[Decoration]
I
BY the Japanese a certain kind of girl is called a
Rose-Girl,--_Bara-Musume_. Perhaps my reader will think of Tennyson's
"queen-rose of the rosebud-garden of girls," and imagine some analogy
between the Japanese and the English idea of femininity symbolized by
the rose. But there is no analogy whatever. The _Bara-Musume_ is not so
called because she is delicate and sweet, nor because she blushes, nor
because she is rosy; indeed, a rosy face is not admired in Japan. No;
she is compared to a rose chiefly for the reason that a rose has thorns.
The man who tries to pull a Japanese rose is likely to hurt his fingers.
The man who tries to win a _Bara-Musume_ is apt to hurt himself much
more seriously,--even unto death. It were better, alone and unarmed, to
meet a tiger than to invite the caress of a Rose-Girl.
Now the appellation of _Bara-Musume_--much more rational as a simile
than many of our own floral comparisons--can seem strange only because
it is not in accord with our poetical usages and emotional habits. It is
one in a thousand possible examples of the fact that Japanese similes
and metaphors are not of the sort that he who runs may read. And this
fact is particularly well exemplified in the _yobina_, or personal names
of Japanese women. Because a _yobina_ happens to be identical with the
name of some tree, or bird, or flower, it does not follow that the
personal appellation conveys to Japanese imagination ideas resembling
those which the corresponding English word would convey, under like
circumstances, to English imagination. Of the _yobina_ that seem to us
especially beautiful in translation, only a small number are bestowed
for aesthetic reasons. Nor is it correct to suppose, as many persons
still do, that Japanese girls are usually named after flowers, or
graceful shrubs, or other beautiful objects. AEsthetic appellations are
in use; but the majority of _yobina_ are not aesthetic. Some years ago a
young Japanese scholar published an interesting essay upon this
subject. He had collected the personal names of about four hundred
students of the Higher Normal School for Females,--girls from every part
of the Empire; and he found on his list only between fifty and sixty
names possessing aesthetic quality. But concerning even these he was
careful to observe only that they "_caused_ an aesthetic sensation,"--not
that they had been given for aesthetic reasons. Among them were such
names as _Saki_ (Cape), _Mine_ (Peak), _Kishi_ (Beach), _Hama_ (Shore),
_Kuni_ (Capital),--originally place-names;--_Tsuru_ (Stork), _Tazu_
(Ricefield Stork), and _Chizu_ (Thousand Storks);--also such
appellations as _Yoshino_ (Fertile Field), _Orino_ (Weavers' Field),
_Shirushi_ (Proof), and _Masago_ (Sand). Few of these could seem
aesthetic to a Western mind; and probably no one of them was originally
given for aesthetic reasons. Names containing the character for "Stork"
are names having reference to longevity, not to beauty; and a large
number of names with the termination "_no_" (field or plain) are names
referring to moral qualities. I doubt whether even fifteen per cent of
_yobina_ are really aesthetic. A very much larger proportion are names
expressing moral or mental qualities. Tenderness, kindness, deftness,
cleverness, are frequently represented by _yobina_; but appellations
implying physical charm, or suggesting aesthetic ideas only, are
comparatively uncommon. One reason for the fact may be that very
aesthetic names are given to _geisha_ and to _joro_, and consequently
vulgarized. But the chief reason certainly is that the domestic virtues
still occupy in Japanese moral estimate a place not less important than
that accorded to religious faith in the life of our own Middle Ages. Not
in theory only, but in every-day practice, moral beauty is placed far
above physical beauty; and girls are usually selected as wives, not for
their good looks, but for their domestic qualities. Among the middle
classes a very aesthetic name would not be considered in the best taste;
among the poorer classes, it would scarcely be thought respectable.
Ladies of rank, on the other hand, are privileged to bear very poetical
names; yet the majority of the aristocratic yobina also are moral rather
than aesthetic.
* * * * *
But the first great difficulty in the way of a study of _yobina_ is the
difficulty of translating them. A knowledge of spoken Japanese can help
you very little indeed. A knowledge of Chinese also is indispensable.
The meaning of a name written in _kana_ only,--in the Japanese
characters,--cannot be, in most cases, even guessed at. The Chinese
characters of the name can alone explain it. The Japanese essayist,
already referred to, found himself obliged to throw out no less than
thirty-six names out of a list of two hundred and thirteen, simply
because these thirty-six, having been recorded only in _kana_, could not
be interpreted. _Kana_ give only the pronunciation; and the
pronunciation of a woman's name explains nothing in a majority of cases.
Transliterated into Romaji, a _yobina_ may signify two, three, or even
half-a-dozen different things. One of the names thrown out of the list
was _Banka_. _Banka_ might signify "Mint" (the plant), which would be a
pretty name; but it might also mean "Evening-haze." _Yuka_, another
rejected name, might be an abbreviation of _Yukabutsu_, "precious"; but
it might just as well mean "a floor." _Nochi_, a third example, might
signify "future"; yet it could also mean "a descendant," and various
other things. My reader will be able to find many other homonyms in the
lists of names given further on. _Ai_ in Romaji, for instance, may
signify either "love" or "indigo-blue";--_Cho_, "a butterfly," or
"superior," or "long";--_Ei_, either "sagacious" or "blooming";--_Kei_,
either "rapture" or "reverence";--_Sato_, either "native home" or
"sugar";--_Toshi_, either "year" or "arrow-head";--_Taka_, "tall,"
"honorable," or "falcon." The chief, and, for the present, insuperable
obstacle to the use of Roman letters in writing Japanese, is the
prodigious number of homonyms in the language. You need only glance into
any good Japanese-English dictionary to understand the gravity of this
obstacle. Not to multiply examples, I shall merely observe that there
are nineteen words spelled _cho_; twenty-one spelled _ki_; twenty-five
spelled _to_ or _to_; and no less than forty-nine spelled _ko_ or _ko_.
* * * * *
Yet, as I have already suggested, the real signification of a woman's
name cannot be ascertained even from a literal translation made with the
help of the Chinese characters. Such a name, for instance, as _Kagami_
(Mirror) really signifies the Pure-Minded, and this not in the
Occidental, but in the Confucian sense of the term. _Ume_
(Plum-blossom) is a name referring to wifely devotion and virtue.
_Matsu_ (Pine) does not refer, as an appellation, to the beauty of the
tree, but to the fact that its evergreen foliage is the emblem of
vigorous age. The name _Take_ (Bamboo) is given to a child only because
the bamboo has been for centuries a symbol of good-fortune. The name
_Sen_ (Wood-fairy) sounds charmingly to Western fancy; yet it expresses
nothing more than the parents' hope of long life for their daughter and
her offspring,--wood-fairies being supposed to live for thousands of
years.... Again, many names are of so strange a sort that it is
impossible to discover their meaning without questioning either the
bearer or the giver; and sometimes all inquiry proves vain, because the
original meaning has been long forgotten.
Before attempting to go further into the subject, I shall here offer a
translation of the Tokyo essayist's list of names,--rearranged in
alphabetical order, without honorific prefixes or suffixes. Although
some classes of common names are not represented, the list will serve to
show the character of many still popular _yobina_, and also to
illustrate several of the facts to which I have already called
attention.
SELECTED NAMES OF STUDENTS AND GRADUATES
OF THE HIGHER NORMAL SCHOOL FOR
FEMALES (1880-1895):--
Number of
students
so named.
_Ai_ ("Indigo,"--the color) 1
_Ai_ ("Love") 1
_Akasuke_ ("The Bright Helper") 1
_Asa_ ("Morning") 1
_Asa_ ("Shallow")[33] 2
[33] Probably a place-name originally.
_Au_ ("Meeting") 2
_Bun_ ("Composition"--in the literary sense)[34] 1
[34] Might we not quaintly say, "A Fair Writing"?
_Chika_ ("Near")[35] 5
[35] Probably in the sense of "near and dear"--but not
certainly so.
_Chitose_ ("A Thousand Years") 1
_Chiyo_ ("A Thousand Generations") 1
_Chizu_ ("Thousand Storks") 1
_Cho_ ("Butterfly") 1
_Cho_ ("Superior") 2
_Ei_ ("Clever") 1
_Ei_ ("Blooming") 2
_Etsu_ ("Delight") 1
_Fude_ ("Writing-brush") 1
_Fuji_ ("Fuji,"--the mountain) 1
_Fuji_ ("Wistaria-flower") 2
_Fuki_ ("Fuki,"--name of a plant, _Nardosmia
Japonica_) 1
_Fuku_ ("Good-fortune") 2
_Fumi_ ("Letter")[36] 5
[36] _Fumi_ signifies here a letter written by a woman
only--a letter written according to the rules of
feminine epistolary style.
_Fumino_ ("Letter-field") 1
_Fusa_ ("Tassel") 3
_Gin_ ("Silver") 2
_Hama_ ("Shore") 3
_Hana_ ("Blossom") 3
_Harue_ ("Spring-time Bay") 1
_Hatsu_ ("The First-born") 2
_Hide_ ("Excellent") 4
_Hide_ ("Fruitful") 2
_Hisano_ ("Long Plain") 2
_Ichi_ ("Market") 4
_Iku_ ("Nourishing") 3
_Ine_ ("Springing Rice") 3
_Ishi_ ("Stone") 1
_Ito_ ("Thread") 4
_Iwa_ ("Rock") 1
_Jun_ ("The Obedient")[37] 1
[37] _Jun suru_ means to be obedient unto death. The
word _jun_ has a much stronger signification than
that which attaches to our word "obedience" in
these modern times.
_Kagami_ ("Mirror") 3
_Kama_ ("Sickle") 1
_Kame_ ("Tortoise") 2
_Kameyo_ ("Generations-of-the-Tortoise")[38] 1
[38] The tortoise is supposed to live for a thousand
years.
_Kan_ ("The Forbearing")[39] 11
[39] Abbreviation of _kannin_, "forbearance,"
"self-control," etc. The name might equally well
be translated "Patience."
_Kana_ ("Character"--in the sense of written
character)[40] 2
[40] _Kana_ signifies the Japanese syllabary,--the
characters with which the language is written. The
reader may imagine, if he wishes, that the name
signifies the Alpha and Omega of all feminine
charm; but I confess that I have not been able to
find any satisfactory explanation of it.
_Kane_ ("Bronze") 3
_Katsu_ ("Victorious") 2
_Kazashi_ ("Hair-pin,"--or any ornament worn
in the hair) 1
_Kazu_ ("Number,"--i.e., "great number") 1
_Kei_ ("The Respectful") 3
_Ken_ ("Humility") 1
_Kiku_ ("Chrysanthemum") 6
_Kikue_ ("Chrysanthemum-branch") 1
_Kikuno_ ("Chrysanthemum-field") 1
_Kimi_ ("Sovereign") 1
_Kin_ ("Gold") 4
_Kinu_ ("Cloth-of-Silk") 1
_Kishi_ ("Beach") 2
_Kiyo_ ("Happy Generations") 1
_Kiyo_ ("Pure") 5
_Ko_ ("Chime,"--the sound of a bell) 1
_Ko_ ("Filial Piety") 11
_Ko_ ("The Fine") 1
_Koma_ ("Filly") 1
_Kome_ ("Cleaned Rice") 1
_Koto_ ("Koto,"--the Japanese harp) 4
_Kuma_ ("Bear") 1
_Kumi_ ("Braid") 1
_Kuni_ ("Capital,"--chief city) 1
_Kuni_ ("Province") 3
_Kura_ ("Treasure-house") 1
_Kurano_ ("Storehouse-field") 1
_Kuri_ ("Chestnut") 1
_Kuwa_ ("Mulberry-tree") 1
_Masa_ ("Straightforward,"--upright) 3
_Masago_ ("Sand") 1
_Masu_ ("Increase") 3
_Masue_ ("Branch-of-Increase") 1
_Matsu_ ("Pine") 2
_Matsue_ ("Pine-branch") 1
_Michi_ ("The Way,"--doctrine) 4
_Mie_ ("Triple Branch") 1
_Mikie_ ("Main-branch") 1
_Mine_ ("Peak") 2
_Mitsu_ ("Light") 5
_Mitsue_ ("Shining Branch") 1
_Morie_ ("Service-Bay")[41] 1
[41] The word "service" here refers especially to
attendance at meal-time,--to the serving of rice,
etc.
_Naka_ ("The Midmost") 4
_Nami_ ("Wave") 1
_Nobu_ ("Fidelity") 6
_Nobu_ ("The Prolonger")[42] 1
[42] Perhaps in the hopeful meaning of extending the
family-line; but more probably in the signification
that a daughter's care prolongs the life of her
parents, or of her husband's parents.
