I’m after a little linguistic assistance from any members who speak Japanese and Chinese (ideally both). I’m becoming increasingly convinced that the karate world are universally “mistranslating” the meaning of Pinan (Heian), but as someone who does not speak Japanese or Chinese I may be missing something? I’d be grateful if you could read over what I propose below.
Pinan (Heian being the Japanese pronunciation of the same characters) is written using two characters. I could not get them to display properly here, but they are the top two on the cover of my free e-book (the final character being “kata”).
The first character (pin or hei) comes from a pictogram denoting plants floating on the top of water and means “flat, level, even; peaceful, clam”.
The first character (an) comes from a pictogram denoting a woman underneath a roof and means “peaceful, tranquil, quiet, content”.
It’s when we combine the characters that things get interesting. Almost every karate resource that I have to hand states that “Pinan” (Heian) means “Peaceful Mind”. “Peaceful” I can understand, but where does “mind” come into it? There is no character for “mind”.
In “Karate-Do Kyohan” Gichin Funakoshi – who was a student of Anko Itosu: the founder of the Pinan kata - says of the Heian kata, “ Having mastered these five forms, one can be confident that he is able to defend himself competently in most situations. The meaning of the name is to be taken in this context”
(Note: I wholeheartedly agree with that statement and it does seem to contradict the misunderstanding that the Pinan kata are solely callisthenics for kids … but that’s another story ).
I wonder if the add on of “mind” is an attempt to reconcile the meaning of the name and Funakoshi’s statement? If we combine the name and the statement you’ll see what I mean.
Statement 1: Having mastered these five forms, one can be confident that he is able to defend himself competently in most situations. That is why the forms are called “Peace”.
To me, that does not make too much sense as the first sentence, which says the kata are about a complete approach to combat, does not sit well with the term “peace”.
Statement 2:Having mastered these five forms, one can be confident that he is able to defend himself competently in most situations. That is why the forms are called “Peaceful Mind”.
Now although that is a mistranslation (“mind” has been added in) it makes more sense as “peaceful mind” has conations of having confidence in your ability to keep yourself safe.
What if we have misunderstood the meaning of the name though? Perhaps we don’t have to add “mind” to the translation to make things tie up. So here is the heart of this post:
I asked a couple of Japanese speakers what the two characters combined to mean. They told me it meant “Peace”, “Tranquillity” or “Peace and Tranquillity”. I then asked a Chinese speaker and consulted some resources about the same characters. On the individual characters, the Japanese and Chinese meanings broadly tie up (as I would have expected) however, the combination seems to mean something a little different in Chinese.
I was told by my Chinese speaker that the characters together meant “safe, free from harm, safe and sound, without misfortune” (confirmed by some Chinese dictionaries and online translation tools). That reading makes much more sense to me:
Statement 3:Having mastered these five forms, one can be confident that he is able to defend himself competently in most situations. That is why the forms are called “safe” or “free from harm”.
Am I missing something fundamental here, or are we running with a Japanese reading of the characters when we should be running with a Chinese one? Is “Pinan” meant to be read as “safe” or “free from harm” as opposed to “peace and tranquillity” or “peaceful mind”? It seems pretty convincing to me. But if that is the case, why has no one picked up on this before?
Could this all be part of the “Japanization” of the art? Perhaps “peace and tranquillity” better fits the idea that the Pinan kata are not for combat – despite what Funakoshi says - and hence gets those who don’t know the bunkai off the hook? Perhaps the problem occurred when translated into English away from the kanji?
Itosu – who was employed as a scribe and expert in the Chinese classics – named his kata before the art made it big in mainland Japan. It therefore makes sense to me that, if there is indeed a difference in reading, he will have been thinking along Chinese lines. And, from the sounds of it, he communicated that idea to Funakoshi.
