodart-Bailey" <bod...@...uma.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: poison
Since nobody has referred to it, let me just mention one of the most
available traditional poisons in Japan, the intestines of the fugu fish. But
even that on one occasion turned into a cure, according to Kaempfer.
(_Kaempfer's Japan_, pp. 78-79).
Beatrice Bodart-Bailey
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 11:53:53 -0500
From: "Anthony J. Bryant" <ajbry...@...iana.edu>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
Richard Bowring wrote:
Michael is of course quite right to point out that a seven day system of
sorts did exist, part of the Sukuyoudou brought in from China in the early
Heian and marked in guchuureki calendars. It is assumed that this had its
roots in the Jewish seven day cycle, but does anyone know whether it would
have acted for Michinaga et al. as a 'week'? And was a seven day cycle ever
used as a 'week' in subsequent periods?
This is something that's always troubled me.
I have long been under the impression that the month was roughly broken down
into 10-day periods, but that really doesn't fit the lunar calendar too well.
I'm aware that there are some traditions that indicate a "divisible by seven"
factor (e.g., the 49-day observation of death), but is that evidence of a
seven-day week? In the otogizoshi I translated for my thesis, there are
several dates indicated but they are all based on a position within the month
rather than within a week (e.g., not unlike the way the Romans used "ides").
I used to have something here on that... I'll see what I can dig up.
Tony
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 10:47:46 -0700
From: William Bodiford <bodif...@...a.edu>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
At 2003-07-01, Richard Bowring wrote:
Michael is of course quite right to point out that a seven day system of
sorts did exist, part of the Sukuyoudou brought in from China in the early
Heian and marked in guchuureki calendars. It is assumed that this had its
roots in the Jewish seven day cycle,
Assumed by whom? There are seven major heavenly bodies visible with the naked eye (sun, moon, + five planets). These seven heavenly forces play major roles in the folklore, mythology, and cosmology of all practically all peoples throughout the world. There is no need to assume a common origin. The precise system of assigned names and sequence as found in Buddhist scriptures, on the other hand, most like resulted from contacts between India and Greek culture. The Greek system, in turn, has roots in the shared culture of the ancient world, beginning with Babylon. It is important to note also that Buddhist scriptures are not in agreement on which "you" begins the week nor their exact sequence. Using modern terminology, the days of the week according to Buddhist scriptures range as follows:
(1) Sun., Mon., Tues., Thurs., Sat., Fri., Weds.
(2) Fri., Thurs., Sat., Wed., Tues., Sun., Mon.
(3) Sun., Mon., Tues., Weds., Thurs., Fri., Sat.
(4) Sun., Mon., Fri., Thurs., Sat., Tues., Weds.,
(5) Mon., Sun., Fri., Thurs., Sat., Tues. Weds.
(6) Thurs., Tues., Sat., Fri., Weds., Sun., Mon.
(7) Sun., Mon., Tues., Thurs. Sat., Weds. Fri.
but does anyone know whether it would
have acted for Michinaga et al. as a 'week'? And was a seven day cycle ever
used as a 'week' in subsequent periods?
The days of each Japanese lunar moons were organized according to a six-day cycle of six "you" (the "roku you sei") so that each moon would have 5 repetitions of these 6 days. The system of names and their significance changed over time as various new methods of astrology were introduced. While there can be no doubt that the astrological omens associated with each day (you) were very important, most scholars dismiss out of hand any suggestion that premodern Japanese observed something comparable to a "week" of days. (I do not know how they can be so sure.)
The best source I know for information on the Japanese calendar in use for any particular date, is:
O^tani Mitsuo et al., editors. 1992-1995. Nihon rekijitsu so^ran (English Title: The Japanese Luni-Solar Calendar.) 20 vols. Tokyo: Hon-no-Tomosha, 1992-1995.
Library of Congress Call Number: CE15 .N556
These 20 volumes contain conversion charts for every day of every year from 501 to 1500. They provide the following kinds of information for each day: era designation (nengo); cycle of 60 celestial stems and branches (i.e., asterisms) for that year; lunar month (identified as lesser or greater or intercalated); cycle of 60 stems and branches for that lunar month; lunar day; cycle of 60 stems and branches for that day; gods governing that day; lucky and unlucky directions for that day; that day's "you" (i.e., days of the week); the Japanese solar seasons; the solar day; celestial events; corresponding dates according to well-known private calendars; corresponding date according to the European Julian calendar and according to the European Gregorian calendar; as well as detailed Chinese astrological data. The detailed information in these charts enable one to determine the entire system of fortune-telling associations that governed which days were to be feared and which ones were to be celebrated and why. As detailed as they are, even these references must be used with some caution since many private calendars and many variant systems of astrology existed in addition to the official ones.
I hope this is helpful.
_______________
William Bodiford (bodif...@...a.edu)
Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures
290 Royce Hall; Box 951540
UCLA
Los Angeles CA 90095-1540
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 14:26:50 -1000 (HST)
From: Rokuo Tanaka <ro...@...aii.edu>
Subject: Re: Poisons "Sino-Iranica" Rhubarb
I have ruffled the pages of Berthold Laufer's "Sino-Iranica: Chinese
Contribution to the History of Civilization in Ancient Iran With Special
Reference to the History of Cultivated Plants and Products" (Field
Museums of Natural History, Publication 201, Anthropological Series Vol.
XV, No.3, pp. 185-621) dated Chicago 1919.
One Chapter 'Irano-Sinica-Rhubarb' has caught my attention. Laufer claims
the Chinese know rhubarb only by the composite name 'ta hwan' ("the great
yellow one") or 'hwan lian' ("the yellow good one"). He asserts "The
Alleged mention of rhubarb in the Pen kin or Pen tsao, attributed to the
mythical Emperor Sen-nun, proves nothing; that work is entirely spurious,
and the text in which we have it at present is a reconstruction based on
quotations in the preserved Pen-tsao literature, and teems with
interpolations and anachronisms."
To this sentence, Laufer adds a footnote "It is suspicious that, according to
Wu Pu of the third century, Sen Nun and Lei Kun ascirbed poisonous properties
to 'ta hwan', while this in fact is not true. The Pen kin (according to
others, the Pie lu) states that it is non-poisonous."
