Asian = Oriental, etc.

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>... In the early part of the Chinese Tang dynasty in a.d. 670,
>               to be precise, Japanese scholars who had studied Chinese
>               created a new name for their country using the Chinese
>               phrase for origin of the sun, sunrise, because Japan
>               is located east of China. ....

I think the AHD4 has done a very nice job with this (which I hadn't seen
before). Most dictionaries don't include this material. [Unfortunate that
no comparable background is provided for the geographic name "Guinea"!]

As for the etymology of "Nippon" = "sun-source", though ... Quoting from
another Web page (http://www.sagesource.com/texts/newtang.html):

<<In the first year of Xianheng (670), an embassy came to the Court [from
Japan] to offer congratulations upon the conquest of Koguryo. About this
time, the Japanese who had studied Chinese came to dislike the name Wa and
changed it to Nippon. According to the words of the [Japanese] envoy
himself, that name was chosen because the country was so close to where the
sun rises. Some say, [on the other hand], that Japan was a small country
which had been subjugated by the Wa, and that the latter took over its
name. As this envoy was not truthful, doubt still remains.>>

This is supposedly from an old Chinese document. I have no doubt that the
Japanese adopted the Sino-Japanese designation "Nippon" around this time or
a little earlier (although "Wa" seems to remain current, e.g., "wafuku" =
"Japanese clothing", "waeijiten" = "Japanese-English dictionary", etc.).
But I can picture two possible etymologies:

(1) "We call our country Nippon ("sun origin") because our Emperor (unlike
other, lesser emperors) is a direct descendent of the Sun."

(2) "We call our country Nippon ("sun origin") because, as seen from China
(the Hub of the Universe), our country is located in the direction of the
sunrise."

Which one rings true (bearing in mind that the name presumably was cleared
with the Japanese Imperial court)?

On the other hand, which one would be polite and prudent for the Japanese
envoy to present at the Chinese Imperial court?

The above quotation suggests that some Chinese were dubious of the claimed
etymology in 670 AD. I'm dubious of it now ... although I'm quick to
confess abysmal ignorance of the subject!

-- Doug Wilson