THE SCRIPT OF THE MANYÔSHIU

The Lays are written wholly in Chinese characters. But these are employed in several very peculiar ways, and the texts as they stand are completely unintelligible to a Chinese, even to a Japanese, who has not specially studied them. In all the editions, however, except the Riyakuge, the columns of text are accompanied by a kana transliteration—in the Riyakuge the kana (hira) transliteration is given separately from the text.

At the date of the compilation of the Anthology—the middle of the eighth century—neither of the existing Japanese syllabaries had been invented. Their creation is ascribed to the learned priest Kûkai (Kôbô Daishi), the Doctor Promulgator of the Law of Buddha, who died in 834, nearly a hundred years later than the date of the final tanka of the Manyôshiu. The Chinese character had therefore, perforce, to be employed in writing down the lays collected in the manner set forth in the volume of translations. The ideographs were used in part phonetically, in part lexicographically, as they had already been used in writing the Kojiki and the poems cited in that history, and in the almost contemporaneous but very different Nihongi.

The ideographs used phonetically were not, however, always employed in the same way. The forty-seven sounds of the syllabary—

a	i	u	e (ye)	o
ka	ki	ku	ke	ko
sa	shi	su	se	so
ta	chi	tsu	te	to
na	ni	nu	ne	no
ha	hi	f(h.w.)u	he	ho
ma	mi	mu	me	mo
ya		yu		yo
ra	ri	ru	re	ro
wa	wi		we	wo

—were already recognized, and were represented by a sort of alphabet composed of several hundreds of Chinese ideographs, each pronounced exactly or approximately sinice—that is japonico-sinice, or according to on or Chinese sound. Thus a was represented by two ideographs, [阿] (a in Chinese) and [安] (an in Chinese), shi by twenty-five characters, such as [志] (chih in Chinese), [思] (ssu in Chinese), &c. The other sounds were represented by varying numbers of characters. According to this system, ame (heaven or rain) would or might be written [安米], tsuchi (soil) [都知] and so forth. A complete list of these Chinese phonetic ideographs is given in the Sôron (Introductory) volume of the Kogi.

A second method of using the ideographs was to employ them according to their kun (reading i.e. in pure Japanese), thus utate (extremely) was represented by [得田手], chihahi (for sachihafi, bless) by [千羽日]. Sometimes two characters represented one sound, thus [嗚呼] for a, [五十] (isozhi) for i, [牛鳴], ushi no naku, ‘moo’ of cow, for mu. Some sounds (ku, ri, ru, ro, wa) are not found thus symbolized, that is, japonicé. A curious double character is [石花] for se, another is [羊{蹄}] (hitsuzhi no ashi) for shi. A third and very confused script is exemplified in [還金] kaherikomu (return), where kaheri is kun and komu (kon) is on, and [知三] shirasamu (shall know), where shira is kun modified grammatically, and samu (san = three) is on representing the inflexion.

Still more confusingly, an ideograph may be used with an on (Chinese) sound resembling a kun (native) word, and the kun word may be employed, not in its natural sense, but as it were punningly, though more often no quibble is intended. Thus [兼] of which the on is ken, may be used for the verbal termination kemu, as in [茢兼] (karikemu, will have reaped), where [茢] is employed lexicographically as kemu, as just explained. So [不有君] does not mean kimi arazu (lord is not) but ari nakuni, as there is not. Similar examples are kaherikomu and shirasamu cited above. So [難] nan (difficult) for nani, what?, [{點}] ten for -temu; [徳] toku for toko, and so forth.

Or the Japanese reading of a character may be taken, but in a signification different from its true meaning, thus [庭] niha, a court or yard, for the particles ni ha, [玉] tama, jewel or pearl, for tamashii, soul, or even [湯龜] yu-game = water-tortoise for yukame = will go, or the combination [石二] = stone-two, which puzzled Shitagau so sorely, and finally turned out to mean made = until, to which may be added the commonest of all [鴨] = kamo, a wild duck, used for ka mo, an expression of mingled entreaty and doubt.

The above devices were no doubt resorted to partly to supply the place of a syllabary, partly for purposes of abbreviation, the full writing of long Japanese words with a Chinese character for each syllable being found too laborious.

But characters are often also used in a punning or humorous way. Thus [二二] = 2 × 2 are employed to represent the syllable shi (which means 4 in Japano-Chinese), but here is used phonetically to represent the emphatic particle shi or the syllable shi merely. So [山上復有山] = mountain [山] upon mountain to represent [出] idzuru, go forth, out, &c., [三伏一向衣] = three-prostrations-one-regard-night, i.e. a moonlight night (when one salutes the moon), [八十一] (81) as equivalent to ku ku, nine times nine, part of the word kukumeru (= fukumeru, hold in mouth, imply), and so forth. Characters used otherwise than to express their true meaning are called kariji, borrow-characters, i.e. characters borrowed to signify some other meaning than their own. Characters used in the orthodox manner are called manaji—true characters.