The Chinese encyclopedias and dictionaries, "Tai ping yu lan" (vol.4, book
992, p.4391, 1963 ed) and "Chung-kuo ta pai ko chuan shu" (vol. 40,
pt.1 p.192, 1980 ed), mention 'ta hwan' as non-poisonous, medicinal
properties.
Rokuo Tanaka
Pen-tsao attributed to Emperor Sen-nun --> 『神農本草経』 --pmjs eds.
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 18:30:49 -0700
From: Thomas Howell <thowel...@...thlink.net>
Subject: Re: Poisons "Sino-Iranica" " Rhubarb
Hi Ingrid and all,
Rokuo Tanaka's post reminded me that the Pen Ts'ao is quoted in the early Japanese dictionary Wamyou ruijuu shoo . For instance, in an entry I happened to translate in the past:
酢 [vinegar]--The Pen Tsao says "酢酒. Taste is sour, but mild, not poisonous." The on pronunciation of 酢 is s-u, also written as 醋, su...T'ao yin ji says, "in the colloquial (俗呼) it is 苦酒." Now, note that in dialect 鄙語 vinegar is called 'karazake'--the same type of thing.
My note on this work at the time was : The Pen Ts'ao is a reference work on herbs and medicines (Morohashi Vol. 6: 29), probably from the latter Han period, much annotated by later scholars, including the Liao scholar T'ao Hung-ching (here referred to as T'ao yin ji).
I do not know what to make of Laufer's opinion of the Pen ts'ao, but in any case, it strikes me the Wamyou ruijuu shoo (and other early dictionaries) would be an excellent place to search for references to poison, in the sections on foodstuffs and vegetation. I don't have a copy of it on hand to skim through, so I can't be more helpful than that. It would be fun to follow the line suggested by David Pollack and see if rhubarb is in there.
Of course, references in WRS to poisons might not be proof they were known or used in Japan, could just be something Minamoto Shitagau got from his Chinese sources.
tom
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 17:21:26 -1000 (HST)
From: Rokuo Tanaka <ro...@...aii.edu>
Subject: Re: Poisons "Sino-Iranica
The Materia Medica (Pen Ts'ao), complied and published by Li Shih-chen in
1578, is availble in English entiled "Chinese Medicial Herbs" translated
and researched by F. Porter Smith, M.D., and G.A. Stuart, M.D.
(SF:Georgetown Press, 1973).
Under the entry of RHUBARB, it says RHEUM OFFICINALE< Rheum
palmatum--Ta-huang. This is also called Huang-liang, ("yellow efficacy,"
and Chiang-chun, (Captain-general), both refering to the esteem in which
it is held as a drug. It has been known in China since the time of the
Five Rulers (ca. 3000 B.C.). The Emperor Shennung and Leikung, who is said
to have lived in the reign of the Emperor Huangi, considered the drug to
be poisonous; hence it is classed among the poisons in the Pentsao....
I assume Laufer argues Li Shih-chen's description of the rhubarb,
especially by the fact that the Emperor Shennung (Sen Nun by Laufer, Shin
Noo in Japanese) is a fictitious, legendary emperor but revered as the god
of medicine and agriculture in China.
I shall look into the Wamyoo Ruiji Sho in two vol. which is available at
our library.
Rokuo Tanaka
PS: Many publications of Li Shi-chen's "Pen Ts'ao" (in Chinese, of course)
are also availalble. RT
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 12:16:06 EDT
From: INGP...@....com
Subject: poisons in Heian
Oh, dear, I'm giving a lot of trouble to a lot of nice people. I'm
overwhelmed. Please don't worry unduly. I shall manage. My latest thanks to Rokuo Tanaka and Thomas Howell. I had indeed settled for the rhubarb (rheum officinale) and was a little astonished that it suddenly turned up non-poisonous in one source. Modern internet information lists the leaves as highly poisonous, with symptoms of weakness, burning mouth, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, coma, and seizures. Pretty nasty stuff. However, it was also used as medicine, specifically as a purgative to treat constipation, to treat rheumatic pain, and inflammation of the gastro-intestinal tract. Giving a sick person an overdose seems entirely feasible.
I am much obliged for the reference to the English version of CHINESE
MEDICIAL HERBS.
Thanks again,
Ingrid
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2003 13:00:22 -0400
From: "Pollack" <Poll...@...l.rochester.edu>
Subject: Re: poisons in Heian
We should probably bear in mind that, like the Asian and American
varieties of ginseng, what we call rhubarb and what translates from the
Chinese/Japanese pharmaceuticals with the same term may not function
exactly the same way -- may not in fact even be the same plant. And even
if they are the same, preparation and dosage can make all the difference
-- a little of the pretty comon garden plant foxglove (digitalis purpura)
stimulates the heart, but too much of it can kill. And, like rhubarb,
manioc root also requires careful preparation before it can yield tapioca
pudding rather than death(I think that "purin" falls into the category of
"looks familiar but isn't the same thing," along with omuraisu and
anything that turns out to be filled with anpan).
Now I've got myself wondering if extract of fugu toxin might ever have
been used homeopathically in small doses for any purpose other than to
cause groups of diners to exclaim "waaa, kuchibiru ga shibireru wa!" Can
the ingestion of tiny portions build up a tolerance, as the Borgias were
said to have ingested tiny amounts of arsenic as a prophylaxis against
poisoning by that element?
David Pollack
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 11:53:18 -0700
From: Thomas Howell <thowel...@...thlink.net>
Subject: Re: Buddhist hermeneutics, Kokinshuu
On waka and hermeneutics. I wonder if I might add one general thought in response to what has been raised so far.
It seems to me that it is a mixed blessing for waka, a literary genre, to achieve the status of sacred scripture. Ironically, at the point waka is given this status , the poems themselves become closed off, pushed back into a remote past, the same past in which sutras, bibles or other holy scriptures exist. As sacred text, it can be annotated, explicated, memorized to be used as a protective incantation, or recited as an offering to deities, but, it becomes less possible for these waka to function as a mere poem (I suppose those KKS poems that are given in KKS commentaries as "gi nashi" might still be mere poems). The more waka are apprehended as sacred, the harder it becomes(I imagine) to think of waka poems as being something one composes, or of already existing collections as providing examples to draw from freely. I wonder if using original enlightenment (all texts are equally holy) as a resolution really solves this problem. Even if the waka poet can feel assured that his mind-intent is the Buddha-mind.
