ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3170
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3170
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27 Sep 2006
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Seimeiji no Kyobo Yoshitoshi> 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 <Kyobo> in our Japanese sources.  There is a
kanji <KYOU> 'capital city' and a kanji <BOU> 'town, monastic
residence'.

On the face of it, the compound <Kyoubou> 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 <Seimei> 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
<Seimeiji> is a correct construction. [5]  There is a kanji <JI>
'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 <Yoshitoshi> 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, <Yoshitoshi> would have been pronounced
\yoh-shee-toh-shee\.

Assuming that both <Seimeiji> and <Kyoubou> are appropriate (and this
is a very strong assumption!), we do not believe that <Seimeiji no
Kyoubou Yoshitoshi> is a correct way to combine the elements.  The
phrase <Seimeiji no Kyoubou> would mean roughly 'Seimeiji's Kyoubou',
but the meanings of <Seimeiji> and <Kyoubou>, if we have identified it
correctly, do not make sense in this type of construction.

If we are correct in our tentative identifications, then <Seimeiji>
and <Kyoubou> are just two different ways of referring to the same
place.  The particle <no> was often used to link two equivalent
phrases (much like "a.k.a." can in English).  However, we have not
found any examples of <no> used in this way in personal naming, so we
do not believe that <Seimeiji no Kyoubou> 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 <Seimeiji>, according to 
http://info.biwako-visitors.jp/biwakonotabi/english/seasons/02a.html