Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu

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Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (三国通覧図説, An Illustrated Description of Three Countries) by Hayashi Shihei (1738–93) was published in Japan in 1785.[1] This book represents one of the earliest attempts to define Japan in terms of its outer boundaries. It represented a modern effort to distinguish Japan from the neighboring nations.[2]

The book describes those three surrounding nations: the Joseon Dynasty (Korea), the Ryukyu Kingdom (Ryukyu Islands/Okinawa) and Ezo (Hokkaido),[3] as well as the yet uninhabited Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands).[4]

A copy of Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu was brought to Europe by Isaac Titsingh (1745-1812). In Paris, the text represented the first appearance of Korean han'gŭl in Europe.[4] After Titsingh's death, the printed original and Titsingh's translation were purchased by Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat (1788-1832) at the Collège de France.[5] After Rémusat's death, Julius Klaproth (1783-1835) at the Institut Royal in Paris published his version of Titsingh's work.[5] In 1832, the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland supported the posthumous abridged publication of Titsingh's French translation.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ WorldCat, Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu; alternate romaji Sankoku Tsūran Zusetsu
  2. ^ Traganou, Jilly. (2004). The Tōkaidō Road: Traveling and representation in Edo and Meiji Japan, p. 209., p. 209, at Google Books citing Tessa Morris-Suzuki. (1998). Re-inventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation, p. 23., p. 23, at Google Books
  3. ^ Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds, p. 137.
  4. ^ a b Vos, Ken. "Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1," Archived 2012-06-22 at the Wayback Machine p. 7.
  5. ^ a b Kublin, Hyman. "The Discovery of the Bonin Islands: A Reexamination," Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 43, Issue 1 (March 1, 1953). p. 35.
  6. ^ Gulik, W.R. van. (1982). Irezumi: The Pattern of Dermatography in Japan, p. 181.

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