Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu

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] In his lifetime, the writer and his works were considered controversial. 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 the Joseon Dynasty (Korea), the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa), Ezo (Hokkaido)^[3] and the 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

• List of Japanese classic texts

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. Vos, Ken. "Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1," p. 7.
5. 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.

References

• Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582-1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521821551; ISBN 9780521529181; OCLC 50694793
• Hayashi, Shihei. (1786). Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (三国通覧図説 An Illustrated Description of Three Countries). Edo: Manuscript. OCLC 44014900
• Klaproth, Julius. (1832). San kokf tsou ran to sets, ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 2563166; also OCLC 561284561
• Kublin, Hyman. "The Discovery of the Bonin Islands: A Reexamination," Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 43, Issue 1 (March 1, 1953). pp. 27–46.
• Morris-Suzuki, Tessa. (1997). Re-inventing Japan: Time, Space, Nation. Armonk, New York: Sharpe. OCLC 471751407
• Traganou, Jilly. (2004). The Tōkaidō Road: Traveling and Rrepresentation in Edo and Meiji Japan. New York: RutledgeCurzon. ISBN 9780415310918; OCLC 52347509
• Vos, Ken. "Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1," National Museum of Ethnology

Further reading

• Klaproth, Julius. (1832). San kokf tsou ran to sets, ou Aperçu général des trois royaumes, pp. 1-286., p. i, at Google Books

External links

• Waseda University — Hayashi Shihei. (1785). 三国通覧図説 (Sangoku Tsuran Zusetsu)