The Ainu-Japanese glossary created by Buddhist monk Kunen in the mid-Edo period is pictured at Fumon-ji Temple in Fukui.
Posted on 08/15/2010 1:55:56 PM PDT by Palter
The oldest Ainu-Japanese dictionary created by a Buddhist monk over 300 years ago has been discovered at a temple here.
The ancient document containing Ainu-Japanese glossary was found at Fumon-ji Temple in Fukui's Minamiyama-cho district. It was created by local Buddhist monk Kunen in 1704 when he visited Ezo -- the present Hokkaido Prefecture and home to Ainu people -- during his pilgrimage around the country. It is the oldest Ainu-Japanese glossary among those whose published year is understood.
"It contains a wide variety and number of vocabulary. Few ancient documents written in Ainu are available today, and it is one of the most important historical materials," a researcher said.
The document, consisting of some 150 pages, devotes a total of 26 pages to introduce the Ainu language. It covers about 460 terms, including those related to seasons, climates, numbers and family. At the end of the vocabulary list, there is a short note saying "I have written down the Ezo words that I learned while traveling to various islands," along with the writer's signature and the year in which he wrote it.
The document was discovered by Toshiyuki Kunisaki, 83, a chief priest at Gokuraku-ji Temple in Usa, Oita Prefecture, who had been tracking records associated with Kunen. Though it was found in bad condition with its edges burnt in a fire, the writing was still legible.
According to Tomomi Sato, a linguistic professor at Hokkaido University, the oldest Ainu glossary before the recent discovery was a wordbook containing about 150 terms, which is believed to have been compiled sometime between the late Muromachi period and the early Edo period. Its exact year of creation, however, is unknown.
"The document is valuable as it covers ancient Ainu language, which is hard to understand today. It is interesting that it also contains some honorific language," Sato said.
The Ainu-Japanese glossary created by Buddhist monk Kunen in the mid-Edo period is pictured at Fumon-ji Temple in Fukui.
Kennewick language, ping.
The Japanese tribe were sent to this Island we now call Japan, to find a mushroom to heal the emperor of China over a thousand years ago. They failed to return and took over what we now call Japan. Their rising sun flag represents where Lemuria is positioned from Japan..
Now where did you learn this?
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Thanks Palter. |
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A short article that might interest you.
Interesting culture, the black bear was sometimes their totem.Many spent winters next to hot springs, where they would remain effortlessly warm surrounded by sub zero temperatures.
Overview: "The Ainu (pronounced /ˈainu/, "eye-noo", are an ethnic group indigenous to Japan; Hokkaido, the northern part of Honshu in Northern Japan, the Kuril Islands, much of Sakhalin, and the southernmost third of the Kamchatka peninsula. The word "ainu" means "human" in the Ainu language; Emishi, Ezo or Yezo (蝦夷) are Japanese terms; and Utari, ウタリ, (meaning "countrymen" in Ainu) is now preferred by some members. It is widely accepted amoung scholars that the Ainu are the decendants of the Jomon. There are over 150,000 Ainu today, however the exact figure is not known as many Ainu hide their origins or in many cases are not even aware of them, their parents having kept it from them so as to protect their children from racism." (Wikipedia.)
" The Ainu (ì´n¡) aborigines of Northern Japan are heavily bearded and have thick wavy hair. Their both mix of European and Asian physical traits contrast so sharply from other indigenous peoples of Asia that no one is really sure of their origin. Some theories hold they are of Caucasian descent, others that their distinct features are a result of isolation that allowed them to remain racially unchanged as the rest of the mongoloid races mixed and evolved through a series of migrations. Other theories hold that they are descendants from various Oceania races. The Japanese chronicles "Kojiki" and "Nihonsyoki" refer to them as descendants of an ancient people called Emishi. Today the term Ainu is used to denote the indigenous people of Hokkaido in Japan and Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, in Russia.
Their culture is precariously close to extinction. The language is spoken only by a few elders.
Centuries of oppression, racism, forced assimilation policies, intolerance and discrimination, social and political dominance of the majority ethnic Japanese have contributed heavily to the annihilation of the Ainu culture. Modern socialization and the fear of marginalization has led recent generations to regard their Ainu identity negatively. Many have abandoned the transmission of Ainu customs and traditions." (Thomason.)
The Buddhist temples in Japan possess many valuable manuscripts which have never been catalogued. They just sit in monastic treasure houses, poetry, sutras,geneologies, reiho scrolls of realization. Many who knew about them just never returned from WWII. One of the reasons they remain hidden is because temples understandably do not allow public access. Even those who are monastics have to receive special leave to even enter the storage places.And then much of the written language is so archaic, that few Japanese today can read them, except for scholars.
I am convinced that there is a chronicle somewhere in Japan of a warrior who visited Shambhala and returned,likely in some obscure temple. Japanese people travelled to Tibet very early on.
OK, I'll bite. Anyone out there want to take a shot at this?
Awesome!
I just know that somewhere, in my ancient heritage, there lives an Ainu!
The Buddhist temples in Japan possess many valuable manuscripts which have never been catalogued. They just sit in monastic treasure houses, poetry, sutras,geneologies, reiho scrolls of realization.
Not quite but almost like an unintentionally created Terma. They're in a pretty safe place until someone does come along to translate and share them with others. A treasure awaiting its time for a new birth.
I think it means that they know when this was published and it’s the oldest Ainu-Japanese glossary among those with known publication dates. Implying that other documents like it exist that might be older but they don’t know for sure when they were published.
I think you are correct. I just found it an odd phrase.
Ainu that Japanese dictionary would show up somewhere.
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