A way to illustrate this is to look at Jakuzen's Houmon hyakushuu. Jakuzen (or Jakunen) composed 100 waka, each poem matched with a sutra quotation. He follows the poem with an explanation of the symbolic meaning he intends it to have. I give # 5, the quote, the poem, his explanation:
Sutra quote: The Medicinal Herbs chapter [Lotus Sutra]
The green leaves and scarlet flowers are not dyed, yet they are as they are
Waka
nushi ya tare yanagi no ito wo yorikakete iro iro ni nuu ume no hana-kasa
Who is the owner of these, (or, who are you?)
the one who twined and let dangle the threads of the willow,
the one who wove in them, in many colors,
this cape of plum flowers?
This metaphor appears as one of those that illustrate the various dharma as arising out of themselves. From the plum of early spring to the chrysanthemum withering in the first frost, when we look at the colors of various flowers, they have not been dyed by anyone from outside, nor have they taken on a color that was imbued from inside the tree; rather, according to the appropriate times and seasons, they open up and appear as they are, of themselves. When we think on this, we find the different colors and forms of the many dharmas, are all furnished with wonderous principles (kotowari), and when one investigates and thinks long on what these principles consist of, they somehow become even more interesting than merely looking at their forms. The threads of green willow are said to be dyed and hung to dry by the Weaving Goddess of spring, and the cape of plum flowers is said to be woven by the uguisu, but this is all just a disguise, and in truth the one who wove cannot be determined. For this reason it is explained as the “one color one fragrance Middle Way,” that and nothing more. Green leaves, scarlet flowers, manifest one thing: even though of different colors, they are not the slightest bit different in principle, not only the flowers but all other things, have no agent which made them, but are empty [in form]. [end Jakuzen quote].
One can trace Jakuzen's poetic vocabulary back to KKS poems. In KKS 1081, one of the kami asobu no uta: it says,"Into the twined threads of the green willow, the cape that the uguisu weaves, is of plum flowers."
I see him as using classic waka words and stylistics, while trying to expand the realm of ideas that can be expressed by poems, part of a movement by Saigyo, Shunzei, Teika, etc. For them, the classic texts of waka are not there to be interpreted only, but to be taken apart and reused. Jakuzen's explanation emphasizes the thought processes by which one ascertains the dharma, not the mysteriousness of the poem itself (which is after all his own poem). In contrast, once the KKS becomes a sacred text, it is harder not to be caught up inside it, in a maze of esoteric meanings. To put it simply, the reading of waka overwhelms the writing of waka. This is not a problem with sutras, because no one intends to write sutras themselves, except those who wrote apocrypha. I see the interpretive schema Lewis Cook mentions, that" at the deepest level of profundity the initiate is led (or ejected) back to the surface" as part of the maze, not a way out of it.
I wonder if it would be fair to say that, those who produced the most sophisticated and elaborate commentary on classic waka texts, in their own poetic practice were more likely to turn to renga rather than waka, precisely because of this?
Tom Howell
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2003 20:58:45 -1000 (HST)
From: Rokuo Tanaka <ro...@...aii.edu>
Subject: Re: poisons in Heian
Quick note: I could have added one more reference in my previous message:
Unschuld, Paul U. (Paul Ulrich) "Medicine in China: a history of
pharmaceutics" (Berkeley: UC Press, c1986).
Kenkyuusha's Eng/Jpn dicitonaries translate rhubarb (rheum officinale)
'daiou' ("dai" as big, "ou" as yellow color in kanji) in Japanese.
In this respect, Shoogakkan's "Nihon Kokugo Daijiten" (vol. 12, p.515)
includes 'daiou' and mentions it is recorded in the history of Daianji
Temple (617). This means it was used as medicine even in Nara period.
Rokuo Tanaka
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2003 23:26:39 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: member news
A very belated welcome to eighteen new members of pmjs who joined us in the last month: Puck Brecher, Patricia Fister, Robert Jay Gould, Yukiko Hanawa, Horikawa Takeshi, Imazeki Toshiko, Georgia Jarrett, Jinno Hidenori, Kanechiku Nobuyuki, Kido Kuniko, Tamah Nakamura, Nakamura Yasuo, Kendal Korach Parker, Robert B. Rama, Sakurai Yoko, Sato Nobuko, Suzuki Yasue, and J. Marshall Unger.
Puck Brecher <brec...@....edu>
University of Southern California
I am a Ph.D. candidate at USC researching aesthetics and eccentrism as they pertain to modernization in 18th -20th century Japan.
Patricia Fister <fis...@...hibun.ac.jp>
Associate Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies
I am continuing to do research on women artists of the Edo period. I am
particularly interested in Buddhist nuns who were involved in the creation
of art (sacred and secular) and have been researching works in the
collections of imperial convents in Kyoto and Nara.
Robert Jay Gould <rob...@...-a.or.jp>
Researcher of Japanese Fairy Tales, Youkai, and Kaidan. Working for K.I.A., Kanagawa International Association.
Yukiko Hanawa <y...@....edu>
New York University
I am in the process of organizing a graduate reading course that is will train students in academic Japanese prose.
Horikawa Takashi 堀川貴司 (horik...@...l.ac.jp)
Associate Professor, National Institute of Japanese Literature.
Field of specialty: Japanese kanbun literature, especially in Chusei and Kinsei.
Publication: Shoushou hakkei: shiika to kaiga ni miru nihonka no yousou (Rinsen shoten, 2003)
『瀟湘八景―詩歌と絵画に見る日本化の様相―』臨川書店
http://webcat.nii.ac.jp/cgi-bin/shsproc?id=BA56877994
webpage (Japanese only):
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/~horikawa/horikawa.htm
Imazeki Toshiko 今関敏子<tima...@...u.ac.jp>
Kawamura Gakuen Woman's University
Chusei nikki, monogatari
Georgia Jarrett <georgiajarr...@...mail.com>
Graduate of UNSW Australia. Present research at Leiden University in The Introduction of Western medicine into Japan in the 1800's. Independent research for film script and art historical writing.
