S.Haugtredet Posted December 16, 2006 Report Posted December 16, 2006 Could someone please help me out with this kanji...? Have a nice day gentlemen :-) Quote
Nobody Posted December 16, 2006 Report Posted December 16, 2006 Hi, Could you tell us any backgrounds of the phrase? I am unsure about what it means, though I know each kanji and I can guess the meaning. Quote
S.Haugtredet Posted December 17, 2006 Author Report Posted December 17, 2006 Actually i don`t know the background for the phrase, i`m just trying to get it translated for a frind of mine wich hasn`t told me much about it...just that he would like the meaning/transelation of it. I don`t think it`s sword related tho. Would be great if you could roughly translate it Nobody. Have a nice day :-) Quote
Nobody Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 Although the phrase consists of kanji, the phrase is not Japanese language or at least modern Japanese. It might be a part of Chinese classics or Japanese classics using Chinese style. Anyway I am unsure about the meaning. Yesterday, I guess the meaning as below. But now, I think it is not the right answer. I really do not know the correct answer. “While making peace, prepare for the war.†Are there any persons who have an education of Chinese?......maybe, Guido, Milt?? Quote
sencho Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 Strangley similar to the following: “Si vis pacem, para bellum†from (Roman General) Flavius Vegetius Renatus circa 375 AD Translated; “If you want peace, prepare for war." This is a Roman dictum which theorises that a build up of an offensive can be purely defensive. Cheers Quote
Brian Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 I had been thinking the same thing. Sounds too close to just be co-incidence? Brian Quote
John A Stuart Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 Hi Nigel, I think the bite has been taken out of the phrase. I like " To see the strength in peace, prepare for war." John Quote
sencho Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 Hi John, I have never seen it written like that... where is that one from? I have seen, "Let him who desires peace prepare for war" Cheers Quote
John A Stuart Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 Hi Nigel, That is latin for you. It depends on who is translating and the context. I am playing with the possible ways to interpret what a Roman general would really say with what a scholar/priest would interpret him as saying. Like "To see the power of peace, prepare for war", or " If only the strength of peace is to prepare for war". It is a more literal way of looking at it. I'm sure a general would be more to the point but the other ways of interpretation are less literal but more literary. John Quote
John A Stuart Posted December 17, 2006 Report Posted December 17, 2006 I was figuring out what ideograms (characters) might be used for the above and thought this might be how the second part would read. John Quote
sencho Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Hey shipmate, well you are way out of my league with that... however I do agree with you about the "bite" of the phrase. thanks for putting that explanation up there. Cheers Quote
John A Stuart Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Hi Nigel, I just love playing around with languages, nothing serious. Latin, french and german in high school, mostly forgotten now. John Quote
Gaijin Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Sorry for highjacking the thread, could you guys verify if i got this right ? Quote
sencho Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 I am not that experienced with Kanji, but my Nihonjin wife just confirmed it as looking pretty good, Vitali. Cheers Quote
Gaijin Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Sencho san arigato :D , translation was done by my wife also (i am bad with kanji) , that is why i had doubts :lol: but since it is confirmed i feel safe now. Thank you. Quote
Nobody Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Sorry for highjacking the thread, could you guys verify if i got this right ? Hi, 石見 is an old place name and it reads "Iwami", not "Ishimi". Quote
sencho Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 That's it!!! She's fired!!! Back to translating nautical issues!! cheers Quote
Gaijin Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Thank you for the tip Moriyama-san , will correct asap. LOL, Sencho they both are fired :lol: Quote
John A Stuart Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Or is it Nobuyori? Same kanji, both smith names. John Quote
Nobody Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Or is it Nobuyori? Same kanji, both smith names. John Ah yes, maybe you are right. Nobuyori (信仍) is listed on the Swordsmith Database. Quote
Bungo Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 ok boys, want a challenge ? translate this !! By the way, there's kanji written all over the saya, including the mune side !! supposedly an old classical Chinese poem about loyalty and such. p.s. the katana is massice and longer than the usual, O-suriage, koto. One side of the saya attributed this to Bizen Osafune Kiyomitsu, but most likely Bungo. milt THE ronin Quote
Gaijin Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Originally i had it translated as Nobuyori , but after 1 hour with dictionary my "translator" forced me to change it to Nobunao, now it's a delema...Nobuyori vs Nobunao Quote
sencho Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Just keep it quiet mate... you know... anything for an easy life!! cheers Quote
Nobody Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Originally i had it translated as Nobuyori , but after 1 hour with dictionary my "translator" forced me to change it to Nobunao, now it's a delema...Nobuyori vs Nobunao Now, I am for Nobuyori. FYI; http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/0650/0650_2006syousai.htm Quote
Gaijin Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 Yes... me too, just found it in db... Nobuyori Echizen no kuni (Anei) NOB573 (15pts) 1. iwami (no) kami fujiwara nobuyori Thank you very much! Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted December 18, 2006 Report Posted December 18, 2006 As Roman Buff and Re-enactor of Imperial Rome i must agree with the VEGETIvS explanation!! Nice to see that also Ancient Rome has left something in the eastern hemisphere!! btw...... at http://www.romanarmy.com 's forum we have a long, ongoing (anachronistic) thread about what would happen if a Roman Legion would meet a Samurai army........ (without the use of Teppo!!) Pesonally I am still convinced the Samurai would win... KM Quote
S.Haugtredet Posted December 18, 2006 Author Report Posted December 18, 2006 Thank you very much Nobody and the rest of you aswell! I`ll pass it on to my friend. Have a nice day gentlemen :-) Quote
Guido Posted December 19, 2006 Report Posted December 19, 2006 I haven't spoken Chinese for almost six years, and was never really fluent in it anyhow, so please take my comments with a grain of salt: The Kanji in the first post look somehow off to me, and don't seem to be proper Chinese - or it's Japanese cousin Kambun. I would imagine that "if you want peace, prepare for war" should look more like 和平為戦争備. BTW, there's an old Japanese proverb that has pretty much the same meaning: 治に居て、乱を忘れず - chi ni ite, ran o wasurezu. FWIW Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted December 19, 2006 Report Posted December 19, 2006 Guido, would you think classical Japanese is very much more difficult than modern Japanese? KM Quote
Guido Posted December 19, 2006 Report Posted December 19, 2006 Guido, would you think classical Japanese is very much more difficult than modern Japanese? The only classical Japanese I was ever exposed to is in it's written form, mostly Kambun - and to give a short answer: yes, it's a royal pain in the ... uhm ... neck! Take my signature, for example: The "Kun-yomi" is 書を検（しら）べるに、燭（ともしび）を短く焼き、剣を看（み）るに、杯（さかずき）を長く引く。 The "On-yomi" reads 書を検（けん）するに、燭（しょく）を短く焼き、剣を看（かん）するに、杯（はい）を長く引く。 And to be honest: a good friend of mine who's educated in Kambun figured this one out, my original transcription was somehow different .. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.