There are also guji, [具字] double characters used, where one would suffice, thus [何物] for [何] nani. This is probably a mere embellishment.

Contracted script is not uncommon; thus we find [山下] for [山下出風] = arashi, a violent wind (rushing down from the mountains).

Lastly, there are abbreviated characters—a full list of which is given in the Kogi, together with a few characters peculiar to the Anthology and contracted expressions such as amori for ame ori, Yamato naru for Y. ni aru, haru sareba for haru shi areba, chifu for to ifu (modern tefu = chō of Kyôto), and so forth.

The above system of scripts is known as Manyôgaki and is sometimes imitated in modern productions as in a recently published play now before me.

Texts preserved in such scripts could not fail to be corrupt or obscure in parts. Not only from the difficulty of reading the ideographs when these came to be translated into kana, but from the fact that the manuscripts were often in cursive character, easily misread and miswritten by the copyists. The text of the Manyôshiu I have used is throughout that of the Kogi, but I have not omitted in the notes to the translations to give some attention to the various readings cited in that work. By far the best discussion of these seems to be that of Keichiu which with the Kogi is much superior in my opinion to the commentary of either Mabuchi or Motowori [6]—the latter especially appears to be lacking in critical acumen.

The following additional remarks on the script are important. According to Amano Nobukage (died 1734), in the Manyô script the Chinese characters are read japonicé in four ways:—

1. mana, as [心] kokoro (heart, mind, &c.), where single characters are read as true Japanese words.

2. Where combined characters are read true, as [春霞] harukasumi (spring-mist); [秋風] aki-kaze (autumn-wind).

3. Where combined characters are read in full, but the meaning of the whole is not the sum of the meanings of the parts, as [垣津{旗}] kakitsubata (Iris laevigata)—the characters separately mean—kaki (fence), tsu (place), hata (flag).

4. Where combined characters are read together as a whole, as [春鳥] uguhisu (Cettia cantans), lit. spring-bird; [三五夜] mochidzuki (full-moon), lit. three-five-night = fifteenth night of a lunar month, when the moon is full.

To these categories must be added that of humorous combinations, thus [十六] (sixteen) = shi shi (4 × 4), and is used for shishi (flesh); [靑頭鷄] kamo (wild-duck), lit. green-head-fowl.

In the Kogi text the characters are used in the following modes, all of which are fully illustrated by examples in a section of the sōron or General Introduction to the Edition.

A. According to the on or Chinese sound (Japano-Chinese).

1. Full, as [阿] a, [伊] i; so in Chinese.

2. Contracted, as [安] a, [印] i; in Chinese an, in.

B. According to the kun (yomi) or Japanese reading.

1. [天] ame (heaven), [地] tsuchi (earth), [大地] ohotokoro (great place). Each character is here read with one of its ordinary Japanese pronunciations and meanings.

2. Combined characters of similar meaning read as one word (Japanese)—[明淸] akirakeku (bright).

3. Combined characters of different meaning read as one word—[海士] ama (fisherman), [蜻蛉] akitsu [or seirei] (dragon-fly).

4. The characters are read as = a Chinese translation of the Japanese word—[行知所] shiroshimeshi (govern).

5. The character or combination is read according to an ancient meaning—[不知] isa (no, not so), [服] hada (naked skin).

6. The character is read specially—[縵] kadzura (chaplet), [棟] kura (saddle).

7. The character is abbreviated—[建] for [健], [已] for [起].

In addition the Kogi gives the following categories:—

gikun, combinations not literally translated into Japanese—[玄{黄}] ametsuchi (heaven and earth), lit. dark-blue (of sky) and yellow-brown (of earth), [親親] chichi-haha (parents, father and mother), lit. love-love. A great many of these are given; many would scarcely suggest the meaning of the combination; sometimes, as when [蓋] futa (lid), is used to express [二] futa (two), a word-play is involved.

kariji or borrowed characters which have been already exemplified. But one curious expression may be added, [{喚}犬{追}馬鏡] masokagami (true-pure-mirror), the characters mean call (or bark?)-dog-follow-horse (ma) mirror; call-dog-follow is a humorous (?) description of ma, meaning horse, but here used for the homophon ma, true, εὐ, part of ma so, which has the same meaning.

Subjoined is the script of the text of [Lay 118] which well exemplifies the peculiarities of Manyôgaki. The columnar transliteration represents the similar transliteration into syllabic kana in the usual editions inclusive of the Kogi.