Ezo
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Template:Nihongo is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the people and the lands to the northeast of the Japanese island of Honshu.<ref>Harrison, John A., "Notes on the discovery of Ezo", Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 40, No. 3 (Sep., 1950), pp. 254–266 [1]</ref> This included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido,<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name="DJR"/><ref name="SMK5"/><ref name="Gakken"/> which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 1869,<ref name="nussbaum">Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Ezo" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 184.</ref> and sometimes included Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name="DJR"/> The word Ezo means 'the shrimp barbarians' in Japanese.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In reference to the people of that region, the same two kanji used to write the word Ezo can also be read Emishi. The descendants of these people are most likely related to the Ainu people of today.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
EtymologyEdit
Japanese sources that include an etymology describe Ezo as probably originally a borrowing from the Ainu word Template:Transliteration meaning Template:Gloss.<ref name="KDJ">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="SMK5">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="Gakken">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="DJR">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> The term is first attested in Japanese in a text from 1153 in reference to any of the non-Japanese people living in the northeast of Honshū, and then later in 1485 in reference to the northern islands where these people lived, primarily Hokkaido, Karafuto (i.e. Sakhalin), and the Kuril Islands.<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name="DJR"/>
The kanji spelling is based on the meanings of the characters rather than the phonetics (jukujikun), and is composed of the characters {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning Template:Gloss and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning Template:Gloss. The use of the character for Template:Gloss might be in reference to the long "whiskers" (antennae) of these animals, alluding to the prominent beards worn by Ainu men.
The spelling Yezo reflects its pronunciation Template:Circa, when Europeans first came in contact with Japan. It is this historical spelling that is reflected in the scientific Latin term {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, as in Fragaria yezoensis and Porphyra yezoensis. However, there are species that use a different spelling, such as the Japanese scallop known as Template:Nihongo.
HistoryEdit
The first published description of Ezo in the West was brought to Europe by Isaac Titsingh in 1796. His small library of Japanese books included Template:Nihongo3 by Hayashi Shihei.<ref>WorldCat, Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu; alternate romaji Sankoku Tsūran Zusetsu</ref> This book, which was published in Japan in 1785, described the Ezo region and its people.<ref>Cullen, Louis M. (2003). Template:Google books</ref>
In 1832, the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland supported the posthumous abridged publication of Titsingh's French translation of Template:Transliteration.<ref>Klaproth, Julius. (1832). Template:Google books</ref> Julius Klaproth was the editor, completing the task which was left incomplete by the death of the book's initial editor, Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat.
SubdivisionsEdit
Template:Nihongo or Template:Nihongo (Template:Lit) was divided into several districts. The first was the Wajinchi, or 'Japanese Lands', which covered the Japanese settlements on and around the Oshima Peninsula. The rest of Ezo was known as the Template:Nihongo (Template:Lit), or 'Ainu Lands'. There were also Japanese people who moved from other places to the coastal areas of Ezochi. Ezochi was in turn divided into three sections: North Ezochi, which covered southern Sakhalin; West Ezochi, which included the northern half of Hokkaidō; and East Ezochi, which included the populous southern and eastern Hokkaidō and the Kuril Islands.<ref>Frey, Christopher J. (2007) Template:Google books</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Ainu people
- Emishi
- Republic of Ezo
- Jeddo, Japan, a former romanization of the name of Edo, now Tokyo
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Template:ISBN; Template:ISBN; OCLC 50694793
- Hayashi, Shihei. (1786). Template:Nihongo. Edo: Manuscript. OCLC 44014900
- Klaproth, Julius. (1832). San kokf tsou ran to sets, ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 2563166; also OCLC 561284561
External linksEdit
- Waseda University — Hayashi Shihei. (1785). 三国通覧図説 (Sangoku Tsuran Zusetsu)
- Maps of Ezo, Sakhalin, and Kuril Islands from 1854