Yìcún Wénzì (extant characters) in Japanese lexicon: Exploring characters of historically Chinese origin with evidence from Six dynasties,Sui and Tang dynasties,China

Abstract

A careful analysis of historical literary sources reveals that some supposedly Japanese native characters are in fact of historically Chinese origin, namely “extant characters” (yìcún wénzì). In this article, I examine the backgrounds of potential “extant characters” that appeared in the Heian period Wamyō Ruijushō 和名類聚抄 and similar materials. In so doing, I corroborate the findings of Edo-period scholar Kariya Ekisai 狩谷棭斎 and identify several new issues with evidence from digital archives that further research needs to focus on.