ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3170 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3170 ************************************ 27 Sep 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a monk from the Abe no Seimei shrine in Heiankyo (Kyoto) living around 1150. Unfortunately, we were able to find very little information on many of the elements in your name, and much of what we have to say below is fairly speculative. Before we look at the individual elements, we'd first like to give you some general information about Japanese kanji, which is relevant to their usage in names. In origin, the kanji are Chinese characters. An _on'yomi_, _on_, Sino-Japanese reading, or simply Chinese reading, of a kanji is a Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation of the character at the time of its introduction. Some kanji were introduced more than once, at different times or from different Chinese dialects (or both), and as a result have more than one on'yomi. A _kun'yomi_, _kun_, Japanese reading, or native reading, of a kanji is a reading based on the pronunciation of a native Japanese word that approximated the Chinese meaning of the character at the time of its introduction; sometimes there was more than one such word, and a kanji has more than one kun'yomi. Below, kanji which we discuss in lower case letters represent Japanese readings, and kanji which we discuss in capital letters represent Chinese readings. [4] We were unable to find in our Japanese sources. There is a kanji 'capital city' and a kanji 'town, monastic residence'. On the face of it, the compound could mean 'capital city monastic residence', but we don't know enough about Japanese word formation to say whether this is actually the case, let alone whether it is a plausible name element. Abe no Seimei lived in the 10th century, and after his death a number of myths and legends grew up around him. [2] We were unable to find any examples of the name outside of this figure, and we do not know whether a byname based on the shrine dedicated to him is appropriate. If such a byname is appropriate, then we believe is a correct construction. [5] There is a kanji 'Buddhist temple' that appears as the last kanji of several place-names and of a surname that is also the name of a temple. [3] We found an example of the nanori during the Kamakura period (1184-1333). [1] However, we do not know when in the Kamakura the nanori was used, so it may not be the best choice for your period. If the nanori was used in the early part of the Kamakura period, then it's not unreasonable that it was also used in the end of the Hei'an period. In any case, would have been pronounced \yoh-shee-toh-shee\. Assuming that both and are appropriate (and this is a very strong assumption!), we do not believe that is a correct way to combine the elements. The phrase would mean roughly 'Seimeiji's Kyoubou', but the meanings of and , if we have identified it correctly, do not make sense in this type of construction. If we are correct in our tentative identifications, then and are just two different ways of referring to the same place. The particle was often used to link two equivalent phrases (much like "a.k.a." can in English). However, we have not found any examples of used in this way in personal naming, so we do not believe that is a plausible construction. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 27 September 2006 -- References: [1] Solveig Throndardottir, _Name Construction in Mediaeval Japan_ (Carlsbad, N. Mex.: The Outlaw Press, 1994; Potboiler Press, 1999 [Box 30171, Columbia, MO 65205]), p. 368. [2] "Abe no Seimei" (WWW: Wikipedia.org, 12 Aug 2006). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_no_Seimei [3] Solveig, op. cit., p. 138. [4] "The Kanji Site" (WWW: Kanjisite.com, no date) http://www.kanjisite.com/html/wak/wak6.html [5] At least modernly, the temple is called , according to http://info.biwako-visitors.jp/biwakonotabi/english/seasons/02a.html