“日本”国号形成蠡测

An Exploration of the Formation of “Japan” as a Country Name

关于日本国号确立的明确史料虽然文献难征,但现有的书籍史料和实物史料均表明,在8世纪的唐代中前期已经广泛使用。因而日本史学界谨慎地推测日本国号确立于8世纪初。本文则另辟蹊径,主要利用"日本"一语的吴音特征,推断日本国号极有可能形成于魏晋南北朝时期,具体说就是在倭之五王之后到隋朝建立这百年之中,至少在600年前后访隋使者提交"日出处"国书之时,"日本"这一国号实际已经开始使用。这一推断要比学界通说提早近百年。此外,对于古代日本人自认东方的意识由来,以及日本国名何以缀以"国"字,也作出了一定解释。

There is little clear record about when the country name of Japan was formed.The present history books and historical materials show that"Nippon"had been widely used in the 8th century AD.Therefore the Japanese historians cautiously inferred that the country name of Japan was formed by the 8th century.On the basis of recent discoveries about the word"Nippon"and Wu Yin pronunciation,this article tries another way to infer that the country name of Japan was possibly formed in Wei and Jin Dynasties,specifically between the time after the five kings of Wo and the time of the establishment of Sui Dynasty.At least at the time when the Japanese messengers visited Sui and submitted a certificate of"Sunrise"to Sui Dynasty,"Nippon"had been actually used.This finding is about a hundred years earlier than generally assumed.This article also explains why ancient Japanese recognized themselves with oriental consciousness and why the word of"country"had been added to the name of Japan(日本国Nippon-koku).