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Seminar

Methods of East Asian Classical Studies, 62nd Seminar
A Platform for Rising Scholars (Session 27)

Date
Saturday, November 28th, 2020, 2:00 pm
Venue
Zoom Webinar (Online)

Basic Information

Summary

Topic #1: Language Composition from Japanese Loanwords’ Impact on Sinitic Compound Terms
Speaker: Li Yao (PhD Candidate, Kyoto University)

Topic #2: Is Emperor Yuan of Liang the Author of the Preface and Inscription for the ‘Xiao Jing Epitaph’ in the Kōnin manuscript of the Wenguan Cilin?
Speaker: Chen Jinqing (PhD Candidate, Kyoto University)

Host

KAKENHI Program “Development of the Next Generation of East Asian Classical Studies through International Collaboration: From the Perspective of the Frontier of the Realm of Chinese Characters”

Reports

              On the day of the event, professors and graduate students gathered to hear talks on topics shared by PhD students Li Yao and Chen Jinging.
 
              First Li Yao presented on “The Influence of Japanese Loan Words on Chinese Compounds.” From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, a large amount of Japanese vocabulary was incorporated as loan words into Chinese language. This presentation focused on the influence of Japanese loan words on Chinese compounds, which constitute a large portion of Chinese language, especially as it concerns their semantic development.
              An overview of Li’s presentation is as follows.
              Japanese loan words that were assimilated into Chinese originally existed as phrases within Chinese language and entered into Japanese where they became individual words, or pre-existing Chinese words changed during the course of their incorporation into Japanese, and these words eventually came to re-enter Chinese language. Resultingly, these loan words “camouflaged” themselves as though they had always existed within Chinese as compound words and were easily assimilated and defined by people who regularly utilized them as Chinese compounds. 
             Next Li discussed Chinese Verb-Object constructions, with an eye toward considering the influence of Japanese on their semantic development. Chinese Verb-Object constructions most often do not take a direct object, but in cases where they are able to take direct objects, there is a high likelihood that they originate as loan words from Japanese. In Japanese these would tend to be transitive verbs taking either the conjugative suffixes “ヲ” or “ニ” as their objects, but when they reentered Chinese language, from a formal perspective, these conjugative suffixes were discarded leaving behind only the kanji word stems to be utilized. On the other hand, from a grammatical perspective, these verb’s grammatical functions were borrowed in their entirety, and as such they departed in grammatical function from traditional Verb-Object constructions, which led to them taking objects external to them even in Chinese language. 
 
             After a short break, Chen Jinging gave the second presentation, “Was Emperor Yuan of Liang the Author of the Preface and Inscription of the Epitaph for Xiao Jing in the The Kōnin Edition of Wenguan Cilin?” 
              An overview of this presentation is as follows. 
              The Wenguan Cilin is a collection of Chinese poetry complied in the Tang Dynasty that was ultimately lost in China but is extant in several dozen editions found in Japan. Parts of the Kōnin Edition of Wenguan Cilin are held in Koyasan and the Tenri Library of the Imperial Household Agency’s Archives and Mausolea Department. Chen’s focus for this presentation was the Preface and Epitaph Inscription for Xiao Jing, the Governor of Ying Province (hereafter, Epitaph for Xiao Jing) which is included in the Kōnin Edition of Wenguan Cilin. In accordance with statements by the compiler of the Wenguan Cilin, it has generally been held that the author of the Epitaph for Xiao Jing was Emperor Yuan of Liang (Xiao Yi). However, Chen expertly shows that there remains room to reconsider this position. 
              First Chen introduced the possibility that during the compilation of Wenguan Cilin, its compilers consolidated the original title down into a formula of “Toponym + title + governor-general + epitaph inscription with preface” for the sake of convenience. Next, he investigated other epitaphs attributed to Xiao Yi, then revealed characteristic features of the Epitaph for Xiao Jing. He took up the example of the Stele for Dharma Master Zhizang (522) and the Epitaph Inscription for Minister of Ceremonies Lu Chui (526) in which the epitaph inscription is attributed to Xiao Yi but the preface was written by someone else, and argued for the possibility that the preface was written by a close associate of Xiao Yi’s who worked as an administrative official in charge of texts. 
              Next Chen explored the possibility that the preface and inscription were not written by the same person by focusing on contradictions in expressions between the preface and inscriptions that describe the historical event of the subjugation of the Northern Wei, as well as content that is found only in the inscription. Finally, he investigated the historical context in which the Epitaph for Xiao Jing was written.
              Additionally, Chen discussed how Pei Ziye was an administrative official in charge of record keeping under Xiao Jing, that he was also tasked with working as a compiler of histories of the realm, and that Pei Ziye was close to Xiao Jing’s son Xiao Li, as well as Xiao Yi as potential evidence to support his hypothesis that Pei Ziye was likely the author of the preface. 
 
              During the subsequent open discussion lively points of conversation included Japanese words of Chinese origin, Japanese loan words, Japanese rangaku (Dutch studies) scholars and their translation activities, the influence of loan words in Chinese language translations of European texts during the late Ming and early Qing, the degree of dissemination of Chinese language translations of European texts made by Western missionaries in the late Ming, verse, epitaph inscriptions, and how to consolidate points of argument. 
 
              We would like to express gratitude to the two presenters who provided this space for a stimulating conversation as well as those who participate in the open discussion.
 
(Wang Yiran, Adjunct Lecturer, Kyoto University)

About the Platform for Rising Scholars

 The Platform for Rising Scholars was started in 2016 as part of the Creation of a Next-Generation Hub for East Asian Classical Studies: Accelerating Research and Education through International Collaboration (headed by Saitō Mareshi), with hopes of providing young researchers with an opportunity to share their research and communicate with one another. This platform encourages promising researchers, including graduate students, post-doctors, assistant professors, and lecturers, to present their research outside of their home institutions. Commentators are likewise selected from among young researchers for the purpose of promoting inter-institutional communication.