Kanji on tsuba

[Grey Doffin]

Hi guys,

This tsuba will be listed for sale. I'm wondering if any of you can make sense of the Kanji on this tsuba. At the show in San Francisco a couple Japanese gentlemen couldn't read them and suggested that they are Chinese (still Kanji but a different language).

Thanks, Grey

[Lee Bray]

Hi Grey.

 

I showed your tsuba to a Chinese friend; he reckons the kanji maybe ancient Chinese but not sure.

He says the top kanji might read 'Head' and the kanji at bottom left might read 'Light'.

[Grey Doffin]

Thanks, Lee. Curious how these characters that no one (Japanese or Chinese) seems able to read easily show up on a tsuba.

Grey

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

I just purchased this tsuba from Grey. :D I will be continuing the research of the Kanji (Chinese characters) on the surface of this tsuba. I am thinking the Kanji is likely something to do with Zen Buddhism as Daruma (Sanskrit: Bodhidharma) is the patriarch and transmitter of this type of Buddhism originally from Northern India, which has a specific focus on mediation practice. Zen Buddhism was transmitted from China to Japan three different times starting in the Kamakura Period up until as late as the Edo Period. These transmissions leading to the Rinzai, Soto, and Obaku branches of Zen Buddhism. With each transmission there was also a importation of Chinese ideas and language as Kanji characters. Once I have something I will be sure to post it here on this thread for discussion.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Just wanted to post a follow up about this tsuba. This a explanation of the Kanji I was able to translate on the Omote side of this tsuba. I was helped by my Budo sensei and his library of Kanji books. The top Kanji at 12:00 is atama (頭) and the kanji over top of Daruma head is soko (底). The two Kanji between them is unreadable due to thumb rubbing. The Kanji at about 10:00 AM is yon (四). The Kanji at about 8:00 AM cannot be identified nor can the one at 11:00 AM. I will be taking this tsuba with my to the sword show and shinsa in Tampa Bay, Florida in February of next year. I will be submitting it for NTHK shinsa and likely asking Jim Gilbert, Iwamoto sensei, or others if they could provide any more details about the design and what Kanji are and their meaning or significance.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles