Zipangu: the land of gold
The origin of the names of some international locations is unclear. For instance, earlier than World Battle II, the Japanese title for China was Shina. Though these two names are clearly associated, the origin of the title China is unclear. There are numerous theories as to why China was known as China. one notable being a corruption of Qin, the primary Chinese language dynasty. The Chinese language title for China is Zhongguo. It appears to be like like China and means heart nation in Chinese language.
The Japanese title for Japan is Nihon or Nippon. It means the land of the rising solar. The title comes from an previous letter despatched by the Japanese authorities to China – the primary phrases of the letter mentioned it was the letter from the Land of the Rising Solar to the Land of the Sundown. This comes from the relative location of Japan, which is situated east of China. So how did the English title come about? Many Japanese consider it comes from the e-book, Travels of Marco Polo, by Marco Polo, the Thirteenth-century service provider who traveled to the Orient. He didn’t go to Japan, however he mentions in his e-book that there’s a nation stuffed with gold and silver known as Zipangu.
This e-book impressed European adventurers to journey to the Far East to search out the land of gold and silver. Later, it resulted within the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492. At present’s Japan is a far cry from the land of gold and silver launched in Marco Polo’s e-book. Why was Japan thought-about a golden utopia by European explorers?
Within the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Fujiwara clan of the Tohoku district constructed a golden utopia. The clan was associated to the central authorities aristocrats of Kyoto. Whereas the clan maintained a detailed relationship with the central authorities in Kyoto, it maintained its independence as a result of its distance from Kyoto. Kyoto allowed this independence on the situation that the clan remained loyal to the central authorities.
Hidehira Fujiwara was the clan chief on the top of his affect. Benefiting from the gold produced within the area, the clan constructed a golden Buddhist temple, Chuson-ji. The principle corridor of the temple, known as Konjiki-do, was stuffed with golden decorations. The title means golden corridor. Individuals of that point mentioned that the corridor seemed like a celestial edifice. Clearly, this golden utopia caught the eye of Marco Polo, in addition to different adventurers later within the fifteenth century, together with Christopher Columbus.
Lately, Tohoku District was hit by the latest earthquake and tsunami. Fortuitously, not one of the buildings on this utopia had been broken. The writer hopes that the Tohoku district will recuperate shortly from the earthquake and tsunami injury and that vacationers will return to admire the buildings.
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