Asian = Oriental, etc.

[Douglas G. Wilson]

At 09:18 AM 2/14/01 -0600, you wrote:
> >> Granted, people should be called what they wish to be called, but
> >> didn't Japan call itself The Land of the Rising Sun?
>
> >Yes.  And their flag is a flag of the rising sun.
>
>I believe the term comes from the Chinese name for Japan, "Rben," when
>means "root of the sun" -- the east, from the Chinese point of view.  So
>we have the same problem as westerners using "Oriental."  I guess the
>Chinese are Occidental, compared to the Japanese.

The Japanese for "Japan" -- "Nihon", = "Nippon" -- is orthographically the
same as the Chinese "Riben" (current PRC Romanization) or "Jih-pen" (older
Romanization) [= "Japan"] -- which I would consider = "sun-source". [The
ancient "Cipangu" is the same, I think, with "gu" = "country"
("Jih-pen-kuo" or "Ribenguo" or "Nihon-Koku").] Whether this is derived
from a Chinese perception of Japan as an eastern place (near the sunrise)
or whether it is derived from a Japanese self-description ("descendents of
the sun goddess [Amaterasu]") I don't know. Any firm information available?

I've seen a Japanese expression, BTW, "datsua nyuuou" = "out of Asia, into
Europe" -- depicting the current opinion of some Japanese regarding Japan's
appropriate affiliation.

-- Doug Wilson