I can’t find it written anywhere else that Pinan means “safe” or “free from harm”, despite the fact that it would seem the characters are read that way in Chinese, and it ties up with Funakoshi’s explanation of the name. Almost universally, karateka say Pinan means “peaceful mind”. However, having looked into it, I’m growing in my conviction we’ve all got it wrong. What surprises and worries me though is that no one else seems to have picked up on this alternative translation and hence I can’t shake the nagging doubt this monolingual Englishman is missing something fundamental.
Your thoughts will be gratefully received … especially if we have someone who speaks both Chinese and Japanese and can confirm there is a difference in reading between the two languages?
posted
You have chosen a rough row to hoe.Even scholars in JAPAN can't agree on precise translations of a lot of words or terms .It has been noted that if you came into a coversation being carried on by two JAPANESE speakers that unless you knew the topic of the conversation your translation would be incorrect to some degree.
There has been a push by some that rises and falls in strength during various phases of JAPANESE recent history(post 1900) tp change the whole language to the HEPBURNIZED ROMAJI.This is always met with strong opposistion.
But I think you are right ITOSU probably used the CHINESE context of what PINAN meant to express.
KOMATSU
-------------------- common sense is so rarely used it is often mistaken for genius.pay attention at all times do your home work Posts: 771 | From: TORONTO GTA ONTARIO CANADA | Registered: Apr 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
Iain, as I think you probably know I speak neither language. However, I recall hearing / reading someplace in the past (and I'm sorry, I can't remember where) that the kata's kanji can be read more as "peace of mind" in English, as in 'security resulting from confidence in the ability to defend oneself'. In this context, I could see a certain amount of sense in the pictogram of a woman secure in her home. In terms of the woman, you have a representation of the 'weaker' sex. In addition, I know from my architectural education that the image of the roof is a powerful form in a lot of cultures as a symbol of security and stability, and we even see this in certain languages, e.g. "sought the shelter of his roof". This romanization also makes a certain amount of sense as regards the Funakoshi statement. Finally, it fits with the Chinese interpreter's read of the kanji. I'm sorry I can;t source that for you.
The water-related imagery of the first character is also interesting to me, but that takes us away from your question so I'll leave that out for now.
Great question, I will be interested to see the results.
-------------------- Mike T., 4th Dan Shorin Ryu Posts: 953 | From: West Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
Note : you need a Japanese language pack to see the Chinese symbols. The definition is in English.
Posts: 172 | From: Canada | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Louis Frederic's A Dictionary of the Martial Arts uses the phrase "Forms of Peace and Calm."
I think there is also the danger of taking things too literally. We may never know what the original name 'meant' to Itosu. But it sure makes you think about it!
-------------------- Blackwood, Shodan Shido Kan Shorin Ryu If you don't understand the bunkai, kata is nothing more than dancing around in your jammies. -- Lawrence A. Kane Posts: 416 | From: SE Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
Thanks for the input. All very useful. I tried Krammy's Japanese-English on-line translator and it came up with "Peace-Tranquillity" (as is the norm for Japanese translations). This is consistently in line with what I'm finding:
Japanese = "Peace" or "Tranquillity" Chinese = "Safe" or "Free from Harm"
If you have access to the actual characters for "pinan / heian" please try this translator on both Chinese and Japanese settings to see what I mean.
Although both languages use the same characters for "pinan" it would appear they read them differently. Is there anyone here who speaks Chinese who can further validate the Chinese translation? Better yet, is there anyone who can speak both languages who can confirm this difference in reading?
What I'm really after is a "pure translation" i.e. how a non-martial artist, who does not know of the associated kata, would read the characters. All non-martial resources consulted so far have the Chinese / Japanese split mentioned above (Chinese = "Free from harm" / Japanese = "Peaceful").
What I'm also seeing is that when martial artists get involved they "tweak" the meaning depending upon how they view the kata. For example the "zen types" say the moving mediation of the kata will develop a "peaceful mind". Whereas the "combative types" say it is "peaceful mind" because you can be confident in your ability to keep yourself safe.
It is the fact that the Chinese reading of "free from harm" came from non-martial sources that so fascinates me. It makes sence, it fits with what I know of the kata, it fits with what Funakoshi told us abotu the name, and it is a direct untweaked non-martial translation.
