Zipangu: The Golden Place

The origins of some countries’ names are not very clear. For case in point, ahead of Globe War II, the Japanese title for China was Shina. While these two names are clearly linked, the origin of the title China is not very clear. There are several theories why China was termed China a noteworthy a person currently being a corruption of Qin, China’s initially dynasty. The Chinese identify for China is Zhongguo. It appears similar to China and suggests centre state in Chinese.

Japanese title of Japan is Nihon or Nippon. It signifies the state of the rising solar. The title comes from an historical letter despatched from the Japanese government to China-the opening words of the letter explained this is the letter from the place of the soaring sunshine to the country of sunset. This will come from the relative location of Japan, which is found to the east of China. So how did the English identify arrive about? A lot of Japanese imagine that it arrived from the guide, The Travels of Marco Polo, by Marco Polo, the thirteenth-century merchant who travelled to the Orient. He did not pay a visit to Japan, but he mentions in his reserve there is a country full of gold and silver identified as Zipangu.

This guide induced European adventurers to journey to the Significantly East to find the land of gold and silver. Later, it resulted in Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the Americas in 1492. Japan today is significantly from the region of gold and silver introduced in Marco Polo’s guide. Why was Japan observed as a golden utopia by European explorers?

In the eleventh and twelfth century, the Fujiwara clan of the Tohoku district constructed a golden utopia. The clan was connected to aristocrats in the central govt in Kyoto. When the clan experienced a near romance with Kyoto central governing administration, it taken care of its independence thanks to its distance from Kyoto. Kyoto allowed this independence on the affliction the clan remained loyal to the central governing administration.

Hidehira Fujiwara was the head of the clan at the peak of its influence. Having advantage of gold produced in the location, the clan created a golden Buddhist temple, Chuson-ji. The temple’s most important hall, termed Konjiki-do, was stuffed with golden decoration. The name means golden corridor. Men and women of that time talked about the corridor searching like a setting up in heaven. Clearly, this golden utopia attracted Marco Polo’s notice, together with other adventurers afterwards on in the fifteenth century, such as Christopher Columbus.

Not too long ago, the Tohoku district was hit by the current earthquake and tsunami. Luckily, none of the structures of this utopia had been ruined. The creator hopes the Tohoku district immediately recovers from the damage of the earthquake and tsunami and the visitors come again to admire the properties.