Jinno Hidenori 陣野英則 < ji...@...eda.jp>
Lecturer at the School of Letters, Waseda University
My main research area is monogatari bungaku of the Heian Period. Up till now I have done the research on mainly the style, narrator, narrative voice and the "writing" of The Tale of Genji. Now I am interested in problems concerned with readership and reception of monogatari, and the development of medieval commentaries on Genji monogatari
Kanechiku Nobuyuki 兼築 信行 <k...@...eda.jp>
Waseda University.
Medieval waka, especially Fujiwara Teika
Kido Kuniko 木戸久二子 <kido...@...ai-wjc.ac.jp>
Tokai Women's Junior College
Ise monogatari and its medieval commentaries.
Tamah Nakamura <ta...@....com>
Kyushu University, International Student Center
Education: M.Ed., M.A. (Human Development); Ph.D. (candidate in Human and Organizational Systems, Fielding Graduate Institute)
Courses taught: Gender and Contemporary Japan, Gender in a Comparative Perspective, Intercultural Communication, Movement Education
Part-time lecturer for both international (one year abroad program) and Japanese students.
Nakamura Yasuo 中村康夫 <nakam...@...l.ac.jp>
My field of research is historical tales (rekishi monogatari) but I am interested in a variety of texts with a strong historical flavor, from historical documents and diaries, to war tales (gunki). In the case of waka, this means I find kodai waka are of greater interest. I read _The Tale of Genji_ as a monogatari with many historical elements.
My main research is on Japanese literature, however, in terms of an actual work, I do anything to do with databases of Japanese literature. In particular I have recently been involved in making databases out of actual old materials (kotenseki) rather than in creating full-text databases. Please do look at the Koten collection series published by Iwanami.
http://www.iwanami.co.jp/.BOOKS/13/X/130094+.html
Profile at NIJL [link in Japanese at top of page]
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/syomu/kenkyusya01.html
Kendal Korach Parker <kendal_par...@....edu>
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Independent Japanese Art Curator. Currently guest curator for an upcoming exhibition of Japanese art at the Ackland Art Museum entitled, Plum, Pine, and Bamboo: Nature and Buddhism in Japanese Art. Research interests include Genji-e and Muromachi through Edo period Buddhist temple painting programs.
Robert B. Rama <rr...@...ch.edu>
University of Michigan
I am a PhD candidate doing research at the University of Tokyo on the reception and adaptation of Wang Yangming thought in Japan. I will examine the close connection between Tokugawa studies of Chinese social philosophies and the traces of medieval Zen poetics first formulated by Shunzei and Teika (among others) that continued to serve as a vital force in the primary education of urban-based thinkers in the early Tokugawa period. Literature and philosophy were not distinctly separate enterprises for thinkers as Sorai and Jinsai, and this is true as well for thinkers such as Banzan and Miwa Shissai, who were interested in Yangming thought. Shissai's translation of Yangming's work, bearing as it does the mark of an education centered on poetics, thus provides an example of how ethical and aesthetic ideals did not operate independently in the Tokugawa period.
* Liars Monks and Tengu: A Graded Reader for Students of Japanese
Crestec Publications, 1988.
Sakurai Yoko 櫻井陽子 <yosak...@...azawa-u.ac.jp>
Faculty of Letters, Komazawa University
Field of research: medieval literature, Heike monogatari in particular.
Sato Nobuko 佐藤信子 <n.s...@...l.ac.jp>
National Institute of Japanese Literature
I am a member of the support staff of the project for "International Collaboration for Japanese Studies" (科学研究費基盤研究S「日本文学国 際共同研究」).
If you are interested in learning more about the project, please see
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/~kiban-s/
Field of specialty: medieval waka, nikki, with particular emphasis on Abutsu-ni.
Suzuki Yasue 鈴木泰恵 <y-suz...@....so-net.ne.jp>
Musashino University
Sagoromo monogatari.
J. Marshall Unger <unger...@....edu>
Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University.
My webpage http://deall.ohio-state.edu/unger.26/ has links to a short c.v., descriptions of my books, and some on-line publications.
Eight of the new members are subscribers to the pmjs Japanese digest.
http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/pmjs/kodoku.html
~~~~~~~ new profile ~~~~~~~
Mindy Varner <mindy.var...@...ostate.edu>
I teach Japanese language and Japanese culture and literature in translation at Colorado State University. My current research interests include World War II-era Japanese propaganda, gesaku and Noh.
Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 09:12:28 +0900
From: Lawrence Marceau <lmarc...@...scape.net>
Subject: Re: poisons in Heian
I'm sure by this point that everyone is now thoroughly saturated by this thread, but I happened to find a rather extensive source of information under the heading of "poisonous plants (dokusou-rui)" in the 18th-century encyclopedia, Wakan sansai zue, kan dai 95. First on the list is "daiou" with many others, including "torikabuto," further down. I haven't checked, but I expect that the Japanese materia medica compendia such as Kaibara Ekiken's Yamato honzou, or the more extensive Honzou koumoku keimou (found in 4 volumes with an index in Heibonsha's Toyo Bunko series) would also include discussions of such poisonous plants, perhaps even with anecdotal information about historical precedents of their use.
Lawrence Marceau
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 12:37:32 +0900
From: guelb...@...eda.jp
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
You have to look at the manuscripts of the _Midou kanpaku ki_,
they have in red ink the weekdays.
Niels Guelberg
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 10:07:30 -0700
From: Todd Brown <jtbr...@...rizona.edu>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
It's true that the calendar on which Michinaga wrote his diary includes
shichiyou notations in small red characters (and in what we now think of as
the standard order -- nichi, getsu, ka, sui, and so forth) just above the
dates. However, while this creates a superficial resemblance to a modern
calendar and also shows that Michinaga would have had some awareness of the
shichiyou cycle, by no means does it follow that for him that cycle
functioned as a "week" in anything like the modern sense of the term --
much less that "Sunday" would have held any particular significance for
him. To address these issues, one would need evidence from Michinaga's
actual diary entries (which is to say, the parts of the _Midou Kanpaku ki_
that he himself actually wrote).
Todd Brown
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 18:48:08 +0900
From: "Karel Fiala" <fi...@...l.fpu.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
I think that it makes a sense to ask, e.g., what Michinaga did on his
"monoimi" days. Actually, Genji acted on these days similarly as some
of us do on Sundays. In a sense, he "misused" a mystical religious
tradition to arrange a kind of private holidays, as most of us
actually do - on their Sundays and other "holy-days".