All help on clarifying the difference between the two languages will be greatly appreciated.
posted
Woo - that's a biggy. Deep philosophical waters indeed...
Pinan is the Okinawan dialect reading for the relevant characters (closer by the way to the standard Mandarin Chinese reading which would be Ping-an), Heian is the standard Japanese reading.
(There's another interesting question about this, by the way, which I've never really understood. Itosu would have used the Okinawan pronunciation Pinan. Funakoshi deliberately used the standard Japanese pronunciation Heian - as you know, as an ethnic Okinawan trying to spread Karate in mainland Japan in the face of anti-Okinawan prejudice, Funakoshi wanted to be as close to standard Japanese as possible - hence all the other standard Japanese kata names in Shotokan, unlike all the other mainstream karate styles which use the Okinawan pronunciation. So far so clear. However, why on earth did Otsuka revert to the Okinawan pronunciation for the kata names as used in Wado? Otsuka was ethnically mainland Japanese, and indeed this was one of the attractions of making Otsuka his favoured student from Funakoshi's point of view, taken with Otsuka's socially desirable status as a master of the (thoroughly mainland Japanese) art of jujitsu before even taking up karate. Wado is said to be the most "Japanese" (as opposed to Okinawan) of the major karate styles, having borrowed heavily from jujitsu ways of thinking, moving etc. So why did Otsuka revert to the Okinawan kata names, moving back to Okinawan tradition and away from his sensei Funakoshi? Did he want to stress his independence from Funakoshi? I'm sure there's a well-known answer here, but if there is I don't know it.)
Be that as it may, Heian does indeed mean quite clearly "peace and tranquillity" in standard Japanese. This is a VERY old expression in Japanese, going right back to the official name of the ancient capital Kyoto, which was Heian-kyo, "the capital of peace and tranquillity". This was in deliberate imitation of the T'ang period Chinese capital Chang-an, which means "eternal peace". As far as the meaning in standard Japanese is concerned, it is very definitely tranquillity or peace rather than safety - it is used, for instance, in the standard Japanese translation of the Islamic expression "Peace be upon him" ("Kare ni heian are") as used every time a pious Muslim refers to Muhammad.
Your question though is an interesting one. As to what ping-an means in Chinese, I'm not going to contradict your friend - I don't speak any Chinese at all (though my brother does speak fluent Chinese...) My Chinese colleague at work, however, a lady named Xu Aihua, tells me that ping-an does indeed mean "safe from harm" in Chinese (she says you might say to your friend on parting for the night "Go home safely" using this expression).
I would tend to agree with your hypothesis, that it is quite likely that Itosu would have been thinking of the Chinese meaning of "freedom from harm" or safety when naming the Pinan series. Certainly it is clear that the Okinawans themselves thought of karate as a CHINESE martial arts system (as you know, the old Okinawan expression "tode", which could also be read "karate", means "Chinese hand", and the change to the other "kara" character meaning empty was only put in place to make the art more acceptable to the racist anti-Chinese mainstream in 1920's/30's Japanese society). The Bubishi, the "Bible of karate", is a classical Chinese document. However, I don't know enough about the background to say for sure.
I would ask one further question - does the phrase "heian" or "ping-an" appear itself in the Bubishi? As you know, the word "goju" (hard and soft) after which Gojuryu is named is a direct quotation from the Bubishi - is the same the case for the phrase "heian/ping-an"? Mind you, this is just speculation on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised...
Hope this helps,
Philip
PS - I am a fluent Japanese speaker but have no Chinese
Posts: 3 | From: London | Registered: Oct 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thank you for that Philip. Your input is hugely appreciated. Well that's me convinced! "Safe from Harm" would seem to be a correct and apt translation for "Pinan". I'm quite proud of the results of that little thought experiment! Still surprised that it's not widely used in karate circles though ... but I'll do what I can to put that right
posted
Thanks Matt! So that's two of us ... but it's a start
I think the Chinese translation, combined with Funakoshi's quote, lends a lot of weight to the idea that martial artists have underestimated the importance and potency of these forms.
