[About this blog entry]
- Today, Japanese government announced new period-name "Reiwa" (令和; Fair and Gentle). This phrase is derived from Manyoshu, the oldest collection of Japanese poetry (8th century). "Reiwa" is constituted from two Kanji : "Rei" (令) from "fair month" (Rei-getsu; 令月) and "Wa" (和) from "gentle wind" (Fu-wa; 風和). Rei of Rei-getsu means "good, nice, lovely, excellent" and Wa of Fu-Wa means "soft, mild, tender, gentle, relaxed."
- Of course each of "令" and "和" is a polysemic Kanji and has other different meanings in today's use, but I think that neither 令 nor 和 clearly shows them in the original context. Actually, "Rei" in "Reiwa" doesn't mean "order or command" as in "命令" (Mei-Rei; command or direction) but "excellent" as in "令名" (Rei-Mei; fair name or high reputation); and "Wa" in Reiwa conveys a direct and tactile impression of "softness" as in "温和" (On-Wa; genial [climate or character]) rather than an objective and conceptual idea of "harmony or peace" as in "平和" (Hei-Wa; Peace)*.
- For those who want to think about the original meaning and context of "Rei" and "Wa" used for the new period-name, I translated below the original passage from the introduction to "Plum-songs" in Manyoshu. (And I wish the original lyrical sense will survive against some recent political association of words...)
*I'm sure that you can rightly say "soft feeling" and "harmony or peace" are culturally or philosophically connected. In Japanese Bible, for example, Meekness, one of the Christian virtues, is translated to "柔和" (Nyu-Wa; soft and tender) to show his/her peaceful character.
[translation of the original text]
*I underlined and boldfaced the place where "Rei" (fair) and "Wa" (gentle) appear.
In the 13th day of the 1st month of Tempyo 2 [i.e. 13 February, 730 CE], we gathered in the master's [i.e. Otomo Tabito's] house and held a feast. It was in a fair month of the new spring; a mild air came with a gentle wind; plums applied dresser-powder on flowers; and orchids swayed their incense-pouch. What is more, clouds visited the top of a mountain gleaming with dawn and their [i.e. clouds'] veil became pines' umbrella; the hollow places gathered mist and birds lost their way in the covered [i.e. misty] woods. In the garden a young butterfly was dancing and in the sky an old goose was going home. Then, we decided to replace our ceiling and seat with the heaven and the earth, squatted on the bare ground and continued the feast. Each of us left words to chat behind in the room and viewed the distant smoke-like mist without caring of exposed chest [i.e. in a relaxed manner]. Everyone was tolerant, free, cheerful and self-contented. Without literature, how can we describe our sentiments? We know [Old Chinese] poets wrote down some songs on Plum's falling flowers [i.e. Spring songs]. In that respect [i.e. in natural poetic sensibility], is there any difference between the old days and today? Why shouldn't we sing some songs on the plums of the garden? [finis; and a series of plum-songs follows.]