Sexagenary Cycle Pronuniciation
Just a quick question in regards to the Mantetsu dating system. Correct me if I am wrong, the kanji characters should be translated using the "kun" and not the "on" pronunication?
Kun reading: 昭和戊寅春 = Shōwa Tsuchinoe Tora Haru = 1938 Spring.
On reading: 昭和戊寅春 = Shōwa Boin Haru = 1938 Spring.
They should be On reading （音讀）because the dating system is strictly Chinese.
Nick will give us a definitive answer.
"Tsuchinoe Tora" and "Boin" are both correct, but the former Kun-reading is predominant and very few Japanese would know the On-reading, as it is so seldomly used. Instead, 99% will interpret Boin, as ボイン (slang for big watermelon boobs) and will look at you in horror. The On-reading in this case is used more as a specialized technical term used by fortune tellers. Stick to the kun reading, if you don't want to be mistaken as a pervert.
See that both ways of reading are shown here, but the Kun is shown first, meaning it is the usual reading. Click on the symbols in the right list to know how to read all the signs.
The mei on swords is written in Chinese grammar as a Chinese would write it, but when reading it out, it is converted into Japanese word order and pronunciation (Kun). If you read it in On, you are basically reading it out also in Chinese, although only a poor simulation of how it really should be pronounced.
I just had a big laugh! First time I said "boing" ... like a frog jumping ... all the Japanese looked upon me with horror!by nick komiya
Just found this comic while doing a google image search of ボイン ... in all innocence.
...
"While reading an "Anpanman" comic to while waiting in the hospital ...."
1. Father: And who is this child?
Son: Anpanman!
2. Father: And who is this child?
Son: Baikinman
3. Father: And this child?
Son: BOIN
4. Father ... Ehhhhhhhhhh *embarassed*
5. ddd-did I hear that right, just to be on the safe side I'll read it over once more.......... "And this child?"
6. Son: BOIN
Father: Absolutely, as I thought .... boin ... aaaaaaahhh
Apparently the Japanese Army did allow the use of the sexagenary cycle as an option (干支ニテモ可ナリ) for dating swords. So SMR 満鐵 would not need to change the existing dating system for the sword blades ordered by the army. The link below will show the Japanese text for the sexagenary cycle as an option.
Showato or Gendaito - Auctions and Online Sales or Sellers - Nihonto Message Board
Below is my translation of the native reading 訓読み of the Mantetsu 満鐵 dates. For additional information on when each year began and so forth, see the Wikipedia entry for "Sexagenary cycle."
Sexagenary cycle - Wikipedia
昭和戊寅春 Shōwa Tsuchinoe-Tora Haru 1938 Spring
昭和戊寅冬 Shōwa Tsuchinoe-Tora Fuyu 1938 Winter
昭和己卯春 Shōwa Tsuchinoto-U Haru 1939 Spring
昭和己卯秋 Shōwa Tsuchinoto-U Aki 1939 Autumn
昭和己卯冬 Shōwa Tsuchinoto-U Fuyu 1939 Winter
昭和庚辰春 Shōwa Kanoe-Tatsu Haru 1940 Spring
昭和庚辰秋 Shōwa Kanoe-Tatsu Aki 1940 Autumn
昭和辛巳春 Shōwa Kanoto-Mi Haru 1941 Spring
昭和壬午春 Shōwa Mizunoe-Uma Haru 1942 Spring
昭和壬午秋 Shōwa Mizunoe-Uma Aki 1942 Autumn
昭和癸未春 Shōwa Mizunoto-Hitsuji Haru 1943 Spring
昭和甲申春 Shōwa Kinoe-Saru Haru 1944 Spring
昭和乙酉春 Shōwa Kinoto-Tori Haru 1945 Spring
As always, any comments, corrections, or criticism welcomed.
One you won't probably see on a sword is 丙午 (1846, 1906, 1966), as that sign is regarded as bad luck both in Japan and China. A year of great fires and women born in those years are said to shorten the lives of their husbands. Both in 1906 and 1966 Japan's birth rates actually took a dive because of this superstition and it remains to be seen what happens in 2026. James A. Michener's "Hawaii" features a Chinese girl born in such a year.
Makes TOTAL Sense to me, the old 'fire and horse' combo!! but boy, she was a lot of fun!!nick komiya
丙午 (1846, 1906, 1966), as that sign is regarded as bad luck both in Japan and China. A year of great fires and women born in those years are said to shorten the lives of their husbands.
I will quote Michener.
"Nyuk Tsin was not married because of a most unfortunate event over which she had no control. Her horoscope which had been carefully cast when envoys from a distant Hakka village came seeking wives for the Lai family, showed the thin girl to be doubly cursed: she was born under the influence of the horse and was therefore a headstrong, evil prospect as a wife:and she was clearly a husband killer, so that only a foolish man would take her into his home. There were, of course, favorable aspects to her future, such as a promise of wealth and many descendants and these might have encouraged an avaricious husband to discount the peril, except that her horoscope divulged an additional disgrace: she would die in a foreign land. Adding together her willfulness, her husband-killing propensity and her burial in alien soil, the Hakka of the High Village knew that in Char Nyuk Tsin they had an unmarriageable girl, and after a while they stopped proposing her to visiting envoys."
I thought others might enjoy seeing a 1944 target map of the SMR Dairen Railway Workshop 大連鉄道工場. It seems the target report forget to mention that swords were produced as well!
Last edited by Kiipu; 05-19-2021 at 10:15 PM.
Hey Bruce!
Here's another for your file:
テ二二四
Te-224
Offered at Griffin Militaria.
Mei:
興亜一心 満鐡作
Kōa Isshin Mantetsu-saku
"Asia Development, One Mind". Made of Manchurian Steel
昭和癸未春
Showa Mizuno-to-Hitsuji Haru
Showa Water-Sheep [year], Spring [1943]
Similar Threads
Posting Permissions
.
Bookmarks