All of the above is part of the research for the book I'm currently working on which breaks down the Pinans. The more I look at these forms, the more impressed I am by them. I'm certain they represent Itosu's reworking and structuring of what he believed to be the most potent methods from the other forms. The order in which the techniques are presented (both within each kata and throughout the series) is also pretty clever. As I say, I feel they are very well structured.
The hope of the book is to show that far from being "children's kata" or "basic forms" they are in fact a potent distillation of the totality of Itosu's knowledge. These forms happened to be ones Itosu also used for his Children's version of the art, but they were not created for that purpose.
It would seem Itosu chose the name for his forms carefully (and aptly) and the thinking behind the name was communicated to Funakoshi. To do these forms justice, more people need to be aware of the Chinese reading and the quote from Kyohan.
Anyhow, I hope I can make the rest of the book this interesting!
Must go ... my daughter is 2 today! Believe it or not, she is big Laurel & Hardy fan ("Hardy Funny!") and we've got a few DVDs for her which I'm looking forward to watching. Very funny anyway ... but HILARIOUS with 2 year old commentary and laughter track
posted
Not to contradict Iain, but don't overlook the idea that may have Itosu settled on the name based on the whimsy of his students because they simply liked the name better, as we discusssed in one of the Channan threads.
I don't at all disagree with your comments about the form itself, however. As I noted in the review of his book, Higaki makes a similar claim that the Pinan's represented a Shuri-style master-text, but unfortunately this idea isn't explored at all in the applications section.
I have been saying for years that if grown men I know who have been practicing the Pinan series for years can't demonstrate lethal applications for the movements, why on earth would anyone worry about children doing that? There has to be another explanation for Itosu's evolution of the forms. Coupled with the fact that I think we can assume he was a bit of a 'reformer' by nature, I think you are following a good line of thought and that we should be looking at the pinans as being synthesized or INNOVATED, not dumbed-down (both lines of thought take you interesting places). Also, the fact that he let his students PICK the name wouldn't necessarily invalidate any part of your thesis.
I will be awaiting your future book with interest.
Enjoy your party!
-------------------- Mike T., 4th Dan Shorin Ryu Posts: 953 | From: West Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
Try this thought- maybe the characters are used because the underlying philosophy is that you can have a peaceful mind because your training will make you confident you can be free from harm. i.e. it allows you to maintain a calm state in the middle of a conflict because you know you can deal with the attacker.
This is not a translation, but rather trying to consider the underlying idea behind why these chracters were chosen.
[ August 17, 2007, 03:45 PM: Message edited by: Sam ]
Posts: 199 | From: Colorado, USA | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Another interesting tidbit, I did the math last night in Hokama's book. By what I would call 'agreed upon' popular accounts of his birth (1832), Itosu would have been around 69 when he developed the forms (1901 according to Hokama). I wonder how that impacted their development, if at all? Kind of lends credence to the idea that the Pinan's would have represented a legacy of 'life's work' for Itosu.
-------------------- Mike T., 4th Dan Shorin Ryu Posts: 953 | From: West Michigan | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
ABERNETHY RYU ?How about EIKOKU TE JITSU KARATE DO
Sounds right mysterious and romantic doesn't it?
ENGLAND HAND TECHNIQUE OF THE EMPTY HAND WAY.
EIKOKU is the more archaic name for ENGLAND rather than the more modern and mundane term INGURANDO.
KOMATSU
-------------------- common sense is so rarely used it is often mistaken for genius.pay attention at all times do your home work Posts: 771 | From: TORONTO GTA ONTARIO CANADA | Registered: Apr 2007
| IP: Logged |
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wink]](/web/20090412130856im_/http://www.iainabernethy.com/ubb/wink.gif)
).
![[Smile]](/web/20090412130856im_/http://www.iainabernethy.com/ubb/smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](/web/20090412130856im_/http://www.iainabernethy.com/ubb/biggrin.gif)