Further, any astrological calendar cycle or any other calendar cycle
has some "cultural" connotations (to intepret it in modern
words, "culture", too, is originally associated with a
religious tradition). Without these connotations, the cycle would be a
nonsense. A calendar designed only to identify exact time points,
without any mystical and cultural connotations, is rather a grey
superstition of our modern times.
If you believe e.g. in "daian" as a special day with special chances
for you, it makes sense to ask what you are doing specifically on
your "daian" days.
Both cyclic and irregular holidays help the people to feel
that some days are different from others. Perhaps, no culture, no
human being can live entirely without this conscience.
It seems to me that "Michinaga on Sundays" is both a kind of
terrible anachronism and an interesting metaphor at the same
time.
Whether you accept it as a metaphor depends on how scholastic a
scholar you are.
K.Fiala
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 12:08:05 -0400
From: "Pollack" <Poll...@...l.rochester.edu>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
I can't recall Chinese diaries ever using these 7-day indicators, only the
usual kanshi 60-day cycle notation. Later documentary sources also used
the 10-day joujun/chuujun/gejun notation based, as I recall, on the
practical Tang bureaucratic notion (joukan) that gave officials one day
off out of every ten as a "hair-washing" day (whether needed or not).
Chinese metaphysical schemes had apparently worked out the usual
exhaustive cosmic-earthly correspondences according to the hokuto (Dipper)
star system using technical terms (not the kamokudo/gessuikin terms) for
each of the stars, but I have no idea when this came into use in China or
Japan or how long it endured in either. The Edo guidebook Edo meisho zue
is organized by this system, divvying all of Edo up under these seven
technical terms (apologies for dragging Edo into PMJS.)
A question: how if at all does the seven-element shichiyou system coexist
with the six-element (rokki) rekichuu system? These sets of terms would
match up every three "weeks" or 21 days [(6x7)/2], yes? I've always
assumed that with its butsumetsu day this was Buddhist-influenced, though
this was apparently also written early on as "things extinguished" rather
than as "Buddha extinguished" and there's certainly nothing else very
"Buddhist" about it.
David Pollack
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 17:12:35 +0900
From: Nobumi Iyanaga <n-iya...@....bekkoame.ne.jp>
Subject: Nisus Writer Exp released, and New page on migrating to Unicode environment [Mac]
Dear Colleagues,
New Nisus Writer Express v. 1.0 for OS X has just been released yesterday. As I already wrote, it is not a full-featured word-processor: some of the most important features, like footnotes, index, table of contents, style sheet, are lacking. It is at least (almost) fully Unicode compliant (it cannot do Right-to-Left languages for now), and has a very good regular expression find and replace capability. It can be customized with Perl macros, etc. The url is <http://www.nisus.com/>.
Another candidate may be Mellel (<http://www.redlers.com/mellel.html>). It is also Unicode aware (it can do Right-to-Left languages); it seems to have a good footnote system, and a good style support.
Not directly related to these, I wrote a new web page and a set of macro/scripts which may perhaps help Classic Nisus Writer users to migrate to the new Unicode environment in Mac OS X. For researchers in the field of Buddhist studies or Asian studies, who have to write multilingual text (English, transliteration of Asian languages, and Japanese or Chinese, etc.), the transition from old format files to the Unicode environment is not easy, especially because they had to use non-standard diacritical fonts. On the other hand, when you convert your files to Unicode, all the style information will be lost (while the Classic Nisus file format has the unique feature of being at the same time plain text, and styled text).
This is the problem I tried to address in my new page. I propose to add very simple "tags" to Classic Nisus files, so that the conversion to Unicode will be easy, and when converted, the basic style info will be preserved in these tags. In the course of this work, I realized that it is not very difficult to generate not only Unicode files from these marked-up files, but also other format files, like html, rtf and TeX. Of course, nothing very sophisticated is implemented. You will have to add lists, tables, etc. manually to the generated files. But at least footnotes are supported.
Here is the url of my web page:
<http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~n-iyanag/researchTools/ multiformat_nisus.html>
I hope that my web page and macro/script set will be useful for some of you.
Please write me if you have any suggestions, bug reports, etc.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Nobumi Iyanaga
Tokyo,
Japan
P.S. I will cross-post this message to the H-Buddhism and PMJS mailing lists.
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 19:32:40 +0900
From: guelb...@...eda.jp
Subject: Re: Buddhist hermeneutics, Kokinshuu, Houmon hyakushu
Thanks to Thomas Howell.
Thomas has mixed the Sutra quote from poem # 4 (Medicinal herbs) with
that of poem # 5 (a quotation from the Hokke gengi shakusen), but it is
a nice translation (for the quotations of the Houmon hyakushu titles
see:
Misumi Youichi, "Houmon hyakushu no houmondai wo megutte", in:
(Toukyou daigaku kyouyougakubu) Jinbun kagaku kiyou No. 91, 1990, pp.
69-87)
三角洋一、「『法門百首』の法文題をめぐって―天台浄土教思想の輪郭―」、
（東京大学教養学部）人文科学紀要
Niels Guelberg
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 06:39:48 -0700
From: rober...@...nford.edu
Subject: Kyoto Lectures: Joan Piggott talk on July 23
I am forwarding this announcement for the PMJSers who may be in Kyoto
next week. For further information please contact ISEAS at the address
is...@...lcult.or.jp
A short note for those who know me: I have moved to Tokyo from Italy,
and I will be staying at Kokugakuin University until January 2004. My
e-mail address is still rober...@...nford.edu
Greetings to all,
Roberta Strippoli
----- Forwarded message from iseas <is...@...lcult.or.jp> -----
From: iseas <is...@...lcult.or.jp>
To: Kyoto Lectures 1 <is...@...lcult.or.jp>
Subject: Kyoto Lectures 2003-July
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 17:04:06 +0900
Scuola Italiana di Studi sull'Asia Orientale ISEAS
Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient EFEO
KYOTO LECTURES 2003
Wednesday July 23d 18:00h
Professor Joan Piggott will speak on:
Court and Provinces
in Early Tenth Century Japan:
The Role of Fujiwara Tadahira.
