Rhetoric and the Discourses of Power in Court Culture: China, Europe, and Japan

8. The Politics of Classical Chinese in the Early Japanese Court

chapter฀ The฀Politics฀of฀Classical฀Chinese฀in฀the฀Early฀Japanese฀ Court robert฀borgen The฀Chinese฀language,฀or฀to฀be฀more฀precise,฀the฀classical฀Chinese฀written฀ language,฀has฀been฀an฀integral฀part฀of฀Japanese฀culture฀from฀the฀beginning฀ of฀that฀nation’s฀recorded฀history.฀It฀was฀in฀the฀Chinese฀language฀that฀Japan฀ first฀ appears฀ in฀ writing,฀ in฀ the฀ form฀ of฀ passing฀ references฀ in฀ Chinese฀ sources฀dating฀from฀the฀second฀century฀b.c.e.฀Japanese฀archaeologists฀have฀ excavated฀inscribed฀items฀from฀China฀that฀date฀back฀to฀the฀first฀decades฀of฀ the฀Common฀Era,฀although฀the฀circumstances฀of฀their฀arrival฀in฀Japan฀are฀ unknown.฀ Over฀ the฀ centuries,฀ the฀ Chinese฀ language฀ has฀ had฀ its฀ ups฀ and฀ downs฀in฀Japan,฀but฀it฀has฀never฀quite฀disappeared฀from฀the฀consciousness฀ of฀Japanese฀with฀any฀pretense฀of฀a฀formal฀education.฀Today,฀classical฀Chinese฀ is฀in฀one฀of฀its฀downs,฀from฀which฀recovery฀can฀hardly฀be฀expected.฀Still,฀ as฀the฀new฀millennium฀begins,฀anyone฀who฀watches฀educational฀television฀ in฀Japan฀can฀enjoy฀the฀daily฀explication฀of฀a฀classical฀Chinese฀poem,฀albeit฀ at฀:฀a.m.฀Furthermore,฀a฀smattering฀of฀instruction฀in฀classical฀Chinese฀ remains฀part฀of฀the฀standard฀national฀high฀school฀curriculum.฀Significantly,฀ young฀Japanese฀are฀introduced฀to฀a฀few฀samples฀of฀classical฀Chinese฀prose฀ and฀poetry฀as฀part฀of฀the฀“national฀language”฀(i.e.,฀Japanese)฀class.฀Although฀ Japanese฀culture,฀whereas฀modern฀Chinese฀literature฀is฀not. ฀ The฀use฀of฀Chinese฀in฀Japan฀has฀often฀been฀compared฀with฀that฀of฀Latin฀ in฀the฀Western฀world,฀and฀indeed฀parallels฀can฀be฀found฀easily.฀Many฀of฀the฀ classical฀texts฀that฀Japanese฀have฀admired฀over฀the฀centuries฀were฀written฀ in฀Chinese.฀They฀include฀not฀only฀works฀that฀originated฀in฀China,฀such฀as฀ the฀Confucian฀canon฀and฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀literary฀works,฀but฀also฀Buddhist฀ texts฀ that฀ entered฀ Japan฀ almost฀ exclusively฀ in฀ the฀ Chinese฀ language฀ and฀ works฀written฀in฀Chinese฀by฀Japanese฀authors.฀Originally,฀Chinese฀was฀the฀ only฀written฀language฀known฀to฀the฀Japanese,฀but฀even฀after฀the฀Japanese฀ developed฀ their฀ own฀ writing฀ system,฀ Chinese฀ remained฀ the฀ preferred฀ language฀ for฀ certain฀ types฀ of฀ serious฀ writing฀ during฀ some฀ periods฀ of฀ Japanese฀history.฀ Despite฀the฀importance฀of฀classical฀Chinese฀in฀Japanese฀culture,฀its฀use฀ has฀been฀criticized.