Page:和英英和語林集成.pdf/16

 INTRODUCTION.

CHINESE WRITTEN LANGUAGE.

There is but little doubt that, previous to the study of the Chinese written language, and the introduction of Chinese literature into Japan, the Japanese possessed no written language or characters of their own.

According to Japanese history, the first teacher of Chinese was (阿屠歧阿直歧 [sic]), a son of the King of Corea, who came on an Embassy to the Court of Japan in the 15th year of the Emperor, about  286. He remained but one year, and at his instigation, Wani (scholar) (王仁) was invited to Japan from Corea to teach Chinese. He arrived the following year. About the nationality of there is some dispute; but the best authorities regard him as a Corean, others as a Chinese from the kingdom of Go (呉), one of the three states which, from  222 to 280, included in its territory part of Fokien and most of the eastern provinces of China. It was thus that what is called the Go-on (呉音) was brought to Japan.

From this time the Chinese classics, and literature in all its branches, gradually became the study of the higher classes,&mdash;of the nobles, military class, priests, and physicians,&mdash;and extended more or less even among the farmers and merchants. Education consisted in learning how to read and write Chinese. This has had more influence than all others in directing and shaping the development and civilization of a people, peculiarly impressible, inquisitive, and ready to imitate and adopt whatever may conduce to their own aggrandizement. Thus from China were derived the knowledge of agriculture, manufactures, the arts, religion, philosophy, ethics, medicine and science generally.

The Chinese written language, without affecting at all the grammatical structure of the native language, has been a vast treasury from which to draw and enrich it with words in every branch of knowledge. Perhaps the great advantage of having such materials at hand from which to form new combinations was never more