Fujiwara Tadahira's era (880-949) represents a key moment for the
systematization of court leadership in the hands of a Northern Fujiwara
royal kinsman. A close reading of the extant entries from his daily
journal, the Teishinkoki, has already provided critical new perspectives on how
he exercised authority at court. This talk will focus instead on
how contrary to common wisdom Tadahira and his fellow leaders were deeply involved
with provincial matters. It will show the signs of increasing tensions
between two parallel systems of provincial management: the bureaucratic
tenno-centered government with its provincial governors, and that
carried out in a more patrimonial fashion by great households, court offices,
and official religious institutions.
Joan Piggott is Gordon L. Macdonald Professor of Pre-1600 Japanese
History and Director of the Project for Premodern Japanese Historical Studies
at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She is one of the
leading specialists on Japanese ancient history and the author of many seminal
studies in this field. Her book The Emergence of Japanese Kingship
(1997) deals with the reigns of seven ancient Japanese monarchs between the
third and eighth centuries combining written records with archaeological
evidence. For this she won the Arisawa Prize (awarded by the Association of
University Presses). Her latest work, Women in Three Premodern Confucian Societies
(co-edited with Dorothy Ko and Ja-Hyun Habousch) has now been
published by University of California Press.
Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient (EFEO)
Italian School of East Asian Studies (ISEAS)
4, Yoshida Ushinomiya-cho, Sakyo-ku
Kyoto 606-8302 JAPAN
ISEAS
Phone: 075-751-8132
Fax: 075-751-8221
e-mail: is...@...lcult.or.jp
EFEO
Phone: 075-761-3946
e-mail: efe...@...x.kyoto-inet.or.jp
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 14:30:18 +0900
From: "Diekhaus & Greve" <gokur...@...harenet.ne.jp>
Subject: Daruma and Tea
Dear List members,
I have a question about the famous story of Daruma, cutting off his eyelids and the Tea plant growing from them.
Does anybody know where and when this story originated? Was the first mention in literature in China or Japan? and which one was it? I would appreciate your help, I am studying about Daruma but am not so familiar with old literature, as you can see on my Homepage.
<http://www.amie.or.jp/daruma/daruma-new1.html>
Thank you all very much
Gabi Greve
gokur...@...harenet.ne.jp
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 13:10:33 +0900
From: Hitomi Tonomura <tomit...@...ch.edu>
Subject: Re: Michinaga on Sundays
Taking the issue from the "holiday" side, Ritsuryo Kenei-ryo specified
certain days of the month as days off for officials. (This was one category
of kyuujitsu among many.) The days were 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and the last
day of the month, either the 29th or the 30th depending on the length of
the month. This prescription prompted Sanesuke in his _Shouyuuki_ to enter
"though a holiday [kyuujitsu], went to work for guard duties," on Choutoku
2 (996).5.6. (He was kebiishi bettou then.)
I found the following discussion interesting and maybe relevant.
According to Okai Maoto, who surveyed 562 (partial survey) days of entries
in Shouyuuki, Heian officials took more days off on the ritsuryo specified
'legal holidays' and worked more days on the day prior to these legal
holidays. He speculates that officials' good attendance record on the day
before reflected the new Heian provision to give double payment for working
the day before the holiday. This is admittedly a partial study and, as
Okai says, without considering 'avoidance' days related to yin-yang, etc.,
no definitive conclusion can be drawn. Nonetheless, he thinks that the
Ritsuryo holiday system was at least still recognized in Heian, except that
the 6th of the month was a designated day for rank-grant ceremony. And he
observes that the actual workdays in Heian were fewer than they were in
earlier centuries. About this second point, he says that the increase in
ritual and religious holidays had an impact on the number of actual
workdays but also they in turn reduced the importance of old legal
holidays.
Sanesuke was absent on:
6th: 50 % of the time
12th: 81%
18th: 66%
24th: 65%
29th:67%
30th: 86%
also, on the day before, he was absent
5th: 40%
11th: 52%
17th: 44%
23rd: 17%
28th of short month: 14%
29th of long month: 25%
On legal holidays under Ritsuryo, Yamada Hideo's _Nihon kodaishikou_ is
recommended. It has a chapter on Ritsuryo officials' kyuujitsu.
Okai Maoto's short report is from a graduate seminar at Hiroshima
University, and appears in Shijin, no. 2 (1998). Okai hopes that others
will pick up where he left off to investigate further this interesting
topic. Too bad our salary does not increase by having classes on Fridays
or even Saturdays.
Hitomi Tonomura
Department of History
The University of Michigan
435 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1003 USA
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 19:07:42 -0700
From: Noel John Pinnington <no...@...rizona.edu>
Subject: Miwa shrine
When I visited the Miwa shrine a few years ago, I thought I saw three
mirrors hanging at the front of what appears to be the main shrine (The
shrine claims that it has no "main shrine"). I assumed that the mirrors were
intended to be symbolic of the miwa (three circles) in the name of the
mountain that is the shintai of the deity. They are not, however, mentioned
in accounts of the shrine and its history that I have seen.
My main question is - am I right? If so is this representation in three
mirrors something old or a recent invention? I gather that the shrine
building where I saw them only derives from the 17th century.
Also, with onomastics a hot topic, it would be interesting if anyone knew
why the name Oomiwa Jinja uses the odd orthography 大神神社 when the
mountain is written 三輪山.
Noel Pinnington
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 08:32:39 +0900
From: Hitomi Tonomura <tomit...@...ch.edu>
Subject: Re: Sayonara sale/give away
Michael authorized me to send a non-scholarly message. I am about to leave
Japan, and am wondering if there are people arriving in Japan (that is,
Tokyo, especially west of Shinjuku) who might be interested in inheriting
goods from me. Items include: gas stove, washing machine,
microwave/grill/toaster, refrigerators, tv, hairdryer, desk lamps, space
heaters, cd/cassette player, desks, various shelves, clothes chest, pots
and pans, dishes, plastic containers, etc.
The bulk of the items were purchased new last fall and still have the
one-year warranty. All are in good working order. The initial settling-in
expense in a normal Japanese mansion could be exhorbitant. If interested,
please send me a message at tomit...@...ch.edu before July 31, but sooner
the better. Thank you.