_Nobue_ ("Lengthening-branch") 1
_Nui_ ("Tapestry,"--or, Embroidery) 1
_Orino_ ("Weaving-Field") 1
_Raku_ ("Pleasure") 3
_Ren_ ("The Arranger") 1
_Riku_ ("Land,"--ground) 1
_Roku_ ("Emolument") 1
_Ryo_ ("Dragon") 1
_Ryu_ ("Lofty") 3
_Sada_ ("The Chaste") 8
_Saki_ ("Cape,"--promontory) 1
_Saku_ ("Composition")[43] 3
[43] Abbreviation of _sakubun_, a literary composition.
_Sato_ ("Home,"--native place) 2
_Sawa_ ("Marsh") 1
_Sei_ ("Force") 1
_Seki_ ("Barrier,"--city-gate, toll-gate, etc.). 3
_Sen_ ("Fairy")[44] 3
[44] As a matter of fact, we have no English equivalent
for the word "sen," or "sennin,"--signifying a
being possessing magical powers of all kinds and
living for thousands of years. Some authorities
consider the belief in _sennin_ of Indian origin,
and probably derived from old traditions of the
Rishi.
_Setsu_ ("True,"--tender and true) 2
_Shidzu_ ("The Calmer") 1
_Shidzu_ ("Peace") 2
_Shige_ ("Two-fold") 2
_Shika_ ("Deer") 2
_Shikae_ ("Deer-Inlet") 1
_Shime_ ("The Clasp,"--fastening) 1
_Shin_ ("Truth") 1
_Shina_ ("Goods") 1
_Shina_ ("Virtue") 1
_Shino_ ("Slender Bamboo") 1
_Shirushi_ ("The Proof,"--evidence) 1
_Shun_ ("The Excellent") 1
_Sue_ ("The Last") 2
_Sugi_ ("Cedar,"--cryptomeria) 1
_Sute_ ("Forsaken,"--foundling) 1
_Suzu_ ("Little Bell") 8
_Suzu_ ("Tin") 1
_Suzue_ ("Branch of Little Bells") 1
_Tae_ ("Exquisite") 1
_Taka_ ("Honor") 2
_Taka_ ("Lofty") 9
_Take_ ("Bamboo") 1
_Tama_ ("Jewel") 1
_Tamaki_ ("Ring") 1
_Tame_ ("For-the-Sake-of--") 3
_Tani_ ("Valley") 4
_Tazu_ ("Ricefield-Stork") 1
_Tetsu_ ("Iron") 4
_Toku_ ("Virtue") 2
_Tome_ ("Stop,"--cease)[45] 1
[45] Such a name may signify that the parents resolved,
after the birth of the girl, to have no more
children.
_Tomi_ ("Riches") 3
_Tomiju_ ("Wealth-and-Longevity") 1
_Tomo_ ("The Friend") 4
_Tora_ ("Tiger") 1
_Toshi_ ("Arrowhead") 1
_Toyo_ ("Abundance") 3
_Tsugi_ ("Next,"--i. e., second in order of birth) 2
_Tsuna_ ("Bond,"--rope, or fetter) 1
_Tsune_ ("The Constant,"--or, as we should say,
Constance) 10
_Tsuru_ ("Stork") 4
_Ume_ ("Plum-blossom") 1
_Umegae_ ("Plumtree-spray") 1
_Umeno_ ("Plumtree-field") 2
_Urano_ ("Shore-field") 1
_Ushi_ ("Cow,"--or Ox)[46] 1
[46] This extraordinary name is probably to be explained
as a reference to date of birth. According to the
old Chinese astrology, years, months, days, and
hours were all named after the Signs of the Zodiac,
and were supposed to have some mystic relation to
those signs. I surmise that Miss Ushi was born at
the Hour of the Ox, on the Day of the Ox, in the
Month of the Ox and the Year of the Ox--"_Ushi no
Toshi no Ushi no Tsuki no Ushi no Hi no Ushi no
Koku._"
_Uta_ ("Poem,"--or Song) 1
_Wakana_ ("Young _Na_,"--probably the rape-plant
is referred to) 1
_Yae_ ("Eight-fold") 1
_Yasu_ ("The Tranquil") 1
_Yo_ ("The Positive,"--as opposed to Negative
or Feminine in the old Chinese
philosophy;--therefore, perhaps,
Masculine) 1
_Yone_ ("Rice,"--in the old sense of wealth) 4
_Yoshi_ ("The Good") 1
_Yoshino_ ("Good Field") 1
_Yu_ ("The Valiant") 1
_Yuri_ ("Lily") 1
It will be observed that in the above list the names referring to
Constancy, Forbearance, and Filial Piety have the highest numbers
attached to them.