Tō-on
Sino-Japanese readings introduced from China from around the tenth century onward
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tō-on or tōon (唐音; English: /ˈtoʊ.ɒn/ TOH-on; Japanese pronunciation: [toꜜːoɴ], lit. "Tang sound") are a group of Sino-Japanese kanji readings (on'yomi) introduced from China after the older go-on and kan-on strata.[1] In a narrow sense, the term refers to readings of late Ming and early Qing Chinese brought to Japan during the Edo period by Zen monks, Nagasaki interpreters, and merchants. More broadly, it includes earlier sō-on readings introduced from about the tenth century onward and is also called tō-sō-on (唐宋音; lit. "Tang and Song sound").[2]
In this name, 唐 refers to China rather than limiting the readings to the Tang dynasty.[3]
Scope and transmission
Sō-on is often used as a synonym for tō-on. When the terms are distinguished, sō-on denotes the earlier Song–Yuan layer and tō-on more narrowly denotes later Ming–Qing readings. Unlike the more systematic go-on and kan-on strata, tō-on is lexically restricted: many readings entered Japanese only with particular words.[2]
After the suspension of official missions to Tang China, Sino-Japanese exchange resumed in the late Heian and early Kamakura period and continued through the Muromachi and Edo periods. The readings were transmitted by Zen monks studying abroad, merchants engaged in private trade, Chinese monks in Japan, Nagasaki interpreters, and scholars of Chinese. Consequently, their Chinese sources vary widely in both time and region.[2][4]
Academically, tō-on is divided into medieval tō-on (also called sō-on by some scholars) and early modern tō-on.[5]
- Medieval tō-on refers to pronunciations used in Kamakura-period Rinzai and Sōtō school Buddhist recitation, chiefly associated with Southern Song and Yuan contacts and with the Jiangnan and Zhejiang regions.[2][4]
- Early modern tō-on refers to pronunciations used in the Edo period by the Ōbaku school and the Gion-ji branch of the Sōtō school, as well as readings learned by interpreters in Nagasaki and by scholars of Chinese. These include late Ming and Qing layers associated with Nanjing Mandarin and Hangzhou.[2][4]
Established tō-on words are far fewer than go-on or kan-on words. Familiar modern examples are mostly based on the medieval layer. Classification can nevertheless be difficult because a word may have multiple spellings, use characters phonetically, or mix readings from different strata.[6]
Characteristics and examples
Because tō-on readings were borrowed over several centuries and from several regions, they do not form a single uniform correspondence system. Common patterns include earlier t-series initials appearing as Japanese s-series (茶 sa, 知 shi), loss of some earlier k-series initials (杏 an, 胡 u), some earlier -u or -i codas appearing as -n (行 an, 清 shin), and altered or lost reflexes of checked-tone codas, as in 石灰 shikkui and 知客 shika.[2]
Common lexical examples include angya (行脚) and andon (行灯).[7]