Hitomi Tonomura
Department of History
The University of Michigan
435 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1003 USA
dept phone: 734-764-6305
dept fax: 734-647-4881
2002.8.15 - 2003.8.15
In Japan.
tel and fax: 042-381-4060
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 11:52:40 +0900
From: Jamentz <Michael.Jame...@....seikyou.ne.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Naming and the Court
Hello All:
I would like to belatedly express interest in the Anthony Bryant's query on names research and also to ask if there is a constituency out there for research on the pre-modern "imperial court."
I doubt my particular interests, names and naming practices for priests, nobles, and members of the royal house in the Insei period, would have any direct bearing on ikki contracts, but wonder if others are interested in various issues in conducting research on the court.
Names and identities are basic problems that do not seem to have received sufficient scholarly attention. Beyond such fundamentals, there are, for example, issues concerning the institutions of nyoin and houshinnou, which flourished during the Insei period. These two areas strike me as particularly worthy of further study. I imagine others may have similar concerns from earlier and later periods.
My initial interest with these institutions and individuals involved questions of patronage and production of works such as Tamakiharu, and Hyakuza kikgakihoudan, and it seems to me that what we known about the literary and artistic creation in the Insei period could be enhanced with a better understanding of the operation of the court and its satellite courts. (I also have more theoretical concerns such as the ideological underpinnings of these institutions; as some will recall from the discussion on "Confucianism" on PMJS several years back).
I am wondering if some sort of cyber kenkyuukai could be created to work on the various issues surrounding the court. I am not sure how such a study group would operate or how it could be organized. If anyone is interested and/or has suggestions, I would be eager to hear them.
Michael Jamentz
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:06:28 +0900
From: John Dougill <doug...@...x.kyoto-inet.or.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] The colour purple
I wonder if anyone knows the earliest references to the imperial connotations of purple in Japan. I'm thinking of the 'purple hills and crystal streams' of Kyoto, and Amida's purple clouds in the Western skies.
Presumably this is linked with the colour's Christian, Jewish and Roman connections? Would it be right to say that the connotation arrived in Japan with Buddhism and Chinese thinking?
I'd be grateful for any input on this matter
JD
Kyoto
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 14:36:03 -0700
From: Cynthea Bogel <cjbo...@...ashington.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] The colour purple
I don't know "the earliest references to the imperial connotations of
purple" but here are some thoughts and notes on the the dye / color purple
(murasaki) in ancient Japan that may be useful.
Purple is derived from gromwell, (Lithospermum erythrorhizon, dye
constituent is shikonin); the roots of murasaki (usually called murasaki
gusa) were used from at least the Nara period.
The back foldout section of one of the Nara volumes of Nihon bijustsu zenshu
(Kodansha) has a good explanation of the dying process.
There is an archive on pmjs under Colors of Genji noting Mary Dusenbury's
1999 dissertation, (University of Kansas,) "Radiance and Darkness: Color at
the Heian Court," UMI publication number is AAT 9961041.
In Japanese see Maeda, Ujo. Nihon kodai no shikisai to some (Color and Dye
in Ancient Japan).
The Nara court adopted the Tang govt. ranks distinguished by white and five
colors. The Naisenshi (Imperial dye office) was est. in 701.
Incidentally, in ancient mid-East and Europe purple dye was made from Murex
shells (Murex trunculus. Purple dyeing was an important industry at the
Phoenician and Roman Carthage. Traces of dye are found in the form of piles
of shells at sites in Kerkouane, Kram, Carthage, Utique and Mininx (Pliny
considered Mininx purple the most beautiful). See also purpura,
purple-colored secretion from the purpuriparous gland of certain gastropods.
Purple became strongly associated with Buddhism in China, then Korea and
Japan. Its origins in China are much earlier, however. It was used (with
symbolic connotations) in the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.E.) and
possibly earlier --Western Zhou Dynasty (1045-711 B.C.E.).
Buddhist: purple is mentioned in the Kokinshu/ in a Buddhist usage (murasaki
yukari, karmic affinity) but I don't know about the earliest mentions of the
color in Japanese sources.
The earliest examples of murasaki dyed cloth and thread are found in the
Sho/so/in, some in Buddhist banners. The Takao mandara (Two worlds mandala,
Jingoji--one of my research areas and the reason I have looked into purple
dye) were created of purple-dyed twill with silver and gold line drawings
between 829-833.
A good discussion of the important transmission and imperial gifting of the
purple robe in Chinese Buddhism may be found in John Keishnick, The Impact
of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture (Princeton UP 2003), pp. 100 ff.
It is probably the case that imperial connotations for purple reached Japan
before the Nara period and at the same time the Buddhist connotations were
already well established in Japan.
Cynthea Bogel
(University of Washington, art history)
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:39:05 +0900
From: Michael Watson <wat...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Position Announcement (Maine)
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 04011. Interdisciplinary Asian Studies Program wishes to make a tenure-track appointment in Japanese language and culture at the assistant professor or instructor level, beginning in the academic year 2004/2005. Ph.D. preferred, but ABD will be considered.
Teaching load is two courses per semester, usually one in language instruction and one in some aspect of Japanese culture, depending on the candidate's research specialization. The disciplinary subfield is open. Candidates must have strong scholarly potential and the ability to teach all levels of Japanese.
Applications should include a letter indicating research and teaching interests; vita; writing sample; teaching evaluations; and three letters of recommendation. Send to Chair, Japanese Language and Culture Search Committee, Asian Studies Program, 7500 College Station, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine 04011-8475. Review of applications will begin 15 October. Further information about Bowdoin may be found at <http://www.bowdoin.edu>. EO/AA.
Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply.
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:15:26 -0400
From: Brett de Bary <b...@...nell.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Position Announcement
Position announcement:
Japanese Literature:
Cornell University, Department of Asian Studies, invites applications for an
open-rank search in pre-modern Japanese literature starting July 1, 2004.
