Ija Photograph Ca. 1938 - What Does This Building Sign Say?!

[Okiiimo]

I’m hoping for assistance in translating a building sign that is depicted in a photograph of my grandfather and his fellow officers serving in the Imperial Japanese Army. The photograph would have been taken in Manchuria sometime in 1938. I have learned that he served in the 7^th Division “Kuma Division” which served in Manchuria in the late 30’s and then was sent back to Hokkaido about 1940 for home defense. I recently learned after close scrutiny of some other photographs that he was a mounted cavalry officer.

 

Attached is a modified copy of the whole photo and an enhanced blow up of the building sign. I do hope everyone understands that I electronically defaced the photograph to limit circulation since this photograph is a family heirloom. My apologies in advance for the quality of the photograph. The original is only about 5 x 8 cm.

 

I was able to find that the fourth character (furthest right) is “胞”.

 

Please delete this post if inappropriate for this forum. I do understand that I’m requesting a translation from Chinese but I’m hoping that someone here might be able to lead me in the right direction with either the correct electronic kanji (so I can continue research using the correct character) or if someone has a suggestion for another venue where I might contact individuals with expertise in Japanese military campaigns in Manchuria in the late 30’s.

 

Thank you in advance!

Allan

[SteveM]

胞與為懐

 

Something like "be compassionate towards all people". I think its from a Chinese saying. Maybe one of the Chinese speakers can fill in the blanks. 

 

https://www.moedict.tw/%E8%83%9E%E8%88%87%E7%82%BA%E6%87%B7

 

Bao yu wei huai....apparently. Its probably a gate to a city or some public space, rather than a sign over a building. 

[John A Stuart]

Looks like a sign for a birth clinic. It is Japanese because 懐 is a kanji for the hanzi 懷 John

[Okiiimo]

Thank you Steve and John!

 

What a strange possibility for a translation. I've been using various translators with the characters that Steve identified and got some interesting results too. (I don't think the sign has anything to do with cows!)

 

For my education, are the horizontally arranged characters in the sign read from left to right and then the order is transposed to use in western text and search engines?

 

Regards, 

 

Allan

[SteveM]

Right to left was used up until the middle of the last century. So the sign is read right to left.

Use left to right for the search engine, or you will get back gibberish. 

 

It is a set phrase of the kind I linked to above. Another example of a translation

https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E8%83%9E%E4%B8%8E%E4%B8%BA%E6%80%80

 

It doesn't strike me as strange. There may be some context that we are missing: perhaps it is a phrase or a reference from classic Chinese literature, or part of a famous saying by Lao Tzu or one of the other Chinese philosophers.  

[John A Stuart]

There is a book with this title using the Chinese 胞與為懷 by The Tung Wah Group of hospitals, Zhonghua Book Co, HK, which is why I thought a clinic. 

https://www.cp1897.com.hk/product_info.php?BookId=9789888394364

[John A Stuart]

As you see the clinic pictured on the books' cover has the same sign. If I remember rightly in the book Shui Hu Zhuan 水滸傳 (The Water Margin) it also was called "All Men Are Brothers". This may be the source. John

[Stephen]

ya could have fooled me AFAIK they were at the wrong store

 

[Okiiimo]

Steve & John - Thanks for that additional information and suggestions! I removed the phlotograph from the archival storage and to rescan it at a higher resolution hoping to find more clues from what appears to be a address sign in the right side of the doorway. I noticed the back has writing that's mostly covered by adhesive and black album paper (photo of back attached). I'm hoping that the adhesive is rice paste and I'm planning on soaking it in distilled water and maybe I can get the writing to show up for an additional clue. John, I'll follow your lead on look more into that clinic reference. Ideally, these clues would lead to a location.

 

Stephen - thank you for your sense of humor... as bad (in a good way) as it may be

 

Regards,

 

Allan

[SteveM]

Names and ranks of the people in the photo, but I guess you already knew this.