฀One฀line฀of฀reasoning฀cannot฀be฀gainsaid:฀the฀Chinese฀ writing฀ system฀ is฀ cumbersome฀ and฀ remains฀ a฀ burden฀ to฀ Japanese฀ who฀ continue฀to฀use฀its฀characters฀in฀their฀modern฀hybrid฀orthography.฀If฀only฀ the฀Japanese฀islands฀had฀been฀located฀off฀the฀coast฀of฀Europe฀or฀South฀Asia,฀ the฀argument฀goes,฀the฀Japanese฀would฀have฀first฀come฀into฀contact฀with฀ alphabetic฀ scripts฀ easily฀ adapted฀ for฀ writing฀ the฀ Japanese฀ language.฀ Life฀ would฀ have฀ been฀ easier,฀ both฀ for฀ Japanese฀ elementary฀ school฀ pupils฀ and฀ for฀foreign฀students฀of฀Japanese.฀Alas,฀this฀argument฀falls฀into฀the฀“what฀if”฀ school฀of฀history฀and฀even฀those฀who฀propose฀it฀have฀enough฀sense฀not฀to฀ pursue฀the฀issue.2 ฀A฀few฀Japanese,฀not฀to฀mention฀many฀unhappy฀foreigners฀ struggling฀ with฀ the฀ Japanese฀ writing฀ system,฀ have฀ proposed฀ that฀ Japan฀ abandon฀its฀use฀of฀Chinese฀characters,฀but฀such฀ideas฀have฀never฀found฀wide฀ acceptance.3 Critics฀have฀also฀found฀aesthetic฀grounds฀for฀lamenting฀Japan’s฀use฀of฀ Chinese.฀Such฀objections฀look฀to฀the฀period฀just฀after฀the฀Japanese฀developed฀ their฀own฀phonetic฀script฀early฀in฀the฀Heian฀period฀(–),฀when฀a฀new฀ capital฀was฀created฀in฀the฀city฀then฀called฀Heian,฀the฀modern฀Kyoto.฀This฀ period฀came฀to฀be฀regarded฀as฀the฀classical฀age฀of฀Japanese฀literature,฀for฀ the฀ creation฀ of฀ a฀ reasonably฀ convenient฀ script฀ led฀ to฀ an฀ outpouring฀ of฀ distinctive฀ literature฀ in฀ which฀ only฀ attentive฀ readers฀ will฀ see฀ the฀ Chinese฀ influences.฀฀Among฀the฀works฀produced฀are฀masterpieces฀of฀prose฀that฀today฀ translated฀into฀many฀languages.฀Within฀the฀Japanese฀literary฀tradition,฀an฀ earlier฀work฀might฀be฀even฀more฀important:฀Kokinshū฀古今集฀(A฀collection฀ of฀Japanese฀poems,฀past฀and฀present),฀which฀appeared฀in฀.฀It฀was฀the฀ first฀imperially฀sponsored฀anthology฀of฀poetry฀in฀Japanese฀and฀established฀ linguistic฀ and฀ aesthetic฀ standards฀ that฀ dominated฀ Japanese฀ literature฀ for฀ centuries.฀ The฀ role฀ of฀ women฀ in฀ the฀ creation฀ of฀ this฀ classical฀ canon฀ is฀ noteworthy,฀for฀aristocratic฀court฀ladies฀wrote฀the฀most฀admired฀examples฀ of฀Heian฀prose฀and฀any฀list฀of฀the฀great฀poets฀of฀the฀age฀will฀include฀some฀ women.฀ The฀Chinese฀language฀is฀often฀given฀as฀the฀explanation฀for฀the฀prominence฀ of฀women฀writers฀in฀early฀Japan.฀For฀example,฀in฀฀the฀historian฀George฀ Sansom฀ explained฀ that฀“the฀ wits฀ of฀ the฀ men฀ were฀ fuddled฀ with฀ Chinese฀ books฀ and฀ second-hand฀ Chinese฀ ideas.฀ The฀ women,฀ on...