Ph.D. required. Candidates will teach courses on the undergraduate level, as
well as train graduate students to do research with classical literary
texts. While the area and period of specialization are open, our department
has emphasized work that crosses conventional generic and temporal
boundaries, linking textual studies with such areas as performing arts,
visual studies, comparative cultural theory, and questions of the
disciplinary formation of knowledge. Evaluation of applications begins
January 9, 2004. Send letter of application, c.v, three letters of
reference, and thesis chapter or published article to:
Brett de Bary
Chair, Japanese Literature Search Committee
Department of Asian Studies
Cornell University
350 Rockefeller Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-2502
e-mail: as...@...nell.edu
Cornell University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 23:16:56 -0500
From: robert-leut...@...wa.edu
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Naming and the Court
I have been puttering around for some months now creating a searchable
genealogical database of the most obvious Heian nobility, in hopes of creating
something we can all use to work out relatively easily who's related to whom
when the question arises and seems important. Needless to say, the question of
"naming" looms large as my project burgeons.
I would most certainly be interested in defining an interest group of some sort
centering on what in a medieval European context is called by a special circle
of scholars "prosopography," although I am not entirely certain I understand
what that means, as opposed to more traditional kinds of genealogical study.
Bob Leutner
Iowa City IA
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 02:58:30 -0400
From: Mary Louise Nagata <MLNag...@...puserve.com>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Bizen Kakeizu
Regarding the question of surnames that are also place names, according to
Niwa Motoji, _Chimei myoji yomi toki jiten_, (Tokyo: Kashiwa Shobo 2002),
80% of modern Japanese surnames are place names. Of course, most of these
names are not the names of provinces, but such names also exist like your
Bizen. As to how a family might originally have attained such a name,
there are many possible explanations. Let me give an example I happen to
know about from my own research.
A carpenter named Sakuzaemon from Fukui village in Yamato province assisted
the Tokugawa forces at the battle of Osaka. Later Sakuzaemon was part of
the construction of Edo castle and was the toryo (master carpenter) in
charge of constructing Nijo castle in Kyoto. When the construction of Nijo
castle was completed, Sakuzaemon was designated an official measures
manufacturer and charged with standardizing the measuring cups of Western
Japan. The charge was given to Fukui Sakuzaemon and the head of the Fukui
house thereafter always took the name Fukui Sakuzaemon. You can see here
that the name of his home village became his surname when he needed a
surname. (This information comes from the Kyo Masu Za Fukui Sakuzaemon Ke
documents available at the Kyoto shiritsu shiryokan and the shiryokan has
published a two volume set on the document collection).
I found a swordsmith from Bizen in one of the Jinmei Jiten who had a
different surname, but came to be known by the surname Bizen later in his
career. This seems to have been a common way for people to get place name
surnames, but this is not the only method or reason. Japanese surnames in
history do not act like Western surnames. In fact, you have to distinguish
between Uji names, Agata names, Myo names and Sei names if you go further
back in history. There is an essay on this in one of the Kodai volumes of
_Koza no Nihon Shi_ published by Tokyo University Press in the 1980s.
Sorry, I do not have the reference with me just now. The following books
also address the topic of "surnames".
Morioka Hiroshi (ed), _Nihon myoji kakei dai jiten_, (Tokyo: Tokyodo
Shppan 2002).
Herbert Plutschow, _Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a
Religious, Political and Social Context_, (Kent, CT: Japan Library 1995).
Toyoda Takeshi, _Kakei_, (Tokyo: Tokyodo Shuppan 1978).
I have also found in my research on names and inheritance in the Tohoku
region that pre-modern surnames do not necessarily reflect patrilineal
ties, real or fictional. For example, in one small dozoku comprised of a
honke and two bunke, the two bunke had different surnames even though they
were linked in the patriline. However, my focus has not been on surnames,
but rather on personal names and why people kept changing them.
Sorry for being so long. I hope that this helps you to find answers to
your questions.
Mary Louise Nagata
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 04:41:07 -0700
From: mfos...@...nford.edu
To: Multiple recipients of pmjs <p...@...eijigakuin.ac.jp>
Subject: [pmjs] Position Announcement (California)
Part-time instructor of Japanese at the University of California,
Riverside.
Apologies for cross-postings.
Japanese Instructor
(part-time)
The Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign
Languages invites applications for a part-time position as Lecturer
for lower division language instruction for Fall 2003. The position
will be a one-quarter appointment with the possibility of renewal in
accordance with university policies and regulations.
Duties will consist of instruction of one section of Japanese 1
(MTWR, 2:10-3 p.m.) for Fall 2003, and possibly one section of
Japanese 2 for Winter 2004, and one section of Japanese 3 for
Spring 2004. A Master's or equivalent is required. Present salary
per class for each quarter is $3,953. Instruction for Fall begins
September 25th, 2003, and ends on December 13th, 2003.
A completed M.A. degree in Japanese or a related area, and a
strong commitment to excellence in teaching are required. Priority
will be given to candidates with experience teaching Japanese at
an American university or college and familiarity with language
teaching methodology. Native fluency in Japanese and English is
highly desirable.
Please send a letter of application with curriculum vitae; also send
the most recent teaching evaluations (for one year) and/or three
letters of recommendation regarding teaching to:
Prof. Yenna Wu
Chair, Japanese Lecturer Search Committee
Department of Comparative Literature and Foreign Languages
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521-0321
Fax:(909) 787-2160
Review of applications will begin Wednesday, August 13, 2003
and will continue until the position is filled.
Candidates must arrange interview, at own expense, at UCR.
Proof of employment eligibility is required.
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Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 18:19:44 -0500
From: "Anthony J. Bryant" <ajbry...@...iana.edu>
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Naming and the Court
robert-leut...@...wa.edu wrote:
I have been puttering around for some months now creating a searchable
genealogical database of the most obvious Heian nobility, in hopes of
creating something we can all use to work out relatively easily who's
related to whom when the question arises and seems important. Needless to say, the
question of "naming" looms large as my project burgeons.
I would most certainly be interested in defining an interest group of
some sort centering on what in a medieval European context is called by
a special circle of scholars "prosopography," although I am not entirely certain I
understand what that means, as opposed to more traditional kinds of genealogical
study.
Fascinating! I'd be most interested in this project. It could be very,
very useful!
Tony
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 21:58:36 -0500
From: robert-leut...@...wa.edu
Subject: [pmjs] Re: Heian naming/genealogy
This is something I plan to be battering away at over the next year or so, so
there is no big urgency, but I would be interested in hearing from anyone else
who might be trying to do (or has done already) anything similar--too
labor-intensive to allow for